These are unusual times, and the state of affairs can change quickly. Please check the latest travel guidance before making your journey. Note that our writer visited pre-pandemic.
Despite being fairly rural, Somerset has some great, characterful cocktail bars as well as traditional inns. Its country pubs are brimming with history and individuality. Some don’t have a bar but serve beer from kegs in a central room, or out of hatches. Many still have skittle alleys or corners set aside for table skittles. Expect lots of local cider, though the craft beer revolution has caught on, so many pubs also offer independently brewed beer. Lately a new movement has seen natural and biodynamic wines featuring on wine lists. In the county’s arty pockets you can find talented mixologists too, who incorporate local produce into botanical cocktails.
Mendip Hills
The Litton, Litton
This sprawling, stylishly decorated pub plays feelgood hits and fosters a party atmosphere at weekends. In summer, its wraparound gardens are a sociable spot, when a bar in a vintage horsebox opens and garden games are available. In winter, expect fire pits beside the stream and blankets. The inn is a boutique hotel, so its interiors are furnished in loving detail, with vintage-style lights, nooks beside fireplaces, sheepskins and beautiful bars, including a copper-topped whiskey bar. A beer flight sampling local brews is recommended for those who can’t make up their minds, as well as a menu of classic cocktails, wine and natural wine.
Contact: 01 761 24 15 54; thelitton.co.uk
Prices: £
