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Touring the Cotswolds presents a picture of idyllic rural England. The Cotswolds unique combination of picturesque honey coloured stone villages and historic market towns set amidst gently rolling countryside make it irresistible. This is the one tour that all my clients say is the most memorable day of their vacation in England.
There are so many charming villages to see it is hard to devise an itinerary for a day visit – the difficult decision is deciding what to cut out rather than what to include. I can design the tour to suit your individual requirements but over the last couple of years I have developed a tour which I believe picks out the best of everything.
Travelling from London we have a comfort stop after an hour; 40 minutes later we drive through our first village, known as the 'Gateway to the Cotswolds' and founded in 1163, it epitomises the charm and beauty of the Cotswolds. Some would say that it has an air of sophistication with its antique shops; it is probably one of the country's best kept secrets.
We travel through several market towns and villages (we can stop if you wish to look at the market stalls) to Chipping Campden, one of the most beautiful and best-preserved villages in England. The main street is bordered with magnificent stone houses dating from the 14th to the 17th centuries with a variety of shops, silversmiths, old pubs and teashops. Just outside the town is our next brief stop - Dover's Hill, home to the 400-year old 'Cotswolds Olimpicks'. The view is spectacular. Whilst there you may want to try one of the Cotswolds' historic pastimes: cheese rolling, woolsack racing and shin kicking! If we are lucky we may see sheep shearing in the nearby fields.
One option for lunch is at a pub that dates from the time of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century. The food is brilliant but the interior of the pub is breathtaking – sitting by the open fire you can almost imagine William Shakespeare strolling in and asking for a pint of cask cider – 6 local ciders are still served today. Most weeks they have the local clog dancers popping in for a quick drink.
Suitably refreshed, we head off for Broadway, one of the showpiece villages of the Cotswolds – Elizabethan houses, village green and the historic Lygon Arms where both King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell stayed at different times.
This is where the real fun starts – single track roads! We drive across country and hopefully avoid the hay wains, tractors, sheep and cows, seeing fantastic countryside to visit the beautiful, unspoilt villages of Snowshill, Temple Guiting, Lower and Upper Slaughter, some of the gems of the Cotswolds. Here we have a brief stop should you want to stroll along the River Eye to see the old mill. Then it is on to Bourton on the Water, often called "The Venice of the Cotswolds". Its many bridges span the shallow, crystal clear River Windrush, which flows through the centre of the village alongside the main street.
Our next stop is Burford where the broad main street lined with old coaching inns slopes gently down to the River Windrush. Full of lovely old stone houses, the town presents some of its best 17th and 18th century frontages to the High Street, although earlier buildings often lie hidden behind, glimpsed through narrow alleyways and courtyards. These are relics of the town's great days as a major wool market in medieval England.
Perhaps an afternoon tea or coffee is required? I can recommend an award winning cafe voted 'Best afternoon tea in Britain' for delicious refreshment before our journey home but before that.......we have the most enchanting view of medieval England – Arlington Row in Bibury. Built in around 1380 from local stone, Arlington Row began life as a monastic wool store and was converted into a row of weavers cottages in the 17th century. You will adore these houses – you will just fall in love with them, I promise. We'll take a leisurely stroll around the village, by the trout ponds and river to return to the car and head back to London.
The day will be where the past comes together with the present in absolute perfection.
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