Prince of Wales, Farnborough

To call the Prince of Wales the best pub in Farnborough is certainly no understatement. My intended crawl of the town pre and post football was somewhat curtailed due to finding it almost impossible to tear myself away from the bar. A pub since at least 1867, it is a fair trek from the Main station but just a couple of minutes from Farnborough North although it is worth the effort from whatever angle you approach it. The patterned windows still indicate the original Lounge and Public bars although the interior is now knocked through with the drinking areas wrapped around a central bar. The rear section to the left is sectioned off by part of the interior wall that contains a fireplace and there are some unusual styles of brickwork to be found. Apart from the locals, it is clearly popular with CAMRA members and certificates line the walls as testament to their past endeavours. Despite the presence of Fullers memorabilia it is not a Fullers pub and the ales here are as good as you’ll find in these parts in respect of both selection and quality with 10 hand pumps (5 on each bar) - the front pumps containing the regular ales (London Pride, Youngs, Ringwood 49er, Hop Back Summer Lightning and Dark Star Hophead) with the rear 5 being a selection of excellent guest beers. One beer each month is selected as the session beer and is priced a little cheaper than the others. Regular beer festivals are also held. Foodwise there is a selected pub grub menu with some 2 for £10 offers although I didn’t waste time with food when the beers were priority. The staff and regulars were very chatty and more than welcoming and my Saturday lunchtime visit turned an intended couple of pints into a couple of hefty sessions interrupted by a trip to the football ground for which they even offered a lift!). If there is just 1 pub in Farnborough that you visit, you can’t go too far wrong here.

Official site of the Prince of Wales, contains real ale details - www.princeofwalesfarnborough.co.uk

Excellent real ale haven( about 2 mins walk from Farnborough north station and 10 mins from main line station) , 5 regular beers(front bar) and 5 ever changing gusts(back bar), all kept in top nick. Beer festival is October 15th/16th/17th this year( 2010) with around 40 beers on offer and usually 3 or 4 ciders too.

The place to go for real ale in Farnborough. The list of beers and prices are put on a blackboard which is handy to save the trouble of paying too much! They often hold beer festivals here.

Village type pub in suburban area of North Farnborough. Two bars either side of the entrance, both quite comfortable and popular. The décor is traditional, a bit of brewers half timber, panelling, herringbone brickwork in small doses, anaglypta / lincrusta on the walls and ceilings. 5 hand pumps in the bar I used, with a good mix of well kept regional and micro breweries represented. Customers were mainly an older age group but not exclusively so and not just local suburbanite commuter types. I can see why it may not appeal to some, but this is in Farnborough where the choice of pubs ranges from the mostly bloody awful to the occasional good; this is one of two pubs in the place I would actually use more than once.