The Howard Arms
Pubs · Ilmington
A 400-year-old stone inn on Lower Green in Ilmington, with a log fire, a restaurant, a snug and a garden, eight bedrooms and food from breakfast to dinner every day.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Places to eat and drink in the North Cotswolds
38 places · every place verified by us
The North Cotswolds is Donnington Brewery country, with village pubs on greens from Broadwell to Guiting Power, and two kitchens recognised by Michelin, at Bourton-on-the-Hill and in Stow. Tea rooms and cafés fill the gaps in Chipping Campden, Moreton and Broadway.
38 places
38 places
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The Kings Arms, Mickleton
Pubs · Mickleton
A village pub and restaurant on the High Street in Mickleton, with low beams, log fires, a garden, a menu that changes every week and dogs welcome on a lead.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Kingsbridge
Pubs · Bourton-on-the-Water
A Marston's pub on the River Windrush in Bourton-on-the-Water, with a beer garden by the water, food from noon to 8pm every day, cask ales and dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Lamb Inn, Great Rissington
Pubs · Great, Little and Wyck Rissington
A Brakspear pub with rooms in Great Rissington, a short drive from Bourton-on-the-Water, with a seasonal pub menu, Sunday roasts, private dining and EV charging.
EV charging
Verified Nov 2026
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The Old Bakery Tearoom
Cafes and tearooms · Stow-on-the-Wold
A tearoom in Fountain Court off Digbeth Street, Stow-on-the-Wold, run by Jackie and Alan since 2005, where all the food is made on the premises and dogs come in.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Old Butchers
Restaurants · Stow-on-the-Wold
A restaurant in a former butcher's shop on Park Street, Stow-on-the-Wold, run by Pete and Louise Robinson since 2005 and listed by Michelin.
Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Old New Inn
Pubs · Bourton-on-the-Water
A Grade II listed eighteenth-century inn in Bourton-on-the-Water with nine rooms, classic British food, a beer garden and the Model Village in its grounds.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Old Prison Café, Northleach
Cafes and tearooms · Northleach
A daytime café run by Relish in Northleach's Georgian house of correction on the Fosse Way, with free parking and free entry to the cells and courtroom.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Plough Inn, Ford
Pubs · Guiting Power
A Donnington Brewery pub on the B4077 at Ford, near Temple Guiting, serving food all afternoon and evening from Wednesday to Saturday and lunch on Sundays. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Verified Nov 2026
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The Red Lion, Ilmington
Pubs · Ilmington
A Hook Norton pub on Front Street in Ilmington, with an open fire, a secluded garden, a modern British menu and dogs welcome, and two cottages to let in its old forge and barn.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Redesdale
Pubs · Moreton-in-Marsh
A Brakspear pub with rooms on the High Street in Moreton-in-Marsh, open from 8am, with local produce and ales, a terrace and Sunday roasts.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The White Bear
Pubs · Shipston-on-Stour
Donnington Brewery's eighteenth-century coaching inn on the square in Shipston-on-Stour, with two bars, pub classics from Wednesday to Sunday, Aunt Sally in the garden and rooms.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Willow
Pubs · Bourton-on-the-Water
A Fuller's pub on the High Street in Bourton-on-the-Water, open from 10am, with a garden and outside seating, food all day, and dogs and families welcome.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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Zonda at the Halfway
Pubs · Guiting Power
A pizza pub at the Halfway in Kineton, about a mile from Guiting Power, with small plates, Sunday roasts and a set lunch, open Wednesday to Sunday.
Verified Oct 2026
Village pubs
Donnington Brewery's pubs are the locals in many villages of the North Cotswolds, and they make the best case for leaving the honeypots. The Golden Ball in Lower Swell, a mile from Stow, serves big homemade plates with dogs welcome in every room. The Fox at Broadwell cooks game and offal as the season brings them, and the Coach and Horses at Longborough has a log fire and a Sunday roast with a choice of joints.
Further north, the Red Lion at Ilmington pours Hook Norton by an open fire, and the Kings Arms in Mickleton is the pub at the end of the walk from Hidcote. In the high country between Stow and Broadway, the Plough at Ford is a roadside Donnington pub, and the Farmers Arms at Guiting Power ends the walk from the village.
In Moreton-in-Marsh, the Black Bear is the Donnington Brewery town pub on the High Street, with a 40-seat restaurant, Sunday roasts and sport on the bar's screens.
Where to eat well
The Horse and Groom at Bourton-on-the-Hill, run by two chefs since 2024, has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand since 2025, kept in the 2026 guide, and a dish of the day for £16 (2026). In Stow, the Old Butchers has been run by Pete and Louise Robinson since 2005 and is in the Michelin Guide. The menu changes daily. Both need booking, and the Horse and Groom takes a card to hold the table.
For something lighter, Blockley Café is a chef-led café that takes walk-ins by day and bookings for dinner, and Broadway Deli serves brunch all day. Huffkins has cafés on the Square in Stow and the High Street in Moreton, and the Bantam Tea Rooms face the Market Hall in Chipping Campden.
Booking, prices and dogs
Prices run from Zonda's midweek lunch of a pizza and a side for £20 (Wednesday to Friday, 2026) and Thai mains mostly under £15 at the Black Horse in Shipston to dinner at the Old Butchers. Book for Sunday lunch everywhere, and check the days: the Golden Ball, the Plough at Ford and Zonda at the Halfway in Kineton close on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the Old Butchers on Sundays and Mondays.
Dogs are welcome in most of the pubs named here, and at Huffkins and Blockley Café downstairs. The Howard Arms in Ilmington keeps them to the bar and garden. Children are welcome too, with children's menus at the Golden Ball, the Fox and the Kings Arms. In Bourton-on-the-Water, the Willow on the High Street serves food all day. For the gardens and houses, see things to do in the North Cotswolds, and for the rest of the region, food and drink in the Cotswolds.
For the sights, see things to do in Bourton-on-the-Water and in Moreton-in-Marsh.
Our picks in the North Cotswolds
Bib Gourmand cooking at Bourton-on-the-Hill, Stow's Michelin-listed restaurant, four village pubs that welcome dogs, a chef-led café in Blockley and all-day brunch on Broadway's High Street.
All places-
The Horse and Groom
Pubs · Bourton-on-the-Hill
A Grade II listed inn at the top of Bourton-on-the-Hill, owned by Donnington Brewery and run since June 2024 by the chefs Nathan Eades and Liam Goff, with a Michelin Bib Gourmand, a large garden and dog-friendly rooms.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Old Butchers
Restaurants · Stow-on-the-Wold
A restaurant in a former butcher's shop on Park Street, Stow-on-the-Wold, run by Pete and Louise Robinson since 2005 and listed by Michelin.
Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Golden Ball
Pubs · Upper and Lower Swell
A Donnington Brewery pub in Lower Swell, about a mile west of Stow-on-the-Wold, run by a mother and daughter, Fiona and Becky, with homemade pub food, a beer garden and dogs allowed throughout.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Fox Inn, Broadwell
Pubs · Stow-on-the-Wold
A Donnington Brewery village pub overlooking the green at Broadwell, just north-east of Stow-on-the-Wold, run by Peter Creed and Tom Noest, with seasonal pub food, game and offal, and food all day on Sundays.
Verified Nov 2026
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The Red Lion, Ilmington
Pubs · Ilmington
A Hook Norton pub on Front Street in Ilmington, with an open fire, a secluded garden, a modern British menu and dogs welcome, and two cottages to let in its old forge and barn.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Kings Arms, Mickleton
Pubs · Mickleton
A village pub and restaurant on the High Street in Mickleton, with low beams, log fires, a garden, a menu that changes every week and dogs welcome on a lead.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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Blockley Café
Cafes and tearooms · Blockley
A licensed, chef-led café on Bell Lane in Blockley, joined to the community-funded village shop, open every day for breakfast, lunch and cream teas, with booked dinners from Wednesday to Saturday and dogs allowed downstairs.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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Broadway Deli
Cafes and tearooms · Broadway
An independent delicatessen and café on Broadway High Street, opposite the Lygon Arms, open since 2002, serving brunch all day with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices.
Verified Oct 2026
Before you go
- Booking ahead
- Book Sunday lunch everywhere, and dinner at the Horse and Groom, the Old Butchers and Blockley Café. Broadway Deli takes no bookings.
- Prices
- The Horse and Groom's weekday dish of the day is £16, Zonda's pizza and a side £20 at lunch from Wednesday to Friday, and the Black Horse's Thai mains £11.50 to £14.50 (2026).
- Dogs
- Welcome at the Golden Ball, the Red Lion, the Horse and Groom, the Kings Arms and Huffkins. At the Old Butchers, only dogs under 10kg, and say so when you book.
- Mondays
- The Golden Ball, the Plough at Ford and Zonda close on Mondays and Tuesdays. The Coach and Horses and the Farmers Arms serve no food on Mondays.
Walks with a pub
A loop from the Farmers Arms at Guiting Power, the Hidcote walk to the Kings Arms, Stow to Lower Swell, and Northleach from the Market Place.
All walks starting here-
Guiting Power and Naunton
Walk · Starts in Guiting Power · 3 hrs, 30 mins · Circular
A 6.3-mile (10.1km) circular walk from Guiting Power's green, moderate and three to three and a half hours with two stiles: south on the Windrush Way round Gazeley Wood past Aylworth, up by the golf course above Naunton, and home on the Wardens' Way.
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Mickleton, Hidcote and Kiftsgate
Walk · Starts in Chipping Campden · 2 hrs, 15 mins · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 5-mile (8km) circular walk from Mickleton, moderate and about two and a quarter hours: up through the woods and fields to Furze Lane, along quiet lanes to Hidcote Boyce, north past Hidcote's garden and manor, then down the edge of Kiftsgate Court's grounds to Mickleton.
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Stow and Lower Swell
Walk · Starts in Stow-on-the-Wold · 1 hr, 45 mins · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 3.6-mile (5.8km) moderate loop from Stow-on-the-Wold of about an hour and three quarters, down the fields by Nether Swell to the River Dikler at Hyde Mill, up Mill Lane to Lower Swell's Norman church and Lutyens war memorial, and back to Stow beside the B4068.
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Northleach, Hampnett and the Saltway
Walk · Starts in Northleach · 2 hrs · Circular
A 4.5-mile (7.2km) circular walk from Northleach's Market Place, easy, stile-free and about two hours: out past the Old Prison to Hampnett and its painted Norman church, south by bridleway to the old Saltway, and home past Winterwell Barn to the wool church.
Good food, once a month
New openings, Sunday lunches worth booking and what is in season, in your inbox about once a month.
Questions
Where is the best pub near Stow-on-the-Wold?
For food and a proper village pub, the Fox at Broadwell and the Golden Ball at Lower Swell, just outside Stow and both Donnington houses. The Fox cooks seasonal game and offal and serves all day on Sundays. The Golden Ball welcomes dogs in every room but closes on Mondays and Tuesdays. Book either for Sunday lunch.
Are there Michelin-recommended restaurants in the North Cotswolds?
Yes. The Horse and Groom at Bourton-on-the-Hill has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand since 2025, kept in the 2026 guide, for classic British cooking at fair prices, and the Old Butchers in Stow-on-the-Wold is listed in the Michelin Guide (2026). Book both: the Horse and Groom asks for a card and charges for late cancellations, and the Old Butchers closes on Sundays and Mondays.
Which North Cotswolds pubs are dog friendly?
Most village pubs are. The Golden Ball at Lower Swell allows dogs everywhere but the kitchen, the Red Lion at Ilmington has a fire to sit by with the dog, and the Horse and Groom takes dogs in the pub and its bedrooms. The Kings Arms in Mickleton welcomes dogs on a lead. The Howard Arms keeps them to the bar and garden.
Where can I get afternoon tea in the North Cotswolds?
The Bantam Tea Rooms in Chipping Campden, opposite the Market Hall, bake cakes and scones daily in their own bakery; ring to check the day's opening hours. Huffkins in Stow and Moreton serve afternoon tea seven days, and in Stow you can book it online. The Old Bakery Tearoom in Stow makes everything on the premises, but it closes on Thursdays and Sundays.
Which North Cotswolds pubs are open on a Monday?
Several close or stop cooking on Mondays, so check first. The Red Lion and the Howard Arms in Ilmington and the Kings Arms in Mickleton serve food every day, and Huffkins opens daily in Stow and Moreton. The Golden Ball, the Plough at Ford and Zonda close on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the Coach and Horses at Longborough serves no food on Mondays.
About the North Cotswolds
The high wolds between Chipping Campden and Bourton-on-the-Water: the Fosse Way towns, the Windrush villages, the Slaughters and the escarpment at Broadway.