Probably the best pub walks in the world

From invading Romans to visiting presidents, snap-shooting tourists to lurking film stars, guests to our country have always arrived with one item at the top of all their tick lists - "I want to see a real British pub." And who can blame them - a good country inn really is the best of Britain, past, present and, God willing, future. And things are only getting better - our pubs have always had the history and the horse brasses, but the finest now offer food, accommodation and service that deserve to make them destinations in their own right.

So, to mark the start of National Pubs Week, we asked five travel writers to raise a toast to their favourite pub weekends, in some of the most bucolic bits of Britain. Each has recommended a winter-warmer pub walk for Saturday, a sup_erior pub lunch for Sunday, and a snug inn for the night, where you'll find meals and beds that are really worth tucking into.

And if anybody should query your new mode of weekending, tell them it's all the rage in LA. You're not on a pub crawl, you're on a heritage break.

CHECKED THE suspension on your car recently? Well, it might be an idea if you do before venturing to the Sussex Downs. Bring the GPS as well - it's a maze around here. The lanes have a pothole for every twist and another for every turn, but the driving is enjoyable all the same: the arching trees make dark green tunnels in summer, but now, the bare branches form a guard of honour over your head, strobing the pale winter sunshine onto your windscreen (oh yes, bring the sunglasses, too).

In the hamlets, flint and thatch cottages remind you you're in Cold Comfort Farm country, while up on the bare hills, the brinish blast from the Channel beckons you to pull on that cagoule and yomp for Britain - as long as there's a foaming fireside pint at the end of it, of course. And we've sorted that out for you.

The crackling fire: it awaits at the Rose Cottage Inn in Alciston (01323 870377), but before the indulgence, a stroll. Well, a stiff walk, really. Oh come on, it's only three hours, and it will make the Harveys bitter (brewed a few miles away in Lewes) taste that much sweeter.

Armed with OS Explorer 123, follow the South Downs Way signs up from Alfriston towards Firle. It's a stiff climb, but the views at the top of the ridge are - well, they're verging on the indecent. It's a disconcertingly sensuous landscape: the voluptuous folds and curves of the downs taper into furze-filled clefts (that particularly suggestive one to your left is called Short Bottom).

Continue over Bostal Hill and Firle Beacon - more great views of the Channel and the Ashdown Forest - and descend into pretty Firle village. Then it's back along the old coach road that tracks the foot of the ridge, before taking a left at the triangular sign for Alciston, and lunch.

The Rose Cottage is a little shambolic, but all the cosier for that. There are harnesses hanging from the ceiling, eggs and honey for sale in the corner, a flock of stuffed birds, and one live one - Jasper, an African grey parrot, who holds court in the tiny bar. In fact, the whole place is a bit of a mess, but in a timeworn, loveable way.

"I've been coming here for 30 years," says a local, "and not much has changed. I'll have another pint of Harveys." You should join him in that, add the Jolly Posh Fish Pie (£8.95), and wrap yourself around them by the Victorian log fire, before the short stroll (really, this time) back to Alfriston.

Alciston South downs view from Rose cottage Inn

view of south downs

Accommodation

The Bar

Review from
The Daily Telegraph

Review from The Sunday Observer