There’s a refreshing lack of “done up” pubs in the New Forest; the vast majority still have quirky and characterful interiors to match their quirky and characterful exteriors – often farmhouses or cottages that became ale houses and later inns.
Some are remote, set in swathes of beautiful heath and woodland; others are tucked into villages; almost all have beer gardens. Everyone, of course, has their favourite: not one of these places is lacking in staunch supporters who will tell you – while leaning on the bar – exactly why “their” pub is the best. Many of them have rooms and make authentic, inexpensive places to stay.
All our recommendations below have been hand selected and tested by our resident destination expert to help you discover the best pubs in the New Forest. Find out more below, or for more New Forest inspiration, see our guide to the region’s best hotels, restaurants and attractions.
Find a pub by type:
Best all-rounders
Best for beer
Best for location
Best for character
Best for families
Best all-rounders
The East End Arms
For a pint with plenty of locals, turn right. For a cosy, attractive dining room and posh food, turn left. With walls lined with black and white photographs of well-known musicians (the pub is owned by Dire Straits bassist John Ilsley), this is a sophisticated gastropub with a menu from chef Mark Davison and his close-knit team; dishes include braised short rib or smoked ham hock croquettes.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R4be4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R8be4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeArea: East End Website: eastendarms.co.ukPrice: ££
The East End Arms is cosy, cheery and popular with localsThe New Forest Inn
A proper, traditional New Forest inn which began in the 18th century as a caravan serving ale. Nowadays, family-owned, rustic and atmospheric, it offers a long menu featuring everything from sandwiches to daily changing specials. Yet it’s the chef’s home-cooked pies that take centre stage: Brusher Mills the Snake Catcher (a famous New Forest character) is a venison shepherd’s pie; Smugglers Treasure a fish pie and King Rufus a very fine traditional steak and ale.
Area: Emery DownWebsite: thenewforestinn.co.ukPrice: £
Home-cooked pies are the draw at this characterful old innThe Three Tuns
With its thatched roof, open fires, low ceilings and wooden beams, the Three Tuns is as cosy as they come. But it’s also renowned for the quality of its food, whether you choose the steaks, the sandwiches or à la carte dishes such as twice baked soufflé followed by pan fried pigeon breasts; Sunday roasts are a highlight. The pub’s themed nights are also a feature: quiz nights, tapas evenings, steak nights – even Caribbean themed cocktails and menus.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R4ke4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R8ke4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeArea: BransgoreWebsite: threetunsinn.comPrice: ££
As cosy and homely as pubs come – the Three Tuns is renowned for its quality foodThe Fleur de Lys
The well is said to be original, as are the flagstones; the Fleur de Lys first served ale in 1096 and its list of landlords starts in 1498. The New Forest’s oldest pub is also very pretty, thickly thatched with a traditional interior. The bar serves local ales but it’s the food that stands out: chef/patron Steve Hurst’s sophisticated dishes are more fine dining than pub classics. Wild sea bass, beef Wellington and Sunday roasts stand out.
Area: Pilley Website: fleurdelys-pilley.comPrice: £££
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Best for beer
Drop the Anchor
Tucked into farm buildings, this eclectic, laid-back and genuinely friendly micro-brewery, live music and comedy venue is a vibrant social hub. Here, brewer and farmer Neil Hodgkinson grows his own organic barley on Sir George Meyrick’s Hinton Admiral estate, producing award-winning beers; some traditional, others with Willy Wonka-esque flavours. You might find a chap teaching wool spinning, a disco, a comedy act or live music. A real one-off, with superb BBQ food from Origin Barbecues.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R4ue4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R8ue4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeArea: HintonWebsite: droptheanchorbrewery.co.ukPrice: £
Housed between two old barns, Drop the Anchor is a lively and friendly space that brews award-winning beersThe Monkey Brewhouse
In 1790, a tiny toll house was built; in 1850 came an inn next to it, now the Monkey Brewhouse. Taken over in 2019 by brewer Will Bradshaw, it now houses a microbrewery, open to view through a glass wall. This place has it all: B&B rooms, its own great range of Monkey beers and excellent food (brilliant Sunday lunches). The menu also includes useful small plates such as gambas pil pil for lighter meals.
Area: Lymington Website: monkeybrewhouse.co.ukPrice: ££
This 175-year-old Inn has it all: a microbrewery, B&B rooms and excellent foodThe Cuckoo Inn
Step back in time at this tiny, enchanting, 155-year-old pub. Simple but cosy, it has a piano, a dartboard and a compact bar. Diminutive it may be inside (there’s a large beer garden) but it’s also award winning for its huge range of real ciders and ales, including weekly changing guest beers. Regulars adore in equal measure their Cuckoo and its landlord, Nikolaos Amplianitis. He may be Greek but he’s nailed the English pub landlord.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R57e4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R97e4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeArea: Hamptworth Website: cuckooinnhamptworth.comPrice: £
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Best for location
Henry’s, The Master Builder’s Hotel
Attached to the hotel, Henry’s is named for Master Shipbuilder Henry Adams whose home, overlooking the old slipway – now a grassy sward – this was when Buckler’s Hard was an 18th-century centre of shipbuilding. Inside, you’ll find open fires, beams and cosy character mixed with Georgian elegance; outside, there are beautiful views of the shipwrights’ cottages and the Beaulieu River. The excellent food is restaurant quality (try the melting shin of beef) and the beer is good.
Area: Buckler’s HardWebsite: themasterbuilders.co.ukPrice: ££
Henry’s mixes open fires, beams and cosy character with Georgian eleganceThe Fighting Cocks
Built in 1927, this pub has four smart bedrooms and has recently been sympathetically refurbished, with soothing neutral colours, wooden floors, a sense of spaciousness and the feel of an honest country pub, with food to match. Donkeys congregate outside and from there the road crosses mile upon mile of glorious elevated landscape en route to Fritham, Nomansland and Bramshaw.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R5he4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R9he4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeArea: GodshillWebsite: thefightingcockspub.co.ukPrice: ££
The Gun Inn
There’s nothing better than birdwatching on Keyhaven Marshes, then taking the ferry to Hurst Castle and walking back along the spit for lunch or a pint at the charming, sophisticated Gun with its large garden. The food is excellent: try the fennel seed crackling with burnt apple puree to start and the beef bourguignon; sandwiches come in the form of wholemeal baguettes. Do note its varied opening and food service times (check the website before visiting).
Area: Keyhaven Website: theguninn.co.ukPrice: ££
The Gun Inn dates back 250 yearsThe Drift
Alight at tiny Beaulieu Road station and into this spacious, faux-rustic pub, which is in fact the dining arm of the adjacent Beaulieu Hotel. Kitted out as a traditional country inn, it makes a pleasant enough place to eat but its real asset is its pole position opposite the Sale Yard, set amid beautiful open heathland. Here, New Forest ponies are rounded up (the drift) to sell and afterwards the bar fills with their owners.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R5pe4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R9pe4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeArea: Beaulieu Road Website: newforesthotels.co.ukPrice: ££
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Best for character
The Waterloo Arms
A charming 17th-century pub brimming with character and smothered in colourful hanging baskets. Landlords Michael and Michelle get everything right here and inside; you’ll find low beams, crackling fires and a warm welcome. Outside, the beautifully kept garden makes a particularly peaceful spot. The menu features hearty, home-cooked dishes with the option of half portions – ideal for lighter appetites. With its cosy atmosphere, delicious food and attentive service, The Waterloo Arms has it all.
Area: LyndhurstWebsite: waterlooarmsnewforest.co.ukPrice: £
The Waterloo Arms ticks all the boxes: thatched roof, crackling fire, hanging baskets and hearty portionsThe Royal Oak
Despite its remote location, this is one of the New Forest’s best-known pubs, celebrated for its secluded setting next to a working farm and its unpretentious, unchanged, old-fashioned character. Simple lunches (no dinners) are served inside and in the beer garden, plus woodfired pizzas from a mobile van on Thursdays from 5.30pm. Pork pies, quiches, cheeses and smoked trout pâté are all locally made. A walk and a pint at the Royal Oak is a New Forest highlight.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R63e4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«Ra3e4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeArea: Fritham Website: royaloakfritham.co.ukPrice: £
The Turfcutters Arms
If ever a pub was also a community hub, it’s the brick-built Turfcutters, where landlord Simon Garbut’s aim is “to appeal to all”. And he does just that, with a bouncy castle in the large beer garden, quiz nights and regular live music. The Beaulieu Brass Band often play, even accompanying the annual Nine Lessons and Carols service, pints in hand, led by the vicar. Busy, fun and down to earth – a pub with heart and soul.
Area: East BoldreWebsite: the-turfcutters-new-forest.co.ukPrice: £
The Lamb Inn
The Lamb Inn is now under the same management as several other New Forest pubs, including the New Forest Inn and the Trusty Servant. Owners Debbie and Duane Lewis have retained its old-fashioned quirkiness with swirly carpet, wooden bar and collections of Toby jugs, tankards, mirrors and more. Forget rustic chic makeovers: they keep their pubs real, with local ales and home-cooked food.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R6ae4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«Raae4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeArea: Nomansland Website: thelambnomansland.co.ukPrice: £
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Best for families
High Corner Inn
At the bottom of a long gravel track, this much extended 17th-century farmhouse could be from a children’s adventure book, so remote is its setting. It is surrounded by open heath, woodland, and – of course – ponies. The inn, with attractive bedrooms, has been carefully refurbished by Butcombe Brewery with a warm, enveloping interior. Children are well catered for with a huge beer garden and an extensive menu. Set at the gateway to the Forest as it is, it’s the sense of comfort mixed with the sense of adventure that awaits out in the wild that sets High Corner apart.
Area: LinwoodWebsite: butcombe.comPrice: ££
The High Corner Inn has been carefully refurbished to retain its 17th-century farmhouse charmMonty’s Inn
With the advent of ‘proper publican’ Cally Coles, Monty’s, which stands on the site of the original village inn but is attached to the Montagu Arms Hotel, has become much more integral to the village scene than previously. Serving the Montagu Arm’s House Menu, which ranges from sophisticated dishes to pub classics, it makes a flexible place to eat and meet, not least for dogs, with their own à la bark menu, and children, with theirs.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R6ke4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«Rake4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeArea: BeaulieuWebsite: montaguarmshotel.co.ukPrice: ££
The Trusty Servant
Overlooking the village green, complete with stocks, this friendly, family-run pub has a grassy, natural garden on two levels and a jolly, colourful Tiny Tums menu, with a ‘create your own’ section where kids can choose from a list what they want on their plate. On Sunday’s there’s a Children’s Roast, too. It’s a useful pitstop after visiting family-friendly Furzey Gardens and Minstead church, with a good selection of food and ales for the grown-ups as well.
Area: Minstead Website: thetrustyservant.co.ukPrice: £
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How we choose
Every pub, venue or experience in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who has visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets and styles, from casual pubs to exquisite cocktail bars – to best suit every type of traveller – and consider the service, drinks, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up to date recommendations.
About our expert
I became a Telegraph hotel critic 25 years ago. It was then that I also moved to the New Forest where I can happily walk, forage, sail, ride and shop in pretty villages – all within a National Park.
Fiona Duncan in her garden in the New ForestBroaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
