The best pubs in Wales in 2022

These pubs all have this in common – they are all places you will love having a drink, as Ed Gilbert, Kathryn Williams and Steffan Rhys recommend...

WALES is full of brilliant pubs and they all really need our support right now. From bustling city-centre boozers to beautiful country inns and from tiny craft ale pubs no bigger than a sitting room to the perfect places to warm yourself in front of an open log fire, there’s something for everyone.

Here you’ll also find some wonderful foodie offerings, brilliant beer gardens, plus seaside pubs with great outdoor spaces.

Of course, what makes a great pub depends on your priorities. It could be good food, great beer, music (or the lack of it) or a friendly atmosphere. You’ll find all these things in the pubs below (though not necessarily all in the same pub). But they all have this in common – they are all places you will love having a drink.

There are lots of great Welsh pubs that haven’t made this list – we just couldn’t fit them all in. The ones that did make it are listed here in no particular order...

DYFFRYN ARMS – PONTFAEN, PEMBROKESHIRE

Dyffryn Arms is also commonly known as Tafarn Bessie, named after the landlady who’s run it for decades and whose family have run the pub for more than 170 years.

With red and black quarry tiles, a woodburner, Bass served by a jug through a sliding hatch and World War I prints and posters on the walls, there is simply nowhere else like Bessie’s.

The no-fuss, no-frills pub doesn’t have a phone number or website, you have to chance it being open when you visit the Gwaun Valley near Fishguard and that’s just part of its charm.

THE BOAT INN – REDBROOK, MONMOUTHSHIRE

A gorgeous pub in a beautiful setting where you can sit outside and look down the Wye at the old railway bridge that used to carry steam trains or walk up the terraced gardens to a waterfall. The pub dates from 1650 and in the largely stone interior you’ll find two rooms, both with log burners for colder days.

There’s also good food, including Trealy Farm charcuterie boards and beers from the local Wye Valley Brewery. A gem of a place.

THE HEATHCOCK – LLANDAFF, CARDIFF

Owned by the same team as the Hare & Hounds in Aberthin, Vale of Glamorgan, the Heathcock is a brilliant place for a pint of real ale and a bar snack or a blowout dinner of seasonal pub food. On draught are ales from breweries such as Wye

Valley and Glamorgan Brewing Company, while snacks include homemade sausage rolls and crispy lamb belly.

In the restaurant, the Heathcock’s seasonal cooking is some of the best in Cardiff and their sharing dishes always feel like a celebration, from a steak and ale pie to a whole shoulder of Welsh lamb with all the trimmings.

ARVON ALE HOUSE – LLANDRINDOD WELLS, POWYS

No music, no jukebox, no fruit machines and no TV – just good beer and cider in a small cosy pub that was mid Wales’ first micropub when it opened in 2014. In non-Covid times they hold live folk, blues and acoustic sessions on certain Sundays and there are books and board games.

While the pub has recently changed ownership, it’s stayed true to the ethos which made it Camra’s pub of Wales in 2016.

CRAFT REPUBLIC – BARRY, VALE OF GLAMORGAN

Since opening its doors in the middle of the pandemic in 2020, Barry’s Craft Republic has firmly established itself as one of the best places to

drink craft beer. With 14 different lines of craft beer, lager and cider poured from a state-of-theart direct draw system, there’s always something interesting to drink from the UK’s best independent breweries.

However, if beer isn’t your thing, then Craft Republic also sells its own award-winning Barry Island Welsh Dry Gin as well 40 different wines. If you get peckish then you can pick up some tacos or souvlaki from the Goodsheds street food market, which is located just outside Craft Republic’s doors.

THE QUEEN’S HEAD – CHEPSTOW, MONMOUTHSHIRE

A tiny, busy pub with a bar around 8ft long serving a wide range of regularly changing Welsh and UK beers, ciders and a small but eclectic selection of spirits, all set in one room of an old Chepstow coaching inn.

Beer trays of three thirds of a pint are popular for those seeking tasters. No TV, no jukebox – it’s a place where you can sit quietly in the corner and enjoy your drink or get into conversation with one of the many friendly regulars.

Once a month there’s an entertaining open mic night and there are regularly tap takeovers from different craft breweries across the country. This is a pub for people who love their beer and the landlord is definitely getting something right to land Gwent Camra Town Pub of the Year 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and overall branch winner 2018 and 2019.

THE BLACK BOY INN – CAERNARFON, GWYNEDD

This has been a busy inn since the 16th century, with a cosy lounge bar with beams and a dimly-lit atmospheric public bar. It’s easily one of the best-known pubs in Wales and in 2016 it was named the “Welshest pub” of the lot. It also has four AA stars and was the county winner in the 2019 Pub & Bar Awards.

It’s gorgeous inside and out, serves good food, has 20 taps featuring cask and keg beers from independent breweries from around the world and has charming rooms upstairs for those who just don’t want to go home. Have we sold that well enough for you?

TAFARN SINC – ROSEBUSH, PEMBROKESHIRE

In the heart of the Preseli Hills, it’s known as Tafarn Sinc because of the corrugated galvanised iron used in its construction. In 2017 it nearly closed down – that would have been the end of a pub that had stood in its spot, in all its tinned glory, for more than 140 years, ever since it first opened as a hotel in 1876.

But a group of locals, as well as investors from around the world, clubbed together to keep it open. A glorious place packed with character, where a sign on the bar asks you to “start every conversation in Welsh”.

CWMDU INN – CWMDU, CARMARTHENSHIRE

Cwmdu is a tiny village in Carmarthenshire and the rooms in this pub are tiny to match. The pub is at the centre of the village and has been run by the community since 2000, with the beers coming mainly from Llandeilobrewed Evan Evans.

The Cwmdu Inn is only open in the evenings from 7pm to 11pm Wednesday to Saturday, so make sure you time your visit appropriately.

THE PRINCE OF WALES INN – KENFIG, BRIDGEND

Dripping with history, this inn dates back to the 15th century and over the past 600 years has served as a town hall, guildhall, courtroom, market, coroner’s court, Sunday school and even a mortuary for shipwrecked mariners. Unsurprisingly, then, it’s another pub on this list that stakes its claim to be the most haunted in Wales.

On the edge of the famous Kenfig dunes, it’s a welcoming place to head after a bracing coastal walk to recharge on Gower Gold beer and traditional pub food like Penclawdd cockles and laverbread. With lovely views, of course.

THE GOLDEN LION – NEWPORT, PEMBROKSHIRE

Sitting in the centre of the pretty village of Newport on the Pembrokeshire coast, the Golden Lion has been serving locals and travellers for more than 300 years.

With a good selection of local ales and Welsh ciders, in the winter months it’s a lovely place to cosy up next to a roaring fire. They also host regular live music nights on Saturdays.

YE OLDE MURENGER HOUSE – NEWPORT

Ye Olde Murenger House is a Grade II-listed pub which is famous far beyond Newport. It replaced an earlier pub built on the same site in the early 19th century. Serving up beer from Samuel Smith’s brewery, it can’t be beaten for a traditional city pub atmosphere.

The pub’s name relates to a murenger, whose job it was to collect tolls for the building or repairing of town walls. In this case, the walls of Newport castle.

MOLD ALEHOUSE – MOLD, FLINTSHIRE

Located in a Grade II-listed building opposite Mold Town Hall, Mold Alehouse became north Wales’ first micropub when it opened in 2016. With a great selection of real ales on cask and craft beers on keg, including regular taps from acclaimed local brewery Polly’s, the Alehouse has won multiple Camra awards including Vale of Clwyd Camra branch Pub of the Year 2020.

THE HARE & HOUNDS – ABERTHIN, VALE OF GLAMORGAN

The Hare & Hounds is a cosy, traditional Vale of Glamorgan pub on one side and a superb restaurant on the other, serving seasonal pub food including roast haunch of local venison and crispy pig cheek with pickled apple.

The pub itself, however, says it is “first and foremost, a thriving local watering hole” and it currently holds the title of Wales Pub & Bar of the Year at the National Pub and Bar Awards 2021. It’s also got a spacious beer garden that’s great for families and summer drinking.