The Ship Inn in Medway

I've been here a few times when a band is on. It doesn't disappoint. I had a great time.

Live music night when I visited, place was full of young people but, atmosphere and Guinness were great….

IT'S A PUB!!... 🤩 A superb, late 18th century pub with a long maritime heritage. Unfortunately (perhaps) town/road planning has isolated its position and made parking an absolute nightmare; in fact, don't even go there! Luckily, however, looking at the "motorway" built adjacent to it, Ye Olde Ship Inn perhaps narrowly escaped the town-planner's bulldozer of progress, which inevitably destroyed an unimaginable wealth of riverside heritage. It is doubtful whether, during its 250 years, Ye Olde Ship Inn has been anything other than a grubby old boozer with smelly toilets, but that, of course, is its authenticity. It's history is one of music, mischief, drinking and merry making, which has ingrained the building's very fabric with a tangible, almost visceral and timeless ley energy, enhanced by the current victuallers and staff, who seem somehow, to be accompanied by the spirits of their predecessors, in the same way some of the old beams of the building's frame would formerly have been the timbers of ships, long dismantled, but that once bore mariners throughout the oceans of a new world. The whole atmosphere oozes history and tradition, and its now isolated position has no doubt helped to maintain its status as a rare example of a "proper pub" and one of Medway's best kept, maritime, and historical secrets.

What an amazing place, as somebody's that doesn't drink, the live music is amazing has a great selection of non alcoholic drinks, great staff!

Best friendly pub for grass roots music

Great music venue. Will definitely come again.

It's good, just don't get it confused with the other Ship Inn in Rochester like I did!

Great pub run by lovely people with banging live music. What more could you want?!

Good live music venue and interesting pool table with extras, lol.

Wonderful interior and exterior, a must see. Didn't appreciate the continous foul language from what obviously was a local guy. Have bands play here, love to visit when they play as the 'stage' is in a interesting corner of the bar area.

This is a really nice pub. The open mic on a Sunday (which I went for first time last week) has a great vibe and the pub is a nice place to have a quiet pint in the afternoon. It’s also welcoming to young people. I brought by 14 year old nephew in for a game of darts and pool and they had no problem with him playing pool unlike some other local pubs which have a 16 plus age rule. As others have said though parking is a challenge particularly of an evening.

Good friendly service and a lovely doggo!

Doesn’t do food any more. Nice little pub though

This is the place to head to for amazing live music, beers cold and the atmosphere is amazing. Friendly staff and even the dog don't bite.

Good little old pub tucked out of the way. Plenty of live music food and alcohol on tap 😊 parking is a little his and miss though

Great food, great music,great people.

Lovehoney locating and good beer

Great live music venue, one of Medway's best with with some interesting and diverse acts hosted over the past couple of years. As a pub, there's there's decent beer and a good atmosphere to be found here.

At first we thought the place looked chill when we walked in , but then once it got to 9pm it got packed with underaged kids , and i am talking PACKED !!! there was no space whatsoever and the queue kept going for meters and meters . Not to mention seeing underaged kids drinking alcohol too , which by the way was very pricey for a small place like that … the prices were basically what u would find in London. This place should really get checked , because nobody was even checking IDs on the door . Quite shocking they let anybody in on a friday night .

Great venue for a gig. Friendly staff, good choice of drinks. Security on doors so felt safe. Very friendly pub doggo that made us all welcome. **parking a nightmare !

Spent years living near this pub. Hated it. Damage to cars, being woken up at 4am when the lock ins kicked out, hearing people boast that they're only 16 - 17 years old. Urine in the front garden, smashed glass by the cars and police outside constantly. I had to move out of the area just because of this Landlord and his drug dealer friends ruining a normally quiet and respectful road that he has destroyed since taking the licence over

Went to see a band, quirky little place but a great atmosphere. Parking is tricky.

Nice friendly pub, good range of alcohol and nice bartenders

Went there while staying at Gillingham marina. Didn't do food but was able to fetch a Chinese at eat it in the pub. Plates and cutlery were provided. Very friendly staff and good music. Definitely return if I was in the area again. 👍👍

Great for local up and coming bands keep your eye out for Danama great band

Awful smelly and dirty! This place needs a good deep clean, staff sitting there drinking whilst customers queue! The place stinks of dog and is filthy Needs a deep clean!! Bands are great shame about venue

Up and coming place you students and at weekend s nice place to take the family it has a garden

Not for the first time by a long shot xx the ship in gillingham is an absolute no brainer for live music and a good night out, what I ❤️ the most is the atmosphere which these days is a hard thing to find going out !! The only way is to get involved you won't regret it 💯 all round winner in my book 😉

Grand traditional pub with music

Doing great things to keep live music alive! Poor drinks options though.

Attended a so called 'jam' night but quickly realised it was an excuse for older bands to play their stuff that was rehearsed before anything else with no improvisation. The musicians were cool but staff colder than an Arctic death machine post lockdown screaming "look at me!". It goes against the whole idea of a 'jam' and is strictly orchestrated by the sound engineer who appears to have a be in his bonnet over change and the unknown.

Quirky and friendly pub, worth a visit. Beer pretty good, unfortunately no crisps.

This pub is old.. the floors are sloped and the ceiling low, and has plenty of ye olde charm. The beer is good, probably more spirits than on the optic and a brilliant place for live music. Worth a visit

Very quirky pub with live music, pool table and plenty of seating. Parking is a challenge as this is at the end of a residential close with no allocated parking.

Awesome pub. Great friendly bar staff and always something going on

I'm sorry but not a place I would use for eating in. The toilets well what a smelly unhygienic setup. The whole establishment is dirty. The large gentleman behind the bar is ignorant and bad mannered and the foul language between the two men behind the bar is not what I expect to hear especially when young children are present.

THE place to go to in medway for top music venue. Battle of bands, live original bands, cover bands, quiz night, local bands, jam nights.

A lovely old tavern with excellent live music. Just a great layout and a great atmosphere. Hoping to get here more often!

Awesome atmosphere. Brilliant staff , wide range of drinks , all round good night out , especially with live music .

A nice pub, bursting with character and a good atmosphere.

Had a really great night here. The first time we visited the pub and a local band, the Dirty Modal Souls were doing a gig. The band was great, the bass guitarist was brilliant, and had amazing dress sense, and his personality and sense of humour certainly showed. The drummer was just brilliant. I'd love to have his energy as was the lead singer. All very talented musicians will definitely be seeing them again. The pub was very welcoming, all bar staff were friendly and the prices were the same for a similar pub in the area. The pub is small but has a massive personality about it. Nothing posh or fancy, just a great pub with lovely people.

Intimate venue. Supports the local music scene. Good vibes at the event we attended.

Good food & beer friendly staff.

Always a good go to place. New years eve was a blinder.

Friendly pub. Charged 3 different amounts for the same drink in one night though..

Great friendly pub. Great bands on.

Tables are completely sticky all over and need a wash over. The bans tonight were Hullaballoo, let's say I would not go to hear them again, quite disappointed

The lovely owners and regular music events make this place a gem in Gillingham.

One of my favourite pubs to eat and drink at! Friendly staff and great atmosphere

Superb food reviews why we chose this place. Got there and they don't serve food. We all left

Excellent service from Olly and Jamie in the kitchen. Great burger and well kept beer.

Nice venue but view of stage area quite obstructed.

Lovely, cozy pub. Friendly owners.

Fantastic quirky pub a must for live music and good vibes

Just rediscovered this pub after too many years. Friendly landlord who makes time for customers. Am enjoying the open mic night every Sunday from 6pm - busy, some excellent musicians and a great vibe. It's a proper pub with a real mix of all types but everyone seems to get along. Reminds me of how pubs used to be - lively and with atmosphere 👍

A lovely Sunday Carvery, tasted homemade, particularly the gravy 😋 All followed by proper English puds. Family friendly. Would highly recommend 👌

I've been here many times over the years and as a pub that has actively supported live music it's a lovely welcoming venue (I've also attended a wake here as well). They also host regular Jam / open mic sessions on a Sunday which by all accounts are extremely popular, the thing that let's it down for me is the location, being in a dense residential area parking has always been problematic but since must last visit it seems that the number of cars in the area have exploded and given that the pub has no dedicated parking itself means that you could very possibly find yourself with a 10 minute plus walk should you be lucky enough to find a space in the vicinity at all, such a shame. Great pub if you're a local otherwise be warned.

Only popped in for a wake.... a pleasant little pub wirh friendly staff .... but the glasses do need working on

A wonderful a location - especially with the sun Such a busy weekend ( Easter Saturday) but all the staff could do no more to make it a place that you definitely want to go back to Food was excellent and highly recommended Will definitely be going back and introducing friends 🙌🥂

Best roast dinner going no joke.

Always been a great pub. Sunday night band night. Full of people and atmosphere. Get down there 👍🏼👍🏿👍

Lovely proper olde world pub with a great vibe, steak night was a huge hit, beautifully cooked steak and bottle of red, by an open fire and with the resident acoustic band Zac Schulze Band playing in the background. The friendliest landlord and landlady with a real family friendly vibe. Great food on a Sunday too with the carvery, all fresh and good selection of meat and vegetables too! Better than cooking at home followed by the Sunday jam and open mic sessions, great way to end the weekend. Well done all at the Ship, keep it coming and make the steak night a regular feature!

Est in 1792....still has original decor and carpet but beer and atmosphere on a Sunday night is great....very friendly...proper pub.

Really friendly people, good food. We felt most welcome.

Lovely Mother's Day Carvery! Lively Family Friendly and Warm. Hostess went out of her way to seat us even though they were slammed. Book ahead.

Love this pub. Amazing atmosphere too

I like this pub, friendly atmosphere, welcoming people, good music. The jam on a Sunday is a great experience.

Lovely pub, friendly staff even when really busy. Held a brilliant jam night with live music which was so good with many talented musicians. Xx

Excellent service, very welcoming. Relax and have a drink

Lovely little pub and very friendly

Excellent pub with a great atmosphere and even better carvery Very highly recommend this pub

Very welcoming staff. Sunday roasts by way of a carvery was gorgeous.

Had a roast dinner wasn't very hot they need to rise the temperature of the hot plate. Lovely staff nice pub to have a drink in

Fantastic band on ,unfortunately due to covid ,no decent beer

Great pub with great live bands and quiz nights.

Great local pub - even had live music.

We go here for open mic nights, which are always really well run. Nice couple of hours out,. Good to have a venue that supports local musicians, and the not so local ones that travel to play. Decent selection of beverages too. Outside seating area, as well as a cosier seating area inside, and a pool table.

This is becoming my lil regular go to. Love this place.

No good to go with kids as is not PETs free, kids play area probably never been cleaned in a safe manner for kids for years... Apart of this if can sit in a pub a eat with dogs running next to you is probably good, I don't know how real are the 5 star hygiene... 😊

Charlotte & Nat worked wonders throughout lockdown. The garden is perfect, with spaces in and out of shelters for tables and groups alike. Inside is everything a traditional pub should be, wooden beams, gentle lighting and a well stocked bar with cask ales on tap. Perfect.

It's a well run, much loved family pub, great little venue for music and jam sessions. Big garden too with kids area.

Great pub, owners very friendly. We were only there a short time but we'll definitely be going back.

Haven't been there yet but I would definitely recommend it

Very friendly, local pub - very decently priced drinks and nice atmosphere.

Nice friendly pub for afternoon drinks after a walk along the river. Good selection of drinks

Had good experiences in there at 4-5 in the morning after hours and apart from all the drug dealers in their is quite a friendly place

My regular and my favourite pub

Got to be the wrost pub i have ever been in... The drinks all tasted the same no matter what it was and was definitely not the drink that was labelled... the carpet looked like it was layed in the 1800s. The back garden was just as bad fag butt's everywhere and a dumping ground for old kids toys...

Excellent pub with a long standing history. Friendly staff and a good selection of drinks.

One of the best pubs in Medway, fantastic selection, great building, nice staff and good quizzes and live music.

No airs or grace's, just really good carvery food and nice people. The young lad front of house on the food side looks after customers well and all the customers rub along together. A true local pub with reasonable prices.

Can't beat the ship pub for a Sunday carvery....great value, plateful of food which was hot and tasty. Great service from Charlotte and Nat and all other staff in the pub. Great atmosphere, everyone friendly and the live bands top it off. Shelley and Jay

Friendly staff, good Sunday Carvery & great music schedule too.

Visited the Ship to sample the Sunday roast and my wife and I left very impressed.The food was plentiful and hot and the vegetarian options made a welcome change ,we had to wait for a while as the pub was really busy but this was no problem. You cant go wrong to visit for Sunday dinner and the added bonus of the price means we will be visiting again.....soon. Nat and Charlotte should be complemented. Gaz and Wendie.

Great pub with a friendly atmosphere. Karaoke on Friday evenings which is mostly when we visit but also has a kitchen and does a carvery on Sundays. Also Various music events on the weekends.

Inviting, cosy, historic and suitably themed nautical local pub near the river. Nicely decorated interiors, pool table and two beautiful huskies that presumably live in the pub. Would recommend this to Medway locals and visitors alike.

Good atmosphere friendly people , good food n a lovely landlords xxx

Nice garden and quiet with animals for the children to pet. Good selection of drinks

Both Nat and Charlotte work tirelessly to keep the Ship sailing and this is obvious! The pub is warm and friendly with a beautiful open fireplace- really toasty in the winter! Recently, they have just put Tetley's on draught which, for me, is a thumbs up. No matter what time you go to the pub, you are always bound to meet and chat with any of the friendly locals or staff. Great pub with great people. In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger- I'll be back!

Beer was good Sunday roast was ok