The Ship and Castle Pub in Ceredigion

We were recommended by some CAMRA colleagues back in Shropshire, for us to visit The Ship & Castle Pub, and we finally managed to get there after opening time on a Friday afternoon in early March. A warm friendly welcome from the Barman, who we assume was the Landlord?, and he made us feel immediately at home in this hidden gem of a pub. The pub is spacious, well decorated, and well furnished and has everything you would want from a good local pub experience. After regularly visiting nearly every Pub in the Aber and surrounding areas over the past 40+ years, I just can't believe why we haven't found this wonderful pub before, and we have to say The Ship and Castle is now at the top of our own Pub League venues to visit and relax in, every time we visit Aber. We will be back again soon! and we will enthusiastically recommend a visit to The Ship and Castle to all our visiting friends and relatives too.

Nice, clean & comfortable inside with plenty of choice of ale & spirits. Welcoming & helpful staff who were quick to serve. Clientele friendly too. Parking nearby in any side street. Well worth a visit.

Rugby and a few beers in a friendly pub. Ian keeps a great pint in an excellent pub. Always nice and clean and ample seating to watch sport. Sadly the pool table is gone but there is now extra seating and another TV (possibly not so new as I haven't been for 6 months) . Can't wait for next visit! Keep up the good work 🙂

Weekend trip to Aber, the locals recommend the Ship. Being an Australian on holiday I dutifully marched to the pub, via the castle to ensure I was at peak thirst. We got a great reception from Ian and staff, beer was extra cold, pub was homely and clean with a great vibe. Keep up the great work 👊

Looking for a quiet pub on a Sunday afternoon. Had meant to visit previously. Found the Ship and Castle partly by luck but what a superb establishment. A couple of ciders to suit most tastes and a wonderful selection of Ales. Would recommend for anyone who appreciates a well kept, quality beer.

Nice pub situated up the back streets at the top of town Tucked away but worth seeking out has about 5x beers on hand pump and craft beers from the likes of Beavertown and Tiny Rebel ect Nice traditional interior and good jukebox

The ship and castle encapsulates everything that a local pub should be. Fantastic selection of ales, courteous bar staff and an all round friendly atmosphere. As a student at the Uni this is one pub I enjoy frequenting.

Immaculate vibes, a really great selection of drinks and always my first choice for a pub. Tom the barman is so so lovely. Definitely the best pub in Aberystwyth without a doubt!!

What a great place, atmosphere and beer always excellent. Every time I visit Aber, I visit the Ship. It's my go-to place for watching rugby and have been once or twice per year for 20 years. Atmosphere is brilliant and there's always plenty of fans from multiple nations having great banter together. All beers are kept well, every time I've been & staff always very good. Looking forward to next visit!

Fabulous pub, with five great real ales. Friendly locals, friendly bar staff..., comfortable surroundings and sensible prices. Every town/city should have a pub like this!

Great pub. Range of real ales and ciders. Brilliant landlord and team. Comfy with fantastic friendly atmosphere. Must visit if you like a good pub.

For a great choice of proper hand pulled real ale there really is no better pub. Good covid protection in place and feels really safe. (But don't tell everyone, I want to be able to get a table!)

This pub situated in an area of housing just off the town centre offers a choice of 5 or so real ales, a friendly atmosphere, seating options away from the bar area and clean toilets.

Lovely pub with great staff. Really nice selection of beers and importantly a good selection of proper ciders!

Super local farm boys singing real welsh hymns Attentive staff serving stunning Staropranenn Beautiful staff Fabulous ambiance Best pub in Aber x

Pretty much my favourite pub anywhere. Friendly, welcoming establishment run by a landlord who is genuinely passionate about keeping and serving excellent beer. I’ve frequented the Ship & Castle when visiting family in Aberystwyth over the last ten years and have come to regards as my ‘local’ - albeit 170 miles from home.

There is no point in writing completely new text as nothing has changed since my last vist two years ago. My only regret is that living in the far corner of England means that my visits are so infrequent. Here is the recycled review - the beers have changed but all are excellent!"I first drank in the Ship & Castle in 1967. In those days it was a quiet locals pub into which students hardly ever ventured. It was a friendly little place where you could always get chatting to someone you did not know about some obscure subject - walking sticks made out of cabbage stalks on my first visit.This is a follow up to my previous review eighteen months ago which began with the above words. It is now a Mecca for real ale and cider drinkers. It still serves an interesting range of real ales and ciders. I sampled the Salopian Lemon Dream and Harbour Cornish Bitter, both refreshing and well kept. The range of beers is probably too challenging to be sampled in its entirety, so the pub offers an ingenious alternative, a platter of five one third pint samples. Early on a Friday evening the place was fairly quiet but tends to get packed later on. It is one of my favourite pubs on the planet."

We didn't have a meal here but we had a few pints and the quality of the beer is fantastic , plenty of real ales and all well kept. Not on the main street of Aberystwyth but worth looking for.

Lovely friendly ‘locals’ pub. All bar staff throughout the week my friends and I drank there were a delight. Ever changing range of exemplary condition cask ales with good variation in variety of hops and styles of ale on offer. More spacious than it seems from the outside and people are happy to share tables. Fantastic. Go here - ignore most other pubs in town.

Super miejsce w pobliżu plaży i zamku. Na kranach kilka gatunków piwa rzemiesniczego. Super klimat, super obsługa, fantastyczny smak. Obecność obowiązkowa.

If you like well-kept real ales at reasonable prices, friendly service and some good locals to talk to, then this pub should be on your list to visit Aberystwyth.

Visited this pub many times. Its tucked away off main road sells a good selection of real ales and other alcoholic drinks. Always a great atmosphere in here with very welcoming and friendly staff.

Great little traditional pub offering an impressive range of local and regional ales on tap. Friendly staff who give you a warm welcome. Music was via the jukebox when I was there.

Great pub with welcoming staff even if your not Welsh! Lots of real ales 🍺. Visit this pub lots always a good atmosphere 😁

Using the camera Ap we searched for a good old proper pub - no students- no tourists(only us) . Great line up of real ale - tasters available. Result

Tucked away off the main road I was guided by a couple of locals I've been working with.

Great friendly pub, serving a good choice of regular ales and guest ales each week. Definitely the one to visit when in Aber.

Was told about this pub by a couple locals I knew, went to Aber for the weekend & wasn't disappointed, great choice of ales catering for all, staff were excellent, one in particular unfortunately didn't get his name but from Manchester new about the beers being sold, they had Bt sport so could watch the football on Saturday afternoon, best pub in aber for real ales.

Definitely one of the better pubs in Aberystwyth - looks like it may have been refurbished relatively recently. Friendly staff and good choice of drinks.

I visited the Ship and Castle on a quiet Thursday evening in March. It was quietly busy with local drinkers and got busier as the evening progressed. The bar had five real ales on plus a few keg. As a life member of CAMRA the quality was very good and the service very friendly. An excellent pub. I would recommend to anyone visiting Aberystwyth.

Love this pub. Always made welcome. Friendly landlord, well kept real ales. Great atmosphere even if your English 😂

My favourite pub in Aberystwyth. Has a decent select of good ales and ciders. Good atmosphere and a nice place to spend a couple of hours.

Very nice traditional pub. Not for good selection of beers (it's quite poor) but for the atmosphere. But I had one very unpleasant experience there. The bartender was very rude. Maybe he had a bad day but it has no right to insult the guests as he offended me by commenting on my culture where he was not right at all. But luckily, it's a lonely example of an rude individual in an otherwise beautiful city.

Primero bebimos en la nave y el castillo en 1967. En esos días fue un tranquilo pub en el que estudiantes locales casi nunca nos aventuramos. Era un lugar pequeño y agradable donde siempre hay alguien que charlando con no saber sobre algunos temas de obscuro bastones hechos de tallos de repollo en mi primera visita.

Lovely little pub very friendly bar staff, loved the art work on the wall, was very quiet on our visit

Paramos aquí para un rápido pinta antes de ir a cenar. Pysgoty Como un verdadero bebe ale este pub cumplía un montón de cajas, una buena selección de cervezas, incluyendo desde el Bach Butty Wye Valley Brewery, una de mis favoritas además de una ale oscura local. Buena selección de gin tonics y varios. Asientos confortables y agradables, aunque la televisión era en la esquina de Rugby no era mostrando entrometidos. En general, un pequeño pub.

La noche del viernes por un ale degustación, recibido por el propietario y ofrece una selección de cervezas que cambian periódicamente. Un murmullo de charla y risas, ya que la gente disfrute de este pub local. Muy recomendable, pero no muchas personas! ! No quiero cambiar este pub pintoresco!

Un pub decente. Cerveza bien cuidado y el personal del bar hablador y amable para nosotros y sus habitantes. Recomendado.

Si te gusta ale o pubs muy bueno, este es el lugar para ir. Ian, el encargado, un hombre que sabe cómo mantener una buena cerveza y muy amable. Altamente recomendado.

Este es un excelente pub. Tiene una increíble selección de cervezas. El propietario es un hombre muy amable. Recomiendo encarecidamente este establecimiento para todos los amantes de la auténtica cerveza.

Un gran pub (no servían comida) - deportes, mesa de billar en condiciones sólidas, el dueño es un encantador local, personal y buena compañía

Nice cosy pub but could do with more comfortable seats for the older people. Could do with more seats in the pub. Beer prices were a little steep but we enjoyed our visit. The staff were friendly and polite.

A very cosy pub. Good decoration and atmosphere. One of the oldest one. A good selection of beers. In Aberystwyth centre, a place mandatory to go for the ones are visiting the town

I was staying nearby in Aberystwyth for an evening and thought I'd scout out a few local pubs. I'm generally looking for pubs with a good, friendly atmosphere and and decent selection of real ale or craft beer, and the Ship and Castle didn't disappoint with five pumps featuring Salopian and Wye Valley beers. I visited out of university term time, so it may be busier and rowdier in teaching weeks, but of the four nearby pubs I tried this was by far the best.

This is the best real ale traditional pub in Aber but frankly from what I experienced it doesn't have a lot to beat.However in saying that this is a very decent pub and would stand up to stiffer competition was any to be offered.I can well understand its somewhat awkward long and thin internal set up gets rammed at weekends but it was pleasantly quiet for my Monday afternoon visit. Five pumps operational and the house Wye Valley Butty Bach and HPA were complemented by Oakham Inferno, Salopian Matrix and Otley O2 Croeso and the couple we tried were in excellent condition.

Best trad pub we could find in town. Although there is hardly any competition we were surprised by the poor standard of public houses in the small city, but this please was fine.

Traditional pub located just a short walk away from Great Darkgate Street (turn left after the Market Hall and you'll soon get there). Serves a very good range of real ale and guest lagers too. Well worth a visit if in town and you like your ale.

Proper pub, real beer and cider, though does not seem to be the same on offer night to night, as they constantly rotate their guest beers. There were a dozen of us and everyone marked it 10 for quality of beer.Do not visit unless you have the time and inclinations to kick back, take your time and savour what is on offer.Will definitely visit if ever in Aberystwyth again

A great selection of real ales to be had here. Its a pleasure to find a landlord that obviously has the real Ale knowledge!The Butty Bach is to die for...Give it a go you will not be dissappointed

I'm originally from Canada and have told anyone who will listen about this pub. It's where I had my first real cider and first tastes of proper ales about 4 years ago (all kept in excellent condition). The bar staff are knowledgeable and always willing to let you taste something. Anytime I come to Aberystwyth, I make sure to visit this fantastic pub.

A proper Public House, great range of quality beers and lagers, varied clientele, locals and students.

Great pub in the heart of aber fantastic selection of real ales bubie Bach was my personal favourite Great atmosphere with a landlord who knew his ales and beers and how to treat his customers A true gem of a pub Enjoy

Most probably the finest real ale pub in Aber... Amazing Mr Porkys pork scratchings... Does that count as food... Who cares ...great staff... Great beer choice... Great ambience.

Amazing fish and chips! The staff are perfect and the landlord is pretty ace. Definite place to go!!

I first drank in the Ship & Castle in 1967. In those days it was a quiet locals pub into which students hardly ever ventured. It was a friendly little place where you could always get chatting to someone you did not know about some obscure subject - walking sticks made out of cabbage stalks on my first visit.Over the years it has changed. The beer has become better and better, and good ciders were added. Whenever I come back to the old town I look in here, usually on a Friday or Saturday night when it is absolutely packed full. The atmosphere is exceptional and exudes friendliness. It is one of the best pubs I know anywhere in Britain.

Easily the best pub in Aberystwyth, Well kept beer, usually 5 pumps,with ale to suit all tastes.A must for every beer loving visitor.

An excellent pub. Friendly with good beer. I stayed overnight in Aber and met up with some friends here. We had a cracking evening. A great pub - if you are in Aberystwyth definitely drop in here! :-)

Traditional cosy pub. Very welcoming. Would buy a house here just to make this my local. Good selection of beers and not teeming with students. A little treasure.

Disappointed to see such top ratings and arrived for lunch but they do not open until 2pm. Street parking only. Hopefully will make it back to try.

This has to be the best pub in Aberystwyth. Staff are friendly, knowledgeable about the best variety of Real Ales in Aberystwyth. There's a reason this pub is in the CAMRA Best Pubs guide... If you only go in one pub in Aberystwyth make sure this is it.

We came upon this pub during our travels of Aberystwyth and decided to pop in for a visit. We always enjoy frequenting pubs that locals frequent and are traditional UK pubs. We were not disappointed. The place was packed with locals hanging out for the evening, engaged in intimate conversations without blasting music or sports TV (no TV for that matter). The bar keep knew many of the regulars and kept the vibe at this place intimate and casual. There was a pool table available, and many intimate and communal spots to hang out. I highly recommend this place.

I have been going to the Ship and Castle regularly for years and the atmosphere and good service make this pub second to none in Aberystwyth. The decor is charming, the staff are all happy to work in such a nice pub and serve you with a genuine smile on their faces. The landlord is incredibly friendly too, as are the (very) regulars and locals. Also suffice to say that the beer is excellent, with a wide selection of guest ales, ciders and many other drinks. This is however a drinking pub, so don't expect to eat anything other than crisps, pork scratchings or peanuts.

Has some nice beer, but the Gents toilet is a horror show. I threw up over the smell. It permeates into the bar as well making the place stink. Not going back there again.

Not a bad pub with good beer selection. BUT then I went to the toilet and it stunk so badly of stale urine I actually gagged!

Super friendly staff. We were staying at a B&B around the corner and stopped in for a quick pint. The atmosphere was nice and there was a good variety of options for a drink. The staff was friendly and there was a welcoming feel to the place.

Great beer selection but commented that we couldn't have more than two very small tasters between three people. Made the interaction awkward and unpleasant for us as customers. If they are recommended by CAMRA I would advise they rethink given the lack of passion towards enhancing the customers real ale drinking experience.

This pub is in the Camra Good Beer guide for a very good reason. It has a good variety of regular ales and a varied mix of guest ales from various breweries and microbreweries. Always a friendly atmosphere - with great mix of locals and students mingling together. Staff are knowledgable and let you have "tasters" - which is always good if you're not sure on an ale... All in all, if you love your ales, and don't like Wetherspoons - then this is the only place to be in town :-)There's a jukebox, large screen tv and a pool table if you fancy a bit of entertainment as well as the ale :-) Great place - happy to be a regular. See you there!

The Cider gave me runs and the staff are arrogant who assume instantly they know more than you do about everything.

If you are a connoisseur of real ales, this is a place to visit. With upto 6 different ales at a time, kept in excellent condition it is well worth a pint or two. However it is a favourite with locals, so dont expect to get a seat in the already squeezed ale house. If you like your bartenders to be friendly, this is not the place for you. Come here for the ales, but dont stay long

Visit or live in Aberystwyth and not call at this pub and you'll have missed something very special indeed. Having tried and tested a very great many hostelries in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales and beyond, over very many years, I can hand on heart say that this place is just exceptional, second to none. Its defining qualities, the genuine warmth of welcome from Landlord and staff (even for the occasional visitor), superbly kept (award winning) ales, all offered amidst as delightful a mix of Wenglish, Welsh and English speaking locals as you'll care to find anywhere in Wales, truly make this place 5 star pub bliss. Thank you for the amazing hospitality, ale and company. I can’t wait to return.

It's a bit crazy that I regard this particular pub some 5 miles or more from my home, as my local. But then again having been served a perfect pint every time, it's no wonder that I keep on going back. Oh the warm welcome, great choice of beers, and tidy decor and seating help as well.

as title says this pub does not provide food and therefore should not be included as a trip advisor recommended restaurant.

Everything I want from a great British pub. Great selection of ales from specialist breweries from around the nation, as well as the reliables for those who don't like bitter. The perfect barman, friendly, funny, knows all the locals, knows the ales and knows when to relax the rules and let our very tired dog come in and snooze in comfort while we drink. Lovely decor, ladies bathrooms are smart and clean and close to the bar.A pub like this is the reason to stay in town.

A favoured haunt from my student days, I was pleased to see that the beer quality at the Ship remains excellent. Also a much brighter interior that the dark and smoky days of old.

Wanted to call in for a pint and had my son with me, a quiet four year old who would have not disturbed anyone but sat in a corner and read a book, around three o clock. We wouldn't have stayed more than half an hour and the pub was quiet. I was told children weren't allowed in! I hadn't come across a ruling like this for an afternoon beer since the 1980s. Bechod. Mae'n tafarn da fel arall, ond ddim i mi.

Excellent clean and tidy pub. It is well known for it's good selection of real ales. There is always a friendly welcome and very popular, especially with the many students in Aberystwyth. Well worth a visit!

We currently live on the high street and the ship and castle is at the end of the road. Nice pub if you enjoy ales but can often be quiet

We were chuffed to discover that there wwas a beer festival on during our short stay in Aberystwyth. Lovely pub, nice beers and good atmosphere. Will definitely be back next time we visit.

lovely pub tucked away off the beaten track. good choice of ales available and very well kept. reasonably priced too

I travelled with a group of friends to Aberystwyth and on the first night, after tea, we all piled into the Ship and Castle. I was so glad we did because it is a pub that reminded me of the good old days, where pubs didn't necessarily have loud music, where the beer was real and varied and the pool table worked.I would recommend visitors to this pub if you like old fashioned pubs with a friendly atmosphere, reasonable beer prices, a good selection of real ales and pleasant service.

A mix of students, locals and visitors. Best range of beers (and cider) in the town. Well kept and served.

Visited this lovely little pub recently when visiting Wales on a short break, brilliant range of drinks, real ales and the owner is very friendly.

A popular pub with both students and the locals, this is a great place to come out for a drink and play some pool if the table isn't busy (it usually is).The pub has won CAMRA awards and other pub of the year type awards and for good reason, there is always a good selection of guest ales alongside a handful of your standard IPAs, lagers and ciders. The service is great, particularly the owner who is always friendly and will offer you to sample an ale before you commit to a pint,Inside you'll also find a jukebox, where I normally put a mix of horrendous 80s tunes on.

My favourite pub in all of Wales hands down, with a brilliant selection of ales that always change and Black dragon of tap. Always popular at night, calmer during the day which is the perfect time to have a couple of pints and play pool. The Ale and Cider festival is fantastic looking forward to the next one,Staff are always friendly

Nicely decorated popular pub with a good selection of real ale. When we visited it was out of term time so we had no problem getting seats but suspect it may get very busy at other times. Staff were friendly and it made a great place to spend a couple of hours. Would go again!

Great choice of beers; the ones that I tried were in excellent condition. Comfy bar and friendly staff.

Forever changing fantastic selection of real ale, great conversation and mixed age clientele. The focus is on live rugby and of course on games where Wales is playing, though football is also shown when there's no rugby. Grea landlord and very well trained staff.

I've come here regularly for years when visiting family in Aber. It serves good real ale, marred a little by the smell of disinfectant and rather noisy atmosphere (sports TV and local students/RAs). It's hard to have a conversation and seating is geared to large groups.Unfortunately I usually drink cider not beer. The pint of Stowford Press I had last week was off (it's my usual at home so I know how it should taste). The staff were off-hand, said nobody else had complained and made no offer to replace it (I left the undrunk pint with them, it was vile, it even smelt nauseating but they didn't bother to smell it when I pointed this out). I have never been treated so poorly when complaining about bad beer - and as a drinker of in-house scrumpy for decades, I have taken many pints back, usually to be given a replacement cheerfully.The young man behind the bar tasted my cider, said it always tasted like that, and when I said it must be stored worse than in my local, he just walked away. It may have been cleaning materials left in the glass or a dirty glass, which can spoil a drink - I pointed this out but got no reply (this could account for it tasting ok through a straw and horrible if you put your nose in the glass and take a sip). We may go again as the beer is good and it's convenient to walk to, but this really put me off. It hardly costs much to be civil, and a genuine complaint usually merits a replacement drink for the one that clearly has not been drunk. Did they think I complained for fun? DISAPPOINTING to be treated like dirt after ten years coming here!

Best pub in Aberystwyth. Excellent range of well-looked after real ale. Their 5x 1/3rd pint is a great way to try lots of different ales.Just beware - this is listed in "Restaurants" and they don't do food.One mark off for loud Sky Sports.

Camra pub of the year 2011. Clean and neat with a good range of real ale in great condition. The best pub in Aberystwyth.