Christmas on tap: six of the best UK pubs for the festive season
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Santa is coming and these pubs are going to town with their tinsel and fairy lights, as well as hosting special drinks and events over the festive season. It’s hard to imagine a list of Christmassy pubs without the maximalist Churchill in Kensington. Its outside is usually covered in flowers, while inside, where Thai food and pints of London Pride are served, the ceiling and walls are hung with a strange collection of artefacts: lanterns, butterflies, 100 assorted chamber pots, second world war memorabilia and pictures of Winston Churchill, whose grandparents were regulars. In winter there are extra decorations (fake greenery, presents, north pole signs), and the exterior swaps the pansies and petunias for dozens of fir trees and thousands of lights. There’s a post box by the door, reindeer near the roof and a giant Ho Ho Ho in lights over the window.
![[Sleigh and Reindeer pub, Harrogate. ]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8ad9ff2bdb9157f3881d2334a880001d4ea918c4/0_167_5000_3000/master/5000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Of course, the Churchill is heaving with tourists, locals and Instagrammers. “This is the last quiet day until January,” says a barman on an already crowded afternoon just before the pub’s November lighting-up day. When you’ve snapped a couple of pictures, you could stroll round the corner to the family-run Mall Tavern for real ales, comfort food and live blues. The Mall’s tasteful decorations include garlands and a tree in the candlelit bar. Both pubs are halfway between Holland Park and Kensington Gardens – well-placed for elegant, scarf-toting city walks.
![[Queen Victoria Inn, Priddy, Somerset]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d14c8b8bd882955be430a9d3e930dc88d6e08880/0_0_4032_3024/master/4032.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
