Top Reasons to Go

Architecture of Bath: Bath is perhaps the most perfectly preserved and harmonious English city. Close up, the elegance and finesse of the Georgian buildings is a perpetual delight.

Cotswold pubs: The classic pubs here press all the right buttons—low wooden beams, horse brasses, and inglenook fireplaces.

Perfect villages: With their stone cottages, Cotswold villages tend to be improbably picturesque; the hamlets of Upper and Lower Slaughter are among the most seductive.

Hidcote Manor Gardens: In a region rich with imaginative garden displays, Hidcote lays good claim to eminence. Exotic shrubs from around the world and the famous "garden rooms" are the highlights of this Arts and Crafts masterpiece.

Roman Baths, Bath: Take a break from the town's Georgian elegance and return to its Roman days on a tour around this ancient bath complex.