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| Our Driving Route Tour of the Cotswolds |
For postcard-perfect touring and hundreds of pictures of quintessentially English thatched-roof houses, fields of sheep partitioned by low stone walls, tiny country roads canopied by Ash and Beech and Chestnut trees (the “ABC’s” of English trees), all dotted here and there with beautiful and quaint farming villages, the Cotswolds (an hour and a half west of London) are the place to go. With some careful planning this travel couple came up with an awesome driving route we wanted to share with you. We did it in a “leisure” Sunday, meaning we slept in, had a casual breakfast, and started with our first town at 11:00am; if you want to squeeze a little more Cotswolds into your soul, you could get an earlier start and we provide some options that we didn’t take.
We’ll take you on a north-to-south “Sunday Drive”, though you can, naturally, tailor it based on where you’re coming from. If you follow our route, however, we promise you’ll end the tour in grand fashion. We did our Sunday Drive in the Cotswolds with a rental car we picked up in Gloucester, using navigation nearly flawlessly delivered by Google Maps’ turn-by-turn directions over 3G on an iPhone. If you don’t have cellular internet, be sure to use a real GPS. Just set your nav to the first town and set out, then set it for the next town and so on.
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| Broadway, England |
Stop 1 – Broadway
By the time you get there, from wherever you started, you’ll probably already have gotten a great taste of the Cotswolds. Broadway is a good starting point, with a single, main thoroughfare called High Street. Find a spot to park on either end of the street, walk down one side, and walk back up the other. Along the way you’ll find beautiful old houses, quaint shops, warm-looking inns, low stone walls, and ivy-covered walls. Stop in at a tea or coffee house if you skipped it at breakfast to get an early start.
From Broadway, set your nav to Chipping Campden. If it gives you route options, take the route by the A44 and cut across country via Buckle Street, The Narrows, Cotswold Way, and Dyer’s Lane. Just remember to drive in the left lane, that is where there is more than 1 lane.
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| Chipping Campden, England |
Stop 2 – Chipping Campden
Chipping Campden is the metropolis of the Cotswolds, likely your home base if you actually want to stay in the Cotswolds. You’ll likely spend most of your time on the main drag here, also called High Street. If you’re a Riknik (Rick Steves fan), whip out your guidebook and follow his hour-to-ninety-minute tour that will take you from Lower High Street up toward Saint James church (if not, just work your way south to north along High Street). Don’t miss heading down Sheep Street to see the best thatched-roof house in the world, and don’t miss the market hall and Saint James Church. You’ll also have lots of shopping, tea, and lunch opportunities.
From Chipping Campden, if you have time and want to get in a bit more of the Cotswolds, you can hit the town of Blockley, which we skipped entirely. Either way, then set your nav to Bourton-on-the-Hill. We only stopped a few minutes to snap some pictures in this tiny little village perched near the top of a hill. Next, set your nav for Moreton-in-the-Marsh, which was also just a quick picture-stop for us. While they were just drive-throughs for us, if you have some wonderful experiences in these villages to share, please feel free to comment on our blog!
Now set your nav to Stow-on-the-Wold. It should take you straight down the A429.
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| Stow-on-the-Wold, England |
Stop 3 – Stow-on-the-Wold
Stow-on-the-Wold is a great market town with a fine square from which you can navigate the city on foot easily. Market Square marks the village center, and it’s dominated by a library building that doubles as a sort-of town hall and community center. Park somewhere around the edge of the square. Check to see if there are any events going on at the town hall: the day we were there they had a rummage sale on and Chuck picked up some nice English cufflinks (thinking ahead to Queen Mary 2 formal nights) for £3. From there, head to the streets to the south and wander. If you haven’t had lunch yet, you’ll find plenty of options amongst the shops. Be sure to visit the Parish Church of Saint Edward, and as you enter the church turn around and look at the impressive painting to your left and behind you.
From Stow-in-the-Wold, if you have time and a real GPS, set your nav to Upper Slaughter. There are two “Slaughter towns”, Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter, that we had planned to drive through but had to skip owing to lack of 3G signal and a shortage of time (though we saw some wonderful countryside in the attempt). Once through Upper Slaughter, it should be easy to head south to Lower Slaughter, then continue on to your final stop on our tour, Bourton-on-the-Water.
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| Sites On Your Way to Bourton-on-the-Water |
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| Bourton-on-the-Water |
Stop 4 – Bourton-on-the-Water
Bourton-on-the-Water gets our vote for prettiest village in all of England. It’s dubbed the “Venice of the Cotswolds” because of the lazy little bricked-in river that winds through it. It might be a bit touristy, but that’s for good reason: it’s a lovely little town. We arrived late in the day and parked in the (pay) parking lot of the Model Village (which was just closing, unfortunately, but looked like a nifty place to return to). From there we walked along the river to the other end of town, taking a hundred+ pictures as we went. We had a fine afternoon coffee (high tea for us) at the Green and Pleasant Tea Room and we had dinner at The Croft. It was a fantastic way to end our Sunday Drive in the Cotswolds.
We hope you find our Sunday Drive in the Cotswolds useful!
