We've just returned from spending two nights this past weekend in The Cotswolds. The Cotswolds are a range of hills in the English midlands, mostly Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire.
They are about an hour and half drive from London. The countryside is one of the prettiest parts of England, and is dotted with tiny villages which seem to have come straight out of an old TV show or storybook.
We left London on Sunday morning. We hired a car from Heathrow airport since driving in London is an insane nightmare that should be avoided at all costs. We had planned to catch the tube, which is a super easy half an hour from our house, but the London Transport people were doing works on our line the whole weekend, so we had to get a bus which took way longer.
Our first stop was Stratford Upon Avon, where William Shakespeare lived. It's a very touristy town, and larger than most other towns in the Cotswolds, it's also the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Everything in Stratford Upon Avon is based around Shakespeare in some way, every business somehow manages to incorporate Shakespeare into their name. It's a very pretty town, and it was lovely to stop there and have lunch by the River Avon.
Houseboats on the River Avon
Church of the Holy Trinity - home to Shakespeare's Grave
From Stratford Upon Avon we headed to Chipping Campden. All the towns in The Cotswolds are so close together, it was only about a half an hour drive from Stratford.
Chipping Campden is a tiny town, with a high street and a few tea shops. It was so cute and so English. The towns in The Cotswolds are actually ridiculous, it's hard to believe anyone lives there. They all look like the set of a TV show, we must have said 'Oh it's so cute!!' about a million times!
Pretty much everyone who lives in The Cotswolds is very well off, the houses are amazing and very well taken care of. In front of every house was either a Mercedes, Audi or a BMW, plus lot's of women driving huge Range Rovers.
We stopped and had afternoon tea at a tea shop, it was so delicious and we were really full afterwards. We went for a huge walk in a big open field we saw on the way back to the car. You can actually walk between most of the villages, you could do a lot in one day they're so close together. Unfortunately, we drove between them all since I was really sick and had to keep blowing my nose every 30 seconds!
We left Chipping Campden in the late afternoon and headed to our B&B. We were staying in Longborough, in the middle of the countryside, in a huge old manor house. It was lovely, but could have done with a huge clear out! There was so much stuff on display, it almost felt like a museum, and there were so many pictures and ornaments on the walls in our room, it felt more like we were staying in someone's spare room than in a B&B.
There was also the issue of the HUGE spider that was above our door when we first arrived. Literally the biggest I have ever seen, bigger than my hand outstretched. Almost had a full on panic attack and had to leave, but asked the owner if he could get rid of it for me!
The B&B was set in lovely grounds though and had a swimming pool out the back, plus a huge arboretum across the road where we saw a fox and two bunnies.
The owner of the B&B booked us in for dinner at The Horse and Groom in Upper Oddington, about a 10 minute drive away. The food was amazing, it was just so well made and the staff were all so friendly. Wish we had been able to have dessert, but we were so full from our mains that we couldn't fit it in.
as usual lovely photos what fun you are having.
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