Places To Eat Near The Mendip Hills
Offering delicious, locally-sourced meals and award-winning Butcombe beers and ales on tap, our range of restaurants near the Mendip Hills are the ideal places for a bite to eat after a busy day exploring this picturesque part of Somerset.
The Rising Sun
We’re passionate about great food and drink at The Rising Sun – expect delicious seasonal dishes and hearty pub classics, with a focus on fresh ingredients and produce carefully sourced from our local suppliers. Behind the bar you’ll find a selection of award-winning beer from our own Butcombe Brewery, and you’ll notice that our menus and daily specials also feature our own ales where possible – like our Butcombe Gold beer-battered fish and chips. The Rising Sun offers a huge beer garden with children’s play area, and large carpark – the perfect place to stop after a day exploring the Mendip Hills.
The Swan Inn
A haven for walkers, cyclists and locals alike, The Swan Inn is all about delicious, locally-sourced food – pub classics, flatbread pizza, and tasty bar snacks – with a cosy, welcoming vibe and an impressive selection of award-winning Butcombe beer on the taps. Stop by after exploring the Mendip Hills, while walking your dog, or after visiting other popular Somerset attractions like Glastonbury Tor, Wookey Hole Caves or England’s smallest city – Wells.
The Bower Inn
With beer-battered fish and chips, our delicious ‘Bower burger’ and our famous Sunday roast, you’ll find something you love at The Bower Inn. Enjoy your locally-sourced meal in the refurbished, historical 18th-century cottage and beautiful gardens, and pair your dish with an award-winning pint of craft beer from behind the bar – the perfect end to the day after exploring the Mendip Hills.
The Lamb Inn
Not far from the wonderful scenery of the Mendip Hills, you’ll find The Lamb Inn – a charming, cosy, 15th century converted coaching inn, complete with traditional beams, open fireplaces, a beautiful beer garden for alfresco dining. For a characterful and historic place to enjoy a delicious, home-made, locally-sourced classic pub meal, paired with an award-winning pint of Butcombe beer, you can’t do much better than The Lamb Inn.
The Langford Inn
For a true taste of the West Country, you can’t do any better than The Langford Inn pub-restaurant. On the menu, you’ll find a mix of seasonal dishes with hearty pub classics, all made with local Somerset produce in a field-to-fork approach to sustainable dining. Bring your pup along after your day out taking in the Mendip Hills – The Langford Inn is dog-friendly, so your pooch will feel right at home!
The Pelican
In the heart of Chew Magna, not far from the picturesque hills of The Mendips, you’ll find The Pelican gastropub, with an intimate bar, cosy dining area, crackling log fire, and pleasant terraced beer garden for alfresco dining and drinking. Choose from the delicious seasonal menu of classic pub dishes, a range of local Butcombe beers, spirits and cocktails behind the bar, and sample a tasty, wood-fired pizza straight from the oven.
Ring O’ Bells
The Ring o’ Bells is a local legend in Compton Martin and throughout Somerset, boasting secret live music gigs from renowned pop artists like Kylie Minogue, Paul Weller and Coldplay, while retaining its traditional country gastropub vibe. It boasts a beautiful beer garden, kids’ play area, live sport, locally-sourced pub grub and cracking selection of award-winning Butcombe beers and real ales behind the bar. Book a table while you’re exploring the Mendip Hills and stop by after to enjoy modern twists on hearty pub classics, unlike anything you’ve had before.
Rowberrow Warren Circular Walk
Rowberrow Warren is a beautiful woodland walk, set on a hillside with large winding paths and a small babbling stream meandering through the bottom.
Although the pathways are relatively steep, the wonderful panoramic views are a reward in themselves when you reach Burrington Common at the top.
Rowberrow Warren is also popular with mountain bikers, but there is plenty of room for everyone to enjoy the nature, wildlife and tranquility that this area offers.
Dolebury Warren & Hill Fort Circular Walk
Now a haven for wildflowers and butterflies, Dolebury Warren is the site of an Iron Age hillfort, boasting panoramic views of the Bristol Channel and the Welsh Coast on clear days!
Dolebury Warren takes its name because of its use as a rabbit warren during the medieval era, and there is still an abundance of rabbits and other wildlife in residence to this day.
Once you reach the top, enjoy the beautiful walk along the top of the ancient Hill Fort, before descending down into Rowberrow Woods. Once you reach the bottom of the woods, follow the stream back until you reach the woodland exit.
Black Down Circular Walk
Black Down is an extensive area of heathland, and the highest point in The Mendip Hills.
From the School Lane entrance, follow the stream along before taking the path that crosses the stream up into the woodland. Continue to follow the path out of the woods to the open area of Beacon Batch. At the gate, go straight across and begin a long, gentle ascent up to the trig point, where you can enjoy panoramic views across North Somerset.
However, if you want to reach the top in the quickest time possible, then you should begin from the Burrington Combe car park. This will reduce your ascent to approximately 1 kilometre.
View the full circular route.
The Strawberry Line Cycle Route
Largely traffic-free with no steep gradients, The Strawberry Line is one of The Mendip’s most popular cycle paths. The 9 mile route takes in a variety of landscapes, from the spectacular Cheddar Gorge and historic town of Axbridge, the steep wooded valleys and a tunnel through the Mendips, to the flat marshes and cider apple orchards around Yatton.