Covering 800 square miles of stunning towns and villages, this is a mandatory trip in England. Luckily on my recent road trip, I enjoyed every minute in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This is The Cotswolds.

We slept in Cheltenham to be really close to The Cotswolds. We had breakfast and then prepared for the 23 miles drive to our first stop via A436 > A40 > A429.

Stow-on-the-Wold

This was our first stop. Here’s one of the most beautiful places. The church doors of St Edward’s are believed to have inspired Tolkien to create The Doors of Durin. For those fans of Lord of the Rings this is certainly a must on your visit to Stow-on-the-Wold. The town itself is marvelous and at nearly 800ft it is the highest of these towns. We had some great coffee at The New England Coffee House and grabbed some chocolate at The Cotswold Chocolate Company.

Stow-on-the-Wold
The church doors of St Edward’s.
Stow-on-the-Wold
The New England Coffee House offers some great coffee/tea in a traditional house.

Bourton-on-the-Water

The next stop was the Venice of the Cotswolds. Attractive little bridges that cross the flowing River Windrush. Truly charming town anytime of the year. There’s some magnificent Chestnuts trees inspiring some of the best tea rooms in there. We explored an antique shop and then enjoyed some great pasties at The Cornish Bakery. Yep, I know it’s not Cornwell but it was super tempting! Also they had Oatly so got a Flat White with Oat milk.

Bourton-on-the-Water
Bourton-on-the-Water from one of the bridges.
Bourton-on-the-Water
Some of the houses in Bourton-on-the-Water.

Burford

Time for the gateway to the Cotswolds. Burford is a small medieval town on the River Windrush and it was the site of a fortified ford in Anglo-Saxon times. There are a lot of ancient sloping cottages and houses. There are still some wonderful little side streets to discover, vintage pubs, tea rooms and antique stores everywhere.

Burford
Burford has a lot of ancient sloping cottages and houses.
Burford
St John the Baptist church in Burford.

Bibury

This is the stunning village of Bibury. The village is known for its honey-coloured 17th-century stone cottages with steeply pitched roofs. Arlington Row is probably one of the most photographed Cotswold scenes ever. An interesting is that it even appears on the inside cover of UK passports. In fact, William Morris described it as “the most beautiful village in England”. We experienced the sunset here and it was the perfect moment to finish our day.

Bibury
Sunset in Bibury facing what it used to be a settlement close to Arlington Row.
Bibury
River Coln in Bilbury.