Thank you for the feedback on Kingham and Burford!

Can you share your thoughts on Painswick? From the photos I've seen, it looks like a storybook town, but is it sort of out of the way?

How about Castle Combe or Poulton?

Thanks again for your help!

Painswick is lovely (a long time Fodorite lives there) = the Rococo Garden and a lively arts scene. But I really wouldn't recommend it as a base. There are some very hilly bits and its difficult to drive through plus it is pretty far west. Almost as close to Cardiff as to Oxford.

Castle Combe is beautiful but not at all a good base for exploring the Cotswolds. It's less than 15 miles from Bath.

You are much better looking in the central to slightly northern Cotswolds. Kingham, Burford, Chipping Campden, Stow on the Wold, Broadway - that general area.

Karen, we rented a house with 3 bedrooms in Blockley. Across the street from a pub and a 5 minute walk to a small restaurant and small convenience store. Reasonably decent location from which to explore the area. Not touristy at all but pretty. Good for a family of 4 or 5. Parking for two cars.

Blockley is in the same general area I described above It is about midway between Chipping Campden and Moreton-on-Marsh, and would be a decent base. Its about 3 miles from CC and 6-ish miles from Broadway.

Thank you mjs and janisj!

Hi again,

I ended up booking a nice cottage in Kingham. I'm not certain it is the best absolute choice, but I'm sure it'll be nice, and I don't have more time to spend on the decision. I realized more and more that I don't want to be in a crowded village because we'll be getting enough of that during the day. And this cottage is in walking distance to the two destination pubs you mentioned, Janisj. As I understand it, there is also a good grocery store nearby.

Thanks for all your help, everyone!

Shopping will not be a problem. There is a small village shop for basics, supermarkets in Stow on the Wold and Chipping Norton -- but you are also close to two real destination 'shops': Daylesford Farm is about 1.5 miles -- a very upscale shop where you might run into the Beckhams or ex-prime ministers; and Diddly Squat Farm Shop which is Jeremy Clarkson's establishment is less than 5 miles up the road. If you haven't watched the Clarkson's Farm series on Prime - they are into the third series and it is a huge hit.

Just about everything in Kingham is walking distance to the two pubs ;)

Many thanks to janisj and the other knowledgeable posters here. We'll be basing ourselves in a larger town (maybe Cirencester or Cheltenham), but the discussion of villages here is terrific!