Red Lion

The Red Lion sits in Windsor and Maidenhead with its roots stretching back centuries - the kind of place that's absorbed more conversations, deals, and local gossip than most buildings can handle. It's a proper historic pub, the type where the floorboards creak in all the right places and the walls seem to remember everyone who's ever walked through the door.

This isn't somewhere you visit for attractions in the modern sense. You come for the atmosphere, the architecture, and if you're into social history, for the layers of stories embedded in the brickwork and beams. It's the sort of spot that makes sense if you're already in Marlow - just a few miles away - exploring the riverside walks or working your way around the local pubs of the Thames Valley. The real appeal is context: standing in a room where people have been standing for hundreds of years, nursing a drink, watching the light change.

If you're camping at one of the nearby sites - Penn Meadow Farm, Shillingridge Glamping, or any of the half-dozen others within a five-mile radius - the Red Lion works as an evening destination rather than a day-out focal point. Don't expect grand tours or visitor facilities. Expect to sit, possibly eat, definitely soak in the weight of time. It's worth an hour if you're in the area and have a taste for that sort of thing. History-minded adults will get more from it than families with restless children.