One of those names that might have visiting Americans sniggering — google it for the slang — this pretty, petite pub is thought to actually take its name from a hot air balloon that landed opposite; sketches of it are not in short supply.
The pub (1767) is older than the balloon (1783); whatever it was called for the first 16 years or so has been lost to history. Across from the inn are views of fields that go on forever; inside, it is cosy with its worn wood and old maps on the walls.
A free house, beers are local and cared about; prices are low. It is the sort of pub to come to with a dog, both of you exhausted from the walk, and settle in for an afternoon of idle chatter, until the light goes, and the table leaves blinking into the darkness, wondering where the time went.
57 Broadway, Grantchester, Cambridge, grantchester.co.uk
