There is something about Sunday lunch that feels better when you have actually gone somewhere for it.

Not a retail park.

Not somewhere you drove past on the way to buy washing powder.

Somewhere with a village sign, a pub door and at least a small chance that lunch turns into most of the afternoon.

Around Peterborough, Glinton, Helpston and Wansford all give you that feeling in slightly different ways.

The “Let’s Make A Bit Of A Day Of It” Lunch — The Blue Bell, Glinton

The Blue Bell on High Street in Glinton is family-run by Will and Kelly Frankgate, who took it over in 2013.

The pub also has a dedicated Sunday lunch menu and a Garden Room alongside the main restaurant.

That makes it the sort of place where Sunday lunch can feel like an outing without becoming a production.

You turn up hungry.

You stay longer than you meant to.

And nobody is pretending the roast is just a quick refuelling stop before the rest of the day.

The village setting helps too.

It is close enough to Peterborough to be easy, but far enough away to feel like you have actually gone somewhere.

The “Lunch And A Wander” Sunday — The Bluebell, Helpston

The Bluebell at 10 Woodgate in Helpston is an 18th-century pub with a garden, sun terrace and rooms.

Its kitchen serves on Sundays from noon to 5pm.

What gives Helpston the extra pull is everything around the pub.

John Clare Cottage is next door, and the village itself gives you somewhere to wander before or after lunch.

That matters on a Sunday.

Sometimes the meal is enough.

Sometimes you want the excuse to stretch your legs, look around somewhere different and delay going home for another hour.

Helpston gives you both.

The “We May Be Here A While” Lunch — The Paper Mills, Wansford

The Paper Mills on London Road in Wansford has been under new ownership since April 2026.

It serves food on Sundays from noon to 5pm and says its menus use locally sourced produce.

Wansford gives this one a slightly more country-pub feel.

There is the historic village.

The River Nene nearby.

And the general sense that if lunch finishes at three, nobody is in a particular hurry to be anywhere else by quarter past.

That is probably the best thing about a village Sunday lunch.

It gives the day somewhere to go.

So, Which Sunday Are You Having?

If you want a family-run pub with a dedicated Sunday menu, Glinton has an easy argument.

If you want lunch with a bit of history and a walk attached, Helpston gives you more than the meal.

And if you want the country-pub version of Sunday, Wansford has the setting for it.

The point is not which one “wins”.

The point is choosing the sort of Sunday you actually want.

Where do you go around Peterborough when only a village-pub-restaurant Sunday lunch will do?