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Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, Nottingham
Nottingham
NG1 6AD
Pub Type
Greene KingReviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Blackthorn _ left this review about Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem
Well described by many others below, this has been on my “to do” list for a long time as it’s allegedly the oldest pub in the country, and a plaque on the wall in the small courtyard beer garden says that’s it’s been going since 1189. It would be interesting to know what it was like then, the building on the front of the rock face certainly appears to be more recent than that, although it is still nonetheless an attractive timbered building.
Internally it’s something of a rabbit warren as might be expected from a pub that’s been hollowed out of the caves below the castle. It’s spread across a couple of floors, with the only original part of the ground floor being a small snug behind the bar counter. A larger room extended forwards adjacent to the courtyard. The snug was quite cosy and very dark. The walls and ceiling pretty much merged in to one as they were just hewn from the rock with no clear delineation between one and the other. A small fireplace made with black painted bricks was off to one side, and next to it stood a suit of armour dressed in some of the pub’s own apparel. Padded bench seating was fitted around much of the perimeter, along with small stools elsewhere. The light fittings looked as though they could have been commensurate with the pub’s age, albeit converted to electricity now. A few old books were on the mantlepiece and a further head from a suit of armour was on a shelf in the corner. The larger front room, whilst clearly not so old was nonetheless still quite pleasant, with slate style tiling on the floors, black beams on the whitewashed ceiling and exposed stonework on much of the walls.
Upstairs it opened out somewhat in to a larger room, again hewn from the rock, and there was another small bar counter in here, although this was not in use on our Sunday lunchtime visit. Décor wise it’s broadly similar to downstairs although much lighter due to the windows at the front. A long shaft extended a considerable way up through the rock, perhaps a ventilation shaft or chimney at one time. Up a few more stairs and down a passageway was a much smaller room with modern slate tiling on the floor but otherwise original perhaps, with a couple of swords mounted in display cases on the wall.
Beers on tap were Green King IPA, Old Peculiar, Abbeydale Absolution, Hardy & Hanson’s Olde Trip, Welbeck Abbey Saint James, Nottingham EPA, Stancill No 7, Beermats Matte Black and Milestone Cursed Galleon. Ciders meanwhile were Old Mout Berries & Cherries, Mortimer’s Orchard and Henry Weston’s Vintage. Overall, a real must visit, and despite the potential for it to be something of a tourist trap, it really didn’t feel like one and I could see myself visiting regularly if I were a local.
On 20th June 2025
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2082 recommendations about 1981 pubs]
Moby Duck left this review about Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem
I was somewhat dubious about visiting this pub given it's tourist trap reputation and avoided going in on an early Saturday evening, instead opted for an opening time visit on the Sunday, handily at 11.am, I'm glad I did, we had the pub to ourselves for a good fifteen minutes or so before one or two others drifted in,time to wander around the interesting multiple areas within the pub. Apart from a couple of their own beers on there is little to point to this being a Greene King run pub, which suits me. There was good beer choice available over a total of nine handpumps, I opted for a Beermats Prismatic in decent shape. I found this pub an excellent start to the day and will go as far as to say a must visit pub but timing is everything.
On 17th November 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2210 recommendations about 2176 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Strongers . left this review about Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem
I paid a long overdue trip to Ye Olde Trip on a recent Wednesday evening when it was reasonably quiet so I got to have a good look around what is apparently the oldest pub in the land. This is Greene King pub so obviously their Olde Trip was going to be on the bar alongside IPA. One of the other six hand pumps was reverse clipped which left Theakston’s Old Peculiar, Little Star Brewery’s Shipstones Original, Beermats Brewing’s Matte Black, Brewster’s Brewery’s Decadence and Welbeck Abbey’s Portland Black as the cask options. Premium keg is also available, and ironically England’s “oldest” pub is now card payments only. The staff were surprisingly friendly for a Greene King pub, let alone such a tourist hotspot.
There are at least two bars and lots of different seating areas including some upstairs that have been carved into the rock. I took a picture of the suit of armour, but I stopped short of buying a T-shirt. I think the highlight of my visit was meeting Lee, who would be world champion of Hook the Horn if there was such a thing. This game is basically a hoop on a length of string hanging from the ceiling and the aim is to swing it onto a hook on the wall. A great atmosphere was being generated as Lee challenged the tourists who passed through the small back bar to snag the hook. Not expecting much from my visit I actually left pleasantly surprised because my pint was decent, the service was welcoming, there was a good atmosphere, and it wasn’t too busy.
On 4th August 2023
- rating: 8
[User has posted 6168 recommendations about 6131 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem
Must visit pub for those into their pub history and quirky locations. Loads of information available about its claim to be the oldest pub in the land. Certainly feels like it when you are sat in a cave excavation with moody lights and its smells like a fusty old cellar.
Quiet on a Thursday night. A Nottingham brewery Legend seemed the locale thing to do.
On 23rd October 2021
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1655 recommendations about 1632 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem
Visiting on a Saturday afternoon is probably not recommended, but at least the warm, sunny weather meant that a fair number of people were sitting outside - in fact, by the time we came to join them it was standing room only out there. Given the popularity of the place, it was no surprise there was a queue for the bar and even when we followed the suggestion of moving around the corner to the hitherto empty bar extension, it still took 10 minutes to get served. There was a good selection of non-Greene King beers, mostly (if not all) local, which is to be applauded. Greene King get quite a bit of abuse, mostly because of their size and the concomitant industrial quality of their beers, but there are now a number of their pubs with a progressive beer policy. I went for the Nottingham Centurion, a 4.9% dark mild, while my companions went for the Welbeck Abbey Portland Black, with which I was already familiar; both beers were in very good condition. For a good look around the pub, on the other hand, I think I shall return on a wintery Tuesday afternoon.
On 6th May 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 4391 recommendations about 4036 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Al Bundy left this review about Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem
A large modern Wetherspoons like pu.... Well, maybe not. As its well reviewed here I'll give it a go. Multi-roomed with cave-like areas to sit, a dining room up some steps by the bar, a 'haunted snug' to the rear of the servery and a small outside bit to the right of the servery. 9 handpumps that I saw with Welbeck Abbey, Derventio and some other brewery on today.
On 27th April 2017
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3487 recommendations about 3390 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem
It seems that just about anybody who is anyone has visited this pub and reviewed it, so I thought I might as well have a go as well. Whether or not it really is the country’s oldest pub, as it claims, is anyone’s guess, but it most definitely is old. Built into the side of the hill, it has several different nooks, crannies and small drinking areas surrounding the servery. There are a couple of banks of pumps that I saw, so one has to make the effort to push past the throng in front of the first bar (that’s the way it was during my recent early evening visit) to see what ales are on at the back of the bar. Although it’s a Greene King house their ales didn’t dominate. We had pints of Shipstone’s Gold Star blond, which was a decent enough drop.
It must be over ten years since my previous visit, and I’m glad to say that it doesn’t seem to have changed one bit. It’s a pub full of character, and a must for any pub enthusiast visiting Nottingham. But for that reason it’s very popular and does get very busy. But it’s worth the effort nonetheless.
On 6th December 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2607 recommendations about 2521 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alex Conway left this review about Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem
A Nottingham institution and by far and away the best Geene King pub I have ever visited. The pub is carved into the caves of castle rock and is a wonderful tourist attraction. As you can imagine with theirr label “oldest inn in England" it does see its fair share of tourists but with credit to Greene king they have not taken advantage with their prices, keeping them very reasonable for the area and ensuring that locals still frequent that gives a nice mix of regulars and visitors.
A reason why I think I like this place so much is because though it is Greene king their brand and products are sparkly promoted giving the feel of a genuine free house with usually only one of their beers available such as IPA (although hardy and Hansons beers do usually feature as a homage to the pub formerly being owned by Kimberly, some could argue this means a few of GK beers are on offer). On my latest visit NO Green king beers were on offer instead there was a stellar choice of beers from the likes of Theakston’s (old perculier) Nottingham (Foundry mild) Oakham (infernio) as well as several others all from local breweries. My pint of Shipstons original was was in lovely condition and reasonable at £3.3 and I got a CAMRA discount on top of that. This pub really does tick all the boxes, good selection good quality, reasonable prices and an amazing atmosphere, truly a unique gem of a pub and one to visit for any Nottingham tourist.
On 15th January 2016
- rating: 9
[User has posted 459 recommendations about 459 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Peter Rydings left this review about Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem
Called here many times had a bad visit girl behind the bar hada face like a slapped a--e did not want to be there growled at us pulled to very bad pints of old trip Will call back like we always do when in this city
On 4th July 2014
- rating: 1
[User has posted 948 recommendations about 917 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem
A pub that has rooms all over the place with some cut into the rock. As well as Greene King beers there was a selection of good local beers.A bit of a tourist trap.
On 19th June 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]