The Victoria Inn, Eastleach
Pubs · Eastleach and Southrop
An Arkell's pub on the green at Eastleach Turville, an inn since 1856, looking down over the village and the River Leach; closed on Tuesdays.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Places to eat and drink in the Coln Valley
25 places · every place verified by us
The Coln Valley eats in village pubs by greens and rivers, from Eastleach to St John's Lock, with cafés and a wine bar in Cirencester and a community shop at Coln St Aldwyns. Prices run from a midweek set lunch at Ampney Crucis to the Thyme estate's kitchen at Southrop.
25 places
25 places
Village pubs by the water
The best eating in the Coln Valley is in its village pubs, and several sit by water. The Victoria Inn at Eastleach, on the green above the River Leach, has been an inn since 1856. Park there, walk down to the two churches and come back for lunch. The Trout Inn at St John's Lock near Lechlade has a riverside garden and log fires in winter, and is closed on Mondays.
At Southrop, the Swan is the village pub of the Thyme estate, with fires, low ceilings and a menu from the estate's kitchen garden and farm. It is the expensive choice locally. The Inn at Fossebridge, where the Fosse Way crosses the Coln, has 4 acres of riverside gardens, and the Sherborne Arms below Aldsworth serves Bibury trout.
In Fairford, Lynwood & Co at 2 High Street opens from 8am every day for breakfast, coffee and lunch, a few minutes from St Mary's and its medieval glass.
Bibury and Coln St Aldwyns
In Bibury, Eleven Bibury is the place to sit down: a café and brasserie opposite Arlington Row, open every day from 9am to 5pm, with walk-ins and dogs welcome. Come for breakfast before the coaches. Up the river, Coln Community Stores at Coln St Aldwyns is the village shop, café and post office, owned by the people who live there.
Cirencester, Kemble and the station
In Cirencester, Sam & Jak on Cricklade Street is a café by day and a wine bar and restaurant from Wednesday to Saturday evenings. The Organic Farm Shop on Abbey Home Farm, where organic conversion began in 1990, has a café a short drive out on the Burford Road, closed on Mondays.
The Tavern Inn, a short walk from Kemble station, is the easiest lunch without a car. Arkell's says it opened in the 1890s as the Coffee Tavern because the station had no refreshment rooms, and railway timetables are kept in the bar. It has a big garden, children's play areas and an EV charger, and is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The Thames Head Inn, a short walk from the source of the Thames, serves food from 11am, or noon on Sundays, until 8.30pm.
Booking, prices and dogs
The Crown at Ampney Brook's fixed-price menu, two courses for £24.95 from noon to 5pm, Monday to Thursday (2026), is one of the cheaper ways to eat well. Book at weekends everywhere. Dogs are welcome at Eleven, the Swan, the Tavern and the Crown, in the bar and restaurant at the Victoria, in the bar at the Sherborne Arms, and in the bar at the Thames Head if you say so when you book. For Cirencester's cafés, see places to eat in Cirencester.
For one town at a time, see places to eat in Fairford and places to eat in Lechlade.
Our picks in the Coln Valley
Eleven for coffee opposite Arlington Row, the village shop at Coln St Aldwyns, the Swan for the estate's cooking, the Victoria and the Trout for a pub by the water, the Tavern for a lunch off the train, the Thames Head for the source of the Thames and the Organic Farm Shop's café.
All places-
Eleven Bibury
Cafes and tearooms · Bibury
A café, brasserie and gallery shop at 11 The Street, Bibury, opposite Arlington Row, open every day from 9am to 5pm, with a terraced garden and the village post office.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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Coln Community Stores
Cafes and tearooms · Coln St Aldwyns
The village shop, café and post office on Main Street, Coln St Aldwyns, owned by local residents and the Countryside Alliance's best shop in the south west for 2026.
Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Swan, Southrop
Pubs · Eastleach and Southrop
The village pub of Southrop, part of the Thyme estate, with roaring fires and low ceilings in a building recorded from 1606, serving lunch and dinner from its kitchen garden and farm.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Victoria Inn, Eastleach
Pubs · Eastleach and Southrop
An Arkell's pub on the green at Eastleach Turville, an inn since 1856, looking down over the village and the River Leach; closed on Tuesdays.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Trout Inn
Pubs · Lechlade-on-Thames
A family-run pub by St John's Lock at St John's Bridge, Lechlade, recorded as an inn by 1692, with a riverside garden and fishing rights on the Thames.
Walker-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Tavern Inn, Kemble
Pubs · Kemble
An Arkell's pub a short walk from Kemble station, with a large garden, children's play areas, dogs welcome and food from Wednesday to Sunday.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Thames Head Inn
Pubs · Kemble
A pub serving Arkell's beers on the A433 between Cirencester and Tetbury, a short walk from the source of the Thames, open all day with food from 11am, four rooms and a campsite.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Organic Farm Shop
Farm shops and delis · Cirencester
An organic farm shop and café at Abbey Home Farm on the Burford Road outside Cirencester, which began its organic conversion in 1990, with walks round the farm and EV charging.
EV charging
Verified Oct 2026
Before you go
- Booking ahead
- Book the Swan at weekends and for Sunday lunch everywhere. Eleven Bibury takes walk-ins. Book its afternoon tea, served from 3pm to 5pm, by phone.
- Prices
- From the Crown at Ampney Brook's two courses for £24.95, noon to 5pm, Monday to Thursday (2026), to the Swan at Southrop, the expensive choice locally.
- Dogs
- Welcome at Eleven Bibury, the Swan, the Tavern Inn and the Crown at Ampney Brook, the bar and restaurant at the Victoria, the bar at the Sherborne Arms, and the bar at the Thames Head if you say so when you book.
- Closed days
- The Trout Inn closes on Mondays, the Victoria on Tuesdays, and the Tavern Inn and the Sherborne Arms on Mondays and Tuesdays.
- Without a car
- The Tavern Inn is a short walk from Kemble station, on the line from London Paddington.
Walks with a pub
Eastleach and the Victoria, Lechlade to the Trout at St John's Lock, Coln St Aldwyns to Bibury, and a loop from Cirencester's pubs.
All walks starting here-
Eastleach and the River Leach
Walk · Starts in Cirencester and the Coln Valley · 1 hr, 45 mins · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 4.4-mile (7.1km) circular walk from Eastleach, an hour and a half to two hours with about 70m of climbing and plenty of mud: past two Norman churches and over the Leach, up the quiet valley to the Roman Akeman Street, and back down the other side to the Victoria Inn.
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Lechlade and St John's Lock
Walk · Starts in Lechlade-on-Thames · 45 mins · Circular · Dog-friendly
A flat 3-mile (4.8km) circular walk from Lechlade's Market Place, easy and about an hour: out to the Round House where the Coln and the old canal meet the Thames, back along the meadows past Ha'penny Bridge to St John's Lock and the Trout Inn, home by Shelley's Walk.
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Coln St Aldwyns and Bibury
Walk · Starts in Coln St Aldwyns · 2 hrs, 45 mins · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 6.5-mile (10.6km) circular walk from Coln St Aldwyns, moderate and two and a half to three hours: up the River Coln and through Oxhill Wood to Bibury and Arlington Row, then back over the open wold by the Roman Akeman Street to the village pub and shop.
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Cirencester Park, Pope's Seat and Stratton
Walk · Starts in Cirencester · 2 hrs · Circular
A 5-mile (8km) circular walk from Cirencester's parish church, easy and taking one and a half to two hours: up Cecily Hill and a mile along the Broad Ride to Pope's Seat, past the polo grounds to Stratton, and back by the streams past the open-air pool.
Good food, once a month
New openings, riverside pubs and what is in season in the Coln Valley and across the Cotswolds, in your inbox about once a month.
Questions
Where is the best pub in the Coln Valley?
For a village pub with a walk, the Victoria Inn at Eastleach, on the green above the River Leach, with food from noon to 9pm from Wednesday to Saturday. For cooking, the Swan at Southrop, the Thyme estate's pub, at estate prices. For a riverside garden, the Trout Inn at St John's Lock near Lechlade. Book all three at weekends.
Where can I eat in Bibury?
Eleven Bibury, opposite Arlington Row, is the café and brasserie in the village, open every day from 9am to 5pm, with walk-ins and dogs welcome. The kitchen stops at 5pm, apart from summer evenings from Friday to Sunday. For a pub lunch, the Sherborne Arms below Aldsworth is about 3 miles away, and Coln Community Stores at Coln St Aldwyns, up the river, has a café.
Which Coln Valley pubs welcome dogs?
Most of them. The Tavern Inn at Kemble takes dogs throughout the pub and garden, the Swan at Southrop welcomes them too, and the Sherborne Arms takes them in the bar. The Crown at Ampney Brook and Eleven Bibury welcome well-behaved dogs, and the Thames Head Inn takes them in the bar if you say so when you book. Arkell's lists the Victoria Inn at Eastleach as dog friendly in the bar and restaurant.
Where can I eat by the Thames at Lechlade?
The Trout Inn at St John's Bridge has a riverside garden by St John's Lock. The building began as an almshouse in the thirteenth century and became an inn in the late fifteenth; it is closed on Mondays. Lynwood & Co on the Market Square serves breakfast and lunch from 8am every day, and closes at 4pm, or 3pm on Sundays. Walk between the two on our Lechlade and St John's Lock walk.
About Cirencester and the Coln Valley
Cirencester, the Roman town of Corinium, and the River Coln running past Bibury, Coln St Aldwyns and Fairford to meet the Thames by Lechlade.