Cotswald towns to stay in
 

We will be in the Cotswolds for 10 days. We will be staying in Oxford and then driving throughout the Cotswolds. Logistically, what two or three other towns would you suggest to stay in for touring the Cotswolds.
Thanks

For quiet and nice hikes either of the Slaughters, Lower or Upper - I also like Stow-in-the-Wold though a more busy regional type town - but you cannot go wrong IME of putzing around the Cotswolds, a compact area that with car you need only one base really. Check out Cheltenham Spa too - a largish city but a really sweet one!

During our most recent visit we stayed in Broadway but there are many other locations (as you know) and everyone seems to have their favorite.

We enjoyed Broadway and the hotel we used. It perhaps isn't as "atmospheric" as some others and wasn't nearly as mobbed as some others on weekends.

For many ten days in the Cotswolds would be about five too many - unless you love to walk most of the days and with wet rainy weather not uncommon keep your itinerary flexible IMO - there are neat areas close by - Stratford-upon-Avon is a short enough drive as is Warwick Castle and many other just out of the Cotswolds sites - maybe a few days in wonderful Bath, to me England's loveliest city and not that far away.

I personally would pick ONE town for your stay and rent a cottage. No need to pack and move when the Cotswolds are a relatively compact area and you can easily tour around from any single base.

Ten days there would be absolutely terrific - plenty of time to see the sites from Warwick to Hidcote to Bath plus all the gardens and tons of walking/villages.

For that long a stay, I would not pick either of the Slaughters (very VERY tiny places). Broadway would be OK . . . But for a village/town that is both lovely in it own right that also has options for pubs/restaurants/shops/groceries/etc . . I'd choose either Burford or Chipping Campden. Stow-on-the-Wold would be OK but I'd personally prefer the other two.

I would have to agree with Janis in terms of Broadway having a somewhat limited number of places to eat.

Unless you're planning to walk from hotel to hotel, there's no point in staying in more than one Cotswold location. It's only a 20 min drive from central Oxford to the first "Welcome to the Cotswolds" sign (and that was this afternoon in the rush hour, with building works on the road and an accident slowing traffic down), so it's not at all self-evident you even need to move from Oxford.

Alternatives to Burford etc are Tetbury and Winchcombe.

Sadly, a drought has been declared. We've had no rain for the past month, next to none all winter, no obvious prospect of any in the near future, endless boring sunshine and a hosepipe ban kicking in from April 1 (which means no watering lawns). We'd pay good money for anyone able to promise "wet rainy weather not uncommon". And if garden viewing is important to you, be prepared to limit your expectations unless the weather improves

Sounds like it is due to rain in the Cotswold Hills cats and dogs!

On the edge of the Cotswolds is Fairford. While I stayed at the air base there for a few days, I thought the town was nice and well located.

One thing I enjoyed was getting lost while driving. It led us down lanes we would ever have purposely driven and led to any interesting discoveries.

(Fairford)"the town was nice and well located."

And almost entirely restaurant-free, unless you count the takeaways catering to the RAF (or RAF Regiment) brats who sulk and petch round the place at night as if it were an English garrison town - none of which (or whom) make it an ideal place to overnight, which was the poster's question.

BUT Fairford has one feature of such spectacular uniqueness it's worth a detour from dozens (IMHO thousands) of miles away to see. Its church not only has a full set of intact pre-Reformation stained glass (almost the only one out of our 10,000 pre-1540 churches), but a set that's actually been designed as almost one integrated work of art.

Its survival is a miracle. But it'd be stunning if there were 9,999 other survivors.

We had lovely stay at Malt House in Chipping Camden. Enjoy your trip. It is a lovely, and interesting, part of the world.

We stayed in Bourton on the Water for 3 nights at the MouseTrap Inn.. it was wonderful...

We also based in Bourton on the Water and were delighted with our stay. It is a good, central location - not to big but just right. The Slaughters are just a short drive down the road.

Here's is my review the B&B we enjoyed in B on the W in 2010

Rooftrees B&B – this was a most interesting place. First, the location is excellent, a very pleasant straight 10 minute walk to the center of Bourton-on-the –Water. There is ample off the street parking. The B&B is an attractive one that features a sun room and a lovely patio in the back for relaxing. The breakfast was well cooked and a dinner can be ordered for extra charge. We did not try the dinner, so have no opinion as to its quality. The rate is amazing. We paid a paltry (for a Cotswolds B&B) 52 pounds per night for a room with a 4 poster bed. Rooms with regular beds are 2 pounds less. Our room is accurately pictured on the B&B web-site. What makes this B&B interesting is that our hostess, Silvia is a very talented maker of dolls and teddy bears. She makes every part including the porcelain like heads (I think she uses a resin), clothing etc. The dolls are quite elaborate. The house, including sleeping rooms is full of the teddy bears, no two alike. There is also a good sized gnome garden (or small city) that you pass as you walk to the house entry.

Our 4 poster room and bath did not leave a spot undecorated – even the toilet paper had a flower pattern. The room itself is somewhat small, but suitcases can be shoved under the high bed that had a mattress what was somewhat too hard for our tastes, but that is a personal thing. The bath is large but the pressure in the shower was a bit on the low side – still though it was adequate. I understand that the other rooms have a “power shower.” Towels were of excellent quality. We were also pleased with our choice of Bourton-on-the-Water as a Cotswold base. It is a pretty town that is central to the Cotswolds, had excellent places to eat and was an entertaining place to be.

In 2010 we rented a cottage for a week in a village called Hook Norton. It was great. I agree with the people saying "base yourself in one place". If you have a car everything is easy to drive to in the Cotswolds. We booked our through the English Country Cottages website. They have a great range of places. We prefer to stay in one place as you are not packing and unpacking all the time, you can make your own breakfast, get up when you want and you have the place all to yourself.
We liked Hook Norton because it was quiet and had 2 pubs with great food. While not the most picturesque village, the people were friendly and helpful and our cottage was immaculate.
I could easily go back there for 10 days as there is so much to see and do.

We visited several towns (and missed several others) but our favourite was Bourton on Water.

flanner mentions Winchcombe where we spent several hours. In that brief time we thought it might be a very nice place to stay on our next visit - an interesting and attractive town.

This is part of my future trip - 2013 - but this is great information.

Winchcombe, Burford, Chipping Campden, Tetbury . . . all good places to base from. (Tetbury might be a <i>bit</i> far west for touring around -- but then you'd have the PofW and Camilla as neighbors)

Each is a real town w/ services/shops/pubs/etc.

The problem w/ Bourton-on-the-Water is it is VERY tourist-centric. Of course, if you are staying there you'll be in the village after all the day trippers have left at 4PM . . .

<<The problem w/ Bourton-on-the-Water is it is VERY tourist-centric>>.

That would depend on the season and I do not believe the OP provided dates. We were there in the early spring and that was definitely not the case. As you mention, even if it is in tourist time, they clear out and in the time they are there one can be exploring elsewhere.

We were there in November and there were few tourists.

Tourists come and go. All the t-shirts/tea caddies are permanent.

I'm not saying B-o-t-W is a bad place. It is very popular and 90% of visitors to the cotswolds will visit it. I've been to or through it countless times. More than a 100X easily. It has the Model Village, bridges, perfumery, birds, car museum, etc. More 'tourist sites' than 'village sites'. That is what I meant.

Nothing 'wrong' w/ it - there are simply better places to stay IME/IMO

Bourton-On-The-Water is really pretty, but it gets absolutely packed at all times of the year, and the shops and eateries tend to be very touristy. I would favour staying somewhere a bit less manic, e.g. Burford, which is not too far from Bourton if you want to visit for the day. Burford is easily accessible by road, being just off the main Oxford-Cheltenham A40 road.

Regards
Vicky
http://postcards-pfte.blogspot.co.uk/
Celebrating the Great British Coastline

I was wondering how long it would take for the Bourton filled with visitors thing to come up. When we were in Broadway we drove over to Bourton on a weekend day. The place was MOBBED (I want to say this was in September but am not certain) and I remember thinking that the place is very pretty, etc., and I could well understand why so many people were there. I can understand how this could be very off-putting.

<<but it gets absolutely packed at all times of the year, and the shops and eateries tend to be very touristy>>

We did not find that at all. As mentioned we were there in the early Spring. It was far from crowded and I do not know what makes a shop touristy unless it is the type selling tee shirts and souveniers. We did not see much in the way of those - I am not sure if we saw any- and there were some very nice shops for antique shopping where we actually found and bought some good buys compared to US prices for similar - I collect Jasperware, know the marks, and I was like a kid in a candy shop. Restaurants were not crowded either and it was a fine base for a quick drive to Upper and Lower Slaughter both of which were joys.

I suspect on the day we were there it was crowded because it WAS a weekend.

It really doesn't get all that crowded <i>year round</i>. But summer and weekends spring and fall -- the coach and car parks can be full to bursting by noon.

Towns that aren't geared so much to the tourist trade will generally have better prices for antiques and collectibles.

You have always been a help janisj and I followed much of your advice on that trip. I tend to haunt antique shops when I travel but only visited others in London and York, so it is hard to compare prices but in collecting it is finding the pieces that you are looking for and sometimes that can be difficult. On this trip I was lucky to find several pieces from the time period and condition that I wanted in B ot W. One is a cobalt blue teapot from the mid 19th century in absolutely pristine condition. The price was well less than half of what it would have cost in the US IF I could find one - it is the pride of my collection.

I don't make a habit of visiting BOTW, but probably pass through it more often than anyone else on this thread.

I honestly don't think I've ever seen a T shirt on sale there.

It's completely absurd to claim "it gets absolutely packed at all times of the year". Like the Cotswolds' other half dozen honeypots, it gets full (and has fuller car parks than Burford) from 1100 to 1600 weekends and bank holidays from Mothering Sunday till the clocks go back, and is pretty empty the other 80% of the year.

The area's "realler" towns - Burford, Chipping C, Stow, Winchcombe and Tetbury - are far less seasonal. As local market towns in an area with a rapidly growing population, their peaks are more widely spread. Parking can be a pain in Burford as early as 0900 in the depths of midwinter, even on Fridays

The better antique centres (often in odd complexes off the main drag) are, as janisj says, in towns few foreign visitors bother with. Chipping Norton is especially good.

Incidentally, the best English tea shop in Burford, Huffkins, now supplies cakes and biscuits to the UK Cabinet and to both Houses of Parliament (and charges less than half the central London ripoff joints). Match that, Ritz, Fortnum's and Horrids!

flanner - if my memory has not failed me, don't you live in the vicinity of Winchcombe?

Regarding BOTW, IMO ( and one may well dismiss it as worthless) it's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live or stay there. I prefer Burford ( and as flanner has mentioned, Huffkins is excellent), Winchcombe and Chipping.

"don't you live in the vicinity of Winchcombe"

No. The Cotswolds have a Great Divide.

On the Gloucestershire side, house prices double, IQs halve, they always have a red-faced Tory foxhunter as their MP and everyone goes back to their Notting Hill mansion on the 0710 Monday train from Kemble. IQs may be low, but money making smarts aren't.

On the Oxfordshire side, we get the 0730 from Charlbury (much cheaper) every day to bore our London colleagues or clients about what a terrific area we live in and why it's in the British Constitution that we have to be represented by a One Nation (Tory, leftish, bloody bright and posh) Cabinet minister.

Winchcombe's definitely Gloucestershire. They want to hobnob with the chaps at Sudely Castle - and are too polite to ask us why, if we're so smart, we're so unrich. We look down on the vulgarians of Blenheim. And wonder the same thing.

Well then, my memory has indeed failed me once again. for some reason I thought you lived in Winchcombe itself. That would be Winchcombe's loss. Glad I asked though because that was an interesting post.