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Cotswolds Info

Places to eat and drink in the South Cotswolds

25 places · every place verified by us

The South Cotswolds has Punch Pubs & Co's Pub of the Year for 2026 at Sherston, a two-Rosette kitchen in Lacock and old village pubs at Castle Combe and Biddestone, with a vegan pub and an abbey café in Malmesbury. Most welcome dogs, and many close early in the week.

The bar at the George, with an old dog-wheel beside a big open fire
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25 places

25 places

The village pubs

The Rattlebone Inn at Sherston was named Punch Pubs & Co Pub of the Year at the Great British Pub Awards 2026: a seventeenth-century pub with an AA Rosette kitchen, food every day, pizza in the barn at weekends and dogs welcome. It is the best reason in the South Cotswolds to eat away from the famous villages.

In Castle Combe, the White Hart, a fourteenth-century Wadworth pub on the street, opens at 9am for pastries and coffee and serves pub classics into the evening. A few miles away, the White Horse sits on the green at Biddestone, generous to dogs and muddy boots, with free parking opposite. It is closed on Mondays and opens only in the evening from Tuesday to Thursday.

Near Badminton, the Fox and Hounds at Acton Turville, a former coaching house, opens every day from 8am for breakfast, lunch and evening food, with a courtyard garden and dogs welcome.

Lacock

Lacock has two good choices. The George Inn, which traces itself to around 1361, serves food from midday to 8pm every day, with a play area for children and dogs welcome. The Sign of the Angel, a fifteenth-century coaching inn, has the village's best-regarded kitchen, with two AA Rosettes and a garden by the stream. It is cashless, and on Sundays lunch runs on to 7pm in place of dinner.

Tetbury and Malmesbury

Near Tetbury, the Cat & Custard Pot at Shipton Moyne welcomes dogs throughout and serves Sunday lunch until 7.30pm. In Tetbury and Chipping Sodbury, Hobbs House, the family bakery, sells bread and coffee from 8am, Monday to Saturday.

In Malmesbury, the Three Cups in Westport has a meat-free kitchen named best vegan pub in Wiltshire by Vegan Food and Living, and the Abbey Café serves coffee and soup inside the abbey church from Monday to Saturday.

Booking, closed days and dogs

Book the Rattlebone's restaurant and Sunday lunch at the White Horse, which takes bookings by phone. The Rattlebone's pizza nights take none. Many places close early in the week: the White Horse on Mondays, the Trouble House outside Tetbury on Mondays and Tuesdays. Dogs are welcome at most pubs on this page. The Sign of the Angel does not say. For the abbeys and gardens, see things to do in the South Cotswolds.

For Tetbury's arboretum, gardens and polo, see things to do in Tetbury.

Town by town: places to eat in Malmesbury and places to eat in Tetbury.

A timber-framed medieval inn with red flowers in window boxes on a village street
The Sign of the Angel, Lacock Photo: Nessy-Pic, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Our picks in the South Cotswolds

An award-winning pub at Sherston, two kitchens in Lacock, the old pubs of Castle Combe and Biddestone, a dog-friendly pub near Tetbury, a vegan pub in Malmesbury and a farm shop café near Chippenham.

All places

Before you go

Booking ahead
Book the Rattlebone's restaurant and the Sign of the Angel online, and Sunday lunch at the White Horse by phone. Pizza nights at the Rattlebone take no bookings.
Closed days
The White Horse at Biddestone closes on Mondays, the Trouble House on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the Abbey Café on Sundays.
Dogs
Welcome at the Rattlebone, the White Hart, the White Horse, the George, the Cat & Custard Pot and the Three Cups.
Payment
The Sign of the Angel is cashless.

Walks with a pub

Biddestone's heritage trail from the White Horse, Lacock over Naish Hill, Tetbury by Ashley, and Malmesbury by the River Avon.

All walks starting here

Questions

Where is the best pub in the South Cotswolds?

The Rattlebone Inn at Sherston, named Punch Pubs & Co Pub of the Year at the Great British Pub Awards 2026. It has an AA Rosette kitchen, food every day, gourmet burgers and a quiz on Mondays, and pizza in the barn on Friday and Saturday evenings. It is dog friendly and opens all day from noon. Book for the restaurant.

Where can I eat in Castle Combe?

The White Hart, a fourteenth-century Wadworth pub on the village street, opens at 9am for pastries and coffee and serves pub classics until the evening, with dogs welcome. On Sundays the kitchen closes at 6pm. For a quieter meal, the White Horse on the green at Biddestone is a few miles away, though it opens only in the evening from Tuesday to Thursday.

Where can I eat in Lacock?

The George Inn serves food every day from midday to 8pm, with a play area, a beer garden and dogs welcome. The Sign of the Angel, a fifteenth-century inn with two AA Rosettes, serves brunch, lunch and dinner and cream teas in its garden by the stream in summer. It is cashless, and on Sundays serves lunch until 7pm and no separate dinner. Book the Angel online.

Is there vegan food in Malmesbury?

Yes. The Three Cups in Westport, Malmesbury, has a meat-free kitchen serving vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free food, and was named best vegan pub in Wiltshire by Vegan Food and Living. Lunch is served Thursday to Saturday only and there is no food on Mondays, so check before you go. It is dog friendly, with live music on Sundays.

A tree-lined village street of stone houses with woodland rising behind

About the South Cotswolds

The southern wolds as they fall towards Bath and Wiltshire: Tetbury's Market House, Castle Combe's street by the By Brook, Malmesbury's abbey and Lacock beyond the edge.

Read our guide to the South Cotswolds

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