So where do you fancy a pint tonight?

So many pubs, so little time... Good job that Venue's drunken researchers have come up with a list of top fives that you definitely can't go wrong with.

5 OF THE BEST...
Smoking facilities

Ha! Ha! Bar and Canteen
Tram Shed, Walcot St, Bath
• The front patio, heated to keep smokers happy all night, is the place to see and be seen.
The Kensington Arms
35-37 Stanley Rd, Redland, Bristol
• Nicely appointed heated patios.
The Mall
The Mall, Clifton, Bristol
• Excellent selection of beers and a rather pleasant garden for nicotine addicts and non-smokers.
Old Market Tavern
Old Market St, Bristol
• Warm, friendly pub with secluded, suntrap beer garden which had a major makeover in time for the smoking ban.
Pig and Fiddle
2 Saracen St, Bath
• Perennially popular pub with a large outdoor area, part heated, to keep smokers happy.

5 OF THE BEST...
Pub quizzes

The Barley
32 Bathwick St, Bath
• Fun, friendly but challenging quiz with a prize for the top three teams.
Bishop’s Tavern
Cheltenham Rd, Bristol
• Lots of interactivity, using the large screens for movie and music clips.
Green Park Tavern
Lower Bristol Rd, Bath
• Includes the legendary ‘creative’ round, which could include anything from model making to limerick writing.
The Lansdown
8 Clifton Rd, Clifton, Bristol
• Fun, boozy and occasionally bizarre, where cheating and physical challenges are positively encouraged.
Old Mail House
Staple Hill, Bristol
• Landlord Alan’s fortnightly quiz is fiendishly difficult but good-natured, and the winning team take the pot.

5 OF THE BEST...
Loos

The Bell
16-18 Hillgrove St, Stokes Croft, Bristol
• The toilet graffiti art has to be seen to be believed.
The Belvedere
25 Belvedere, Lansdown Rd, Bath
• Beautifully kept, nicely finished and extremely comfortable.
Bordeaux Quay
V-Shed, Canons Way, Bristol
• Well-appointed, eco-friendly loos which reuse harvested rainwater, offer organic cotton flannels and use energy-saving lighting.
The Common Room
2 Saville Row, Bath
• The bizarrely decorated ladies is a shrine to royal kitsch.
Luna
Richmond Terrace, Clifton, Bristol
• Tasty and stylish club with leather sofas and low tables. The toilets are beautifully designed.

5 OF THE BEST...
Views

Hare and Hounds
Lansdown Rd, Bath
• There’s a staggering view over the valley and a great garden that fully exploits it.
New Inn
Blagdon
• A favourite of Venue’s Group editor: fantastic views over Blagdon Lake and towards Dundry.
Packhorse Inn
Southstoke, Bath
• The garden offers magnificent views over the rolling Somerset countryside.
Pony & Trap
Newtown, nr Chew Magna
• No one-armed bandits, pool tables or TVs, just fabulous views across the Chew Valley from the equally fabulous garden.
The Retreat One World Bar and Bistro
18 Providence Lane, Long Ashton
• This chilled-out funky hideaway is perched high on a hill boasting wonderful views to Dundry.

5 OF THE BEST...
City gardens

The Farm
Hopetoun Rd, St Werburghs, Bristol
• Huge, relaxed garden with kid-friendly play area.
The Lansdown
Clifton Rd, Clifton Village, Bristol
• Unique half-covered garden with sundeck.
Park Tavern
Park Lane, Victoria Park, Bath
• The back garden - lovingly tended twice a week by a gardener - is a real suntrap.
Sub 13
4 Edgar Buildings, Bath
• Look out for sculptures and artwork amid the shrubbery in the gorgeous little garden.
White Lion Bar and Terrace
Avon Gorge Hotel, Sion Hill, Clifton, Bristol
• Probably the best view in Bristol. Sup a beer on the vast terrace and gaze out over Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Avon Gorge.

5 OF THE BEST...
Live music pubs

The Bell
103 Walcot St, Bath
• Bath institution, with everything from jazz to folk, and it’s all free.
The Croft
Stokes Croft, Bristol
• Leftfield cutting-edge acts and a cornucopia of up-and-comings.
Fleece & Firkin
St Thomas St, Bristol
• Stone-flagged floors and long single bar hosting big local/national names all week long.
The Porter
2 Miles Buildings, George St, Bath
• This much-loved Bath institution is more than just a pub, doubling as one of the city’s best vegetarian eateries and an awesome free live music venue.
Thekla Social
The Grove, East Mud Dock, Bristol
• Great bar, great deck, great food and a great live line-up too.

5 OF THE BEST...
Real ale pubs

The Cross Hands
1 Staple Hill Rd, Fishponds, Bristol
• Sport-free real ale haven with 12 of the blighters on offer at any one time.
Inn on the Green
2 Filton Rd, Horfield, Bristol
• Big, cheerful pub with fearsome reputation for real ales: just ask CAMRA.
Merchants Arms
Merchants Rd, Hotwells, Bristol
• Bath Ales pub, so expect quality beers - Spa, Gem, Barnstormer - in four-pint jugs.
The Pulteney Arms
37 Daniel St, Bath
• Great traditional boozer with wooden floors, roaring open fires and five real ales on tap.
Star Inn
The Paragon, Bath
• Real ale nirvana, with heaps of CAMRA-approved tipples, including Abbey Ales, London Pride, IPA and Bass straight from the jug.

5 OF THE BEST...
Gastropubs

The Hole In The Wall
2 The Grove, Queen Square, Bristol
• Extensively refurbished to provide a beautiful, informal pub and eatery with a contemporary menu.
Hop Pole
7 Albion Buildings, Upper Bristol Rd, Bath
• Still putting most restaurants to shame. Guinea fowl to terrine of ham hock.
King William
36 Thomas St, Bath
• Hugely popular with Bath’s foodie cognoscenti and the national press alike.
The Salamander
3 John St, Bath
• With its own highly-rated restaurant, the Leveret, upstairs.
The Star and Dove
75-78 St Luke’s Rd, Totterdown, Bristol
• Owned and run by Jamie Oliver protégée Eamon Fullalove, another great addition to Bristol’s burgeoning gastropub scene.

5 OF THE BEST...
Family-friendly pubs

The Annex
Seymour Ave, Bishopston, Bristol
• Kid-friendly conservatory and a beer garden.
The Crown
Bathford Hill, Bathford
• Back garden has a climbing frame, slide and swings to keep the little ’uns occupied while the big ’uns play darts and pool indoors.
The Dolphin
Locksbrook Rd, Lower Weston, Bath
• The garden is fully equipped to cater for children, with a safe play area.
The Fairfield Arms
1 Fairfield Park Rd, Bath
• Kids and dogs are more than welcome both in the pub and in the large beer terrace.
Ring O’Bells
Compton Martin, nr Bristol
• Boasts a gorgeous beer garden, play area for kids, and a special room for parents and toddlers.

5 OF THE BEST...
Live sport pubs

Clifton Sports Bar
Gordon Rd, Clifton, Bristol
• With two separate Sky feeds you can watch rugby in one room and footy in another.
The Curfew
11 Cleveland Place West, Bath
• Spacious, bright lounge upstairs, complete with 42” plasma-screen TV for Sky sports, and leather armchairs.
The Full Moon and Attic Bar
Stokes Croft, Bristol
• With big-screen sports, pool, games machines and a soon-to-launch internet café.
Hobgoblin
Gloucester Rd, Bishopston, Bristol
• Lots of sports shown on a drop-down screen, plasma TV and three other screens too.
The Luckwell Hotel
Luckwell Rd, Bedminster, Bristol
• Sports fans are well catered for, with darts and pool teams, Sky TV and a huge pull-down screen for major events.

5 OF THE BEST...
For games & stuff

Cadbury House
Richmond Rd, Montpelier, Bristol
• Legendary drinking institution in Bristol’s bohemian quarter, with unusual open-air pool table.
Charmbury Arms
69-70 Brook Rd, Twerton, Bath
• Must be one of the only pubs in the country with a skittle alley in the bar itself.
The Elbow Room
64 Park St, Bristol
• This trendy, friendly, laidback pool bar hosts pool competitions every Mon and Tue.
Merchant’s Arms
Merchants Rd, Hotwells, Bristol
• Chess, draughts, cribbage, dominos and other games in the back bar.
Rose of Denmark
6 Dowry Place, Bristol
• Community pub where sing-songs, board games, chess and shove ha’penny help create an all-inclusive atmosphere.

5 OF THE BEST...
Dog-friendly pubs

Beckford Arms
Hindon Lane, Fonthill Gifford
• Delightful 18th-century country inn with CAMRA-rated real ale, log fires and a lovely garden that’s dog-friendly too.
The Chequers
Inn River St, Bath
• A smart, contemporary bar with a community-pleasing child-friendly and dog-friendly policy.
Coopers Arms
12-13 Ashton Rd, Ashton, Bristol
• Friendly, family-run one-bar Victorian hostelry with a nice beer garden out back where dogs are always welcome.
The Cross Keys
Midford Rd, Bath
• Friendly pub, popular with ramblers and their best friends too.
Plume of Feathers
Rickford, nr Blagdon
• A lovely stream-side location plays host to a 300-year-old brewhouse where children and dogs are welcome.

5 OF THE BEST...
Waterside

Bathurst Arms
North Cerney
• Set right on the edge of the River Churn, there’s a pretty flower-filled garden running down to the river.
Cross Guns
Avoncliff
• Set on the canal towpath, the views from this lovely, 16th- century inn are as beautiful as anything you’ll see.
The George
Bathampton
• Fabulously popular, with grassy canal side gardens perfect for lazy days.
Jolly Sailor
Mead Lane, Saltford
• Incredible riverside location with its own island and lock, and plans to introduce an outside pizza oven in time for summer.
Riverside Inn
49 St Margaret’s St, Bradford on Avon
• A truly unique find: gorgeous listed pub on the riverbanks of Bradford on Avon.

5 OF THE BEST...
For cider

The Apple
Welsh Back, Bristol
• Innovative cider pub set on an old Dutch barge. Essential for anyone serious about cider.
Beaufort Arms
23 High St, Clifton, Bristol
• Real ale, lots of ciders and several perrys.
Coronation Tap
8 Sion Place, Clifton, Bristol
• Home of the infamous Exhibition along with seven locally-produced ciders.
Cotham Porter Stores
15 Cotham Rd South, Bristol
• Famed all over town as one of Bristol’s finest traditional cider houses.
The Royal Oak
Lower Bristol Rd, Bath
• As CAMRA Pub of the Year 2007 (Bath and Borders), it’s best known for its ales, but there’s Stowford Press, a guest cider for scrumpy lovers and a perry too.

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