8 Relaxing Pubs in Cambridge (By a Local!)

LOOKING FOR THE BEST PUBS IN CAMBRIDGE?

Then you’re in the right place, because I live in Cambridge and have visited most, if not all, of Cambridge’s pubs and can give you a definitive answer as to which are the best.

Whether you’re looking for pubs in Cambridge city centre, real ale pubs in Cambridge, or riverside pubs in Cambridge, I’ve got you covered in this Cambridge pub guide.

Most serve food, but some only have bar snacks and are real locals’ watering holes, if you’re looking for a more authentic taste of Cambridge life.

Because there are so many pubs in Cambridge, I’ve covered only the best ones here. If you want to be guaranteed a good time, any of these will be perfect.

The Blue Moon

Best Pub for Craft Beer in the Centre of Cambridge

📍 2 Norfolk St, Cambridge CB1 2LF

🍔 Food Served? Yes | 🍺 Website

The Blue Moon doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside it’s much more like a traditional pub with plenty of craft beer on offer along with some more unusual choices like sours.

They have over 100 gins on offer and 20 keg lines so you’re never going to be short for choice.

Food is the essentially only pizza with a variety of different toppings, although you can get olives and a few simple desserts.

The only slight annoyance is that you can’t order food at the bar, but instead have to order on their website via your phone (they do have WiFi), as the food side is a separate company from the bar side of the business.

The “garden” is a few tables in their car park, as you might expect from a city centre pub, but this doesn’t detract from the atmosphere.

They also host a wide range of events from the stage on the opposite side of the bar from the pub.

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Live and Let Live

Best Locals’ Pub in Cambridge

📍 40 Mawson Rd, Cambridge CB1 2EA

🍔 Food Served? No | 🍺 Website

Live and Let Live reopened in 2022 and has fast become a locals’ favourite. There’s a wide selection of real ales and craft beers, both from the cask and bottled, and they serve gluten free and no/low alcohol beer.

The beer selection is constantly changing, with recent highlights including Cowella, essentially a beer version of Nutella (!) and Pomelo citra pale ale from the Mad Squirrel Brewery in Hertfordshire.

Live and Let Live is also dog friendly and has an open fire in the winter, but as you would expect from a local pub, there’s no food other than bar snacks.

If you’re near Mill Road or the station, then this is the perfect backstreet pub for a real taste of Cambridge.

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The Free Press

Best Pub for a Couple’s Night Out

📍 7 Prospect Row, Cambridge CB1 1DU

🍔 Food Served? Yes | 🍺 Website

The Free Press is like a pub tardis – it looks much smaller from the outside than it is on the inside, with a decent courtyard garden at the rear.

It’s one of the older pubs in Cambridge at nearly 200 years old, and has long been a favourite with both the University crowd and locals.

Because it’s a little tucked away down a side street, it has fewer tourists than other city centre pubs, but is still pretty much in the middle of town.

You can just go for drinks, but the Free Press is an excellent place for food, particularly for couples who want a cosy night in a traditional pub as they have a “snug” which can seat up to four and is totally private with it’s own door. You really will need to book this in advance though.

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The Eagle

The Most Famous Pub in Cambridge

📍 Bene’t St, Cambridge CB2 3QN

🍔 Food Served? Yes | 🍺 Website

The Eagle must be the busiest pub in Cambridge – it’s always packed both inside and out whenever I walk by, and I’m sure it’s also the oldest, serving beer since 1667.

Tables are quite close together, so this isn’t the place for a romantic evening, but the beer garden through the double wooden doors to the side of the pub is lovely in the summer even though it doesn’t get much sun, surrounded by the historic building of the pub on three sides.

It’s also right next door to Jack’s Gelato if you want the best ice cream in Cambridge for dessert!

There’s a lot of history inside the Eagle, with a ceiling full of scribbles by WWII USAF and RAF pilots stationed nearby, and this was also the public announcement of the discovery of the structure of DNA by Crick and Watson in 1953 when Crick announced they had “found the secret of life,” to the disinterest of the regulars!

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There is also another Greene King pub just a few doors down from The Eagle, in the form of The Bath House. This is often a little quieter than The Eagle and lacks some of its history, but is otherwise equally as good.

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The Architect

Best Pub for Fish and Chips

📍 43 Castle St, Cambridge CB3 0AH

🍔 Food Served? Yes | 🍺 Website

The Architect was my local place for fish and chips when I lived on this side of town, and it was fantastic.

It’s more of a gastropub serving fancier fish and chips than you would get in a regular fish and chip shop, but that’s no bad thing.

They also serve pies which are very good, but I prefer the Cambridge Blue if you are specifically wanting pies.

The Architect has a decent selection of beers and ciders, with a 3 x 1/3 pint tasting paddle available, but fish and chips is definitely the focus.

I recommend the scotch egg starter and the white bait, and you can then choose the type of breadcrumbs and sauce for your fish – I always go for the panko breadcrumbs and remoulade and have never regretted it.

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The Punter

Best Gastro Pub in Cambridge

📍 3 Pound Hill, Cambridge CB3 0AE

🍔 Food Served? Yes | 🍺 Website

The Punter is an old coaching inn that has a bit of a shabby chic style, but has a strong range of food and a focus on wine, although ales are available.

You will definitely have to book a table here at night, particularly on weekends or Friday evenings, but lunchtime is usually fine for walk ins. The greenhouse on the other side of the courtyard from the pub is my favourite spot to eat.

Because The Punter is not quite on the Backs, but a bit further around, it doesn’t tend to get overloaded like other more obvious tourist hotspots like the Eagle. This gives The Punter a more relaxed feel, even though it’s really still in the centre of Cambridge.

The Punter is also dog-friendly.

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The Mill

Best Cambridge Pub by the River

📍 14 Mill Ln, Cambridge CB2 1RX

🍔 Food Served? Yes | 🍺 Website

The Mill is a small, traditional pub that also serves food, and as the name suggests, is right next to the River.

There’s plenty of wooden beams and fireplaces inside, but the real reason The Mill is on this list is because they offer takeaway pints in the summer, which you can carry over to Laundress Green and Coe Fen.

The whole area gets absolutely full of people picnicking in good weather on Friday evenings, and it’s a really pleasant atmosphere. If you want a drink by the river in Cambridge, The Mill is where you should go.

The beers are pub-standard, so you’re not really going to find much in the way of real ales or craft beers here, but there is a good gin selection and plenty of summer cocktails.

This is really the pub to visit on a nice summer’s evening.

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The Cambridge Blue

Best Real Ale Pub in Cambridge

📍 85-87 Gwydir St, Cambridge CB1 2LG

🍔 Food Served? Yes | 🍺 Website

The Cambridge Blue is a little out of the centre of town, but is the place for real ales and cider!

Unlike many of the other pubs in Cambridge, they don’t take table bookings so you can just turn up and get a seat, although as with all the pubs on this list, expect it to be busy in the evenings and weekends.

They have up to 14 real ales on tap, along with 6 or 7 ciders – the Cambridge Blue is the best pub in Cambridge for cider drinkers.

Their bottled beer list runs to 8 (!) pages, and you can see every one of their bottled beers here.

Food is by Gorilla & Lamb, and ordering operates the same way as the Blue Moon sister pub – you need to use your phone to order via their WiFi.

Pubs in Cambridge City Centre

If you don’t want to venture too far out of town, then the best pubs in Cambridge city centre are:

• The Pickerel on Magdalene Street, one of the oldest pubs in Cambridge.
• The Mitre on Bridge Street.
• The Maypole, down the pedestrian alleyway Portugal Place.
• The Champion of the Thames for real ales.
• The Grain & Hop Store for views over Parker’s Piece and good food.

Riverside Pubs in Cambridge

For a quiet drink by the river, go to:

• The Granta, next to the Mill Pond, where you can also hire punts.
• The Anchor for food.
• The Mill for a traditional pub where you can get takeaway pints to drink next to the river on Coe Fen.
• Fort St George with the river on one side and Midsummer Common on the other.

Best Pubs in Cambridge for Food

Eat some pub grub at any of these Cambridge pubs:

• The Petersfield for gastro pub style food.
• The Grain & Hop Store for chain pub style food.
• The Salisbury Arms for pizza.
• The Punter for higher-end food in a well-designed setting.
• The Architect for fish and chips.
• The Emperor for Tapas.
• The Free Press for an intimate setting.
• The Anchor for a more touristy setting by the river.

Which is the Overall Best Pub in Cambridge?

• Top real ale pubs in Cambridge include Live and Let Live, The Blue Moon and The Champion of the Thames.
• The best pub lunch in Cambridge is at The Punter.
• The best sunday pub roast is at The Geldart, a real locals’ pub.
• You can find the best pub food in Cambridge City centre at The Free Press.
• Cambridge pubs by the river include The Granta, The Anchor and my favourite, The Mill.
• Just outside of Cambridge, the best pubs in Grantchester are The Blue Ball Inn and The Red Lion.

There’s so many quality pubs in Cambridge that you can’t really go wrong. If you want something more for locals then you’ll have to go out of the city centre, but prices and quality are broadly the same wherever you go in Cambridge.

If you’ve got a favourite pub, let me know in the comments below!

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