The UK’s best pub in 2026, according to the Great British Pub Awards

Crowning the greatest pub in the land is serious business. Here at Time Out we recently had a go, naming Manchester’s Peveril of the Peak as Britain’s finest boozer in our annual ranking. But we’re far from the UK’s only drinking connoisseurs: this is a country of pubbing fantatics.

On that note, the Great British Pub Awards has announced the esteemed winner of Pub of the Year 2026. Not to be confused with the Pub and Bar Awards or CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year, the Great British Pub Awards are organised by the Morning Advertiser and utilise a ‘rigorous multi-stage judging process’ that includes site visits and interviews. This is the 27th edition of the awards.

This year’s winner is a familiar one: The Tamworth Tap. Judges were impressed by the Staffordshire drinkery’s ‘extensive and high-quality drinks offer’, with 12 cask ales and 20 keg lines, as well as a sizable bottled and canned selection and a ‘premium’ wine list.

The Tamworth Tap sits in a 16th century building and is the home of the Tamworth Brewing Company. The Great British Pub Awards described the place as a ‘vibrant microbrewery taphouse’ and argued that it ‘has an outstanding commitment to the community’ thanks to its regular events. Here’s a couple of pics of the place in all its glory. 

The Tamworth Tap was also named the Great British Pub Awards’ Best Beer Pub, while it has won CAMRA’s prestigious National Pub of the Year gong three times (in 2022, 2023 and 2025).

Pub of the Year was far from the only prize at the 2026 Great British Pub Awards. Other categories included Best Country Pub (which went to The Red Lion in Cranford), Best Pub for Dogs (The Maltings, Warrington), Best Pub Garden (The Tichborne Arms, Alresford) and Best Pub to Watch Sports (GOAT, Nantwich).

Great British Pub Awards 2026 Winners

You can find a full list of winners at the 2026 Great British Pub Awards below.

• Best Beer Pub and Overall Great British Beer Pub of the Year – The Tamworth Tap, Tamworth, Staffordshire
• Best Community Pub – The Swan, Clewer, Windsor
• Best Country Pub – The Red Lion, Cranford, Northamptonshire
• Best Pub for Dogs – The Maltings, Old Hall, Warrington
• Best Pub for Entertainment – Black Swan Public House and Theatre, North Walsham, Norfolk
• Best Pub for Families – The Plough Prestbury, Cheltenham
• Best Pub for Food – The Kirkstyle Inn and Sportsman’s Rest, Slaggyford, Northumberland
• Best Inn – Sponsored by St Germain – The Lion Malpas, Cheshire
• Best Pub Garden – Sponsored by Diageo – The Tichborne Arms, Alresford, Hampshire
• Best Pub to Watch Sports – Sponsored by TNT Sports – GOAT, Nantwich, Cheshire
• Best Town Pub – Dr Foster, The Docks, Gloucester
• Admiral Taverns Pub of the Year – The Crown, Fordham, Cambridgeshire
• Greene King Pub of the Year – The Old Ship Inn, Perth
• Marston’s Pub of the Year – The Honey Bee, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
• Punch Pubs & Co Pub of the Year – The Rattlebone Inn, Sherston, Wiltshire
• Stonegate Group Pub of the Year – The Cow Shed at the Ship Inn, Ospringe, Kent

There were no London pubs among the winners, though you can find Time Out’s guide to the capital’s top boozers here.

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