Roger Protz, editor, Good Beer Guide

I love the Bankes Arms in Studland, Dorset. The vast beer garden over the road from the pub gives superb views over Studland Bay and the Channel. The pub is owned by the National Trust and is a 200-year-old fishermen's and possibly smugglers' haunt, with beams and open fires. The next-door Isle of Purbeck Brewery's excellent ales are available from handpumps in the pub. Good grub and accommodation are also on offer.

• 01929 450225; bankesarms.com

Jo Tinsley, outdoors editor, BBC Countryfile magazine

For dramatic views to accompany your real ale, head to The Ship Inn, north of Craster in Northumberland. The inn is tucked into a sheltered corner of Low Newton, an 18th-century fishing village owned by the National Trust, from which you can look out onto one of Northumberland's most dramatic seascapes as the raging North Sea pummels the brooding ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle. In summer customers spill out onto the green, occasionally entertained by live folk music. To top it all, the inn has recently installed its own micro-brewery. The lobsters, caught locally at Newton Bay, are so fresh you can watch the local fisherman carrying them up in buckets from the beach.

• 01665 576262; shipinnnewton.co.uk

Melissa Cole, beer writer and partner, lovebeer@borough (lovebeeratborough.ning.com)

When the sun comes out I can be found, glass of Kew Gold in hand, basking on the terrace of the Ye White Hart in Barnes, south-west London. It's a glorious pub with engraved glass windows and a large oval bar, but its riverside location makes it special. You can sit on the towpath, but I favour the terrace in the early evening because I love to watch the water turn from sun-sparkled to oily black.

• Ye White Hart, Barnes: 020 8876 5177

Alan Power, head gardener, Stourhead, Wiltshire

The Spread Eagle Inn sits on the edge of the Stourhead estate. You can get a pint and look out across acres of landscaped gardens, providing an ideal transition from the bustle of everyday life to the wonders of the 18th-century landscape. Enchanting temples, monuments and rare planting around a tranquil lake can be seen from the pub, which is open - like Stourhead garden - almost every day of the year.

• 01747 840587; spreadeagleinn.com

Iain Loe, research manager, Campaign for Real Ale

The New Inn in Blagdon, Somerset, is a 16th-century whitewashed pub with exposed beams, horse brasses, comfy sofas and two large fireplaces to add warmth in winter. The beer garden offers views of the Mendips and Blagdon Lake, a gathering ground for migrating birds. The pub garden is an ideal spot for twitchers, with binoculars in one hand and pints of Wadworths 6X in the other.

• The New Inn, Blagdon: 01761 462475