Hello. I'm going to the UK in mid-May with my mom and 2 other ladies. We'd like to get a self-catering somewhere central to the Cotswolds, Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford, and Bath. Any suggestions? I appreciate the help.

The following list are reputable contacts for a wide variety of properties in the Cotswolds and other nearby areas:<BR><BR>* The Mill at Burford <BR>[email protected] <BR>Ph: 011-44-1993-822379<BR>5 homey, antique filled cottages converted from a working watermill. Sleeps 2 to 5. Unbeatable location. Bicycles, a canoe and rowboat are provided for tenants use. Rents vary by season and size of cottage. &pound;190 - &pound;450 per week.<BR><BR>* Cottage in the Country www.cottageinthecountry.co.uk <BR>Terrific agency with many cottages in the Cotswolds, Thames Valley, Berkshire, Warwickshire and others areas. From &pound;190 to &pound;500+ <BR><BR>* Manor Cottages &amp; Cotswold retreats www.manorcottages.co.uk <BR>Cotswold-based agency with properties of all sizes. &pound;200 to &pound;850 per week. Most are in the &pound;300 - &pound;400 range<BR><BR>* Wiggall’s Corner Cottage www.ukaccommodation.com/wiggallcot.htm <BR>phone 011-44-1608-658596 <BR>Delightful 3 bedroom cottage on the village green in the small village of Kingham between Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Norton. Convenient for Oxford, Woodstock and the Cotswolds. From &pound;195 to &pound;295 per week<BR><BR>* National Trust Holiday Cottages Phone 011-44-1225-791199<BR>Wide range of cottages on National Trust land in England, Wales and No. Ireland. Some are simple cottages, some are one-of-a-kind historic houses, some are on the grounds of castles and stately homes, some are in nature preserves. Very popular and book up months (or years) ahead. Some are relatively expensive, but many are unique.<BR><BR>* Winton House Cottage [email protected] phone: 011-44-4789-720500<BR>Tiny studio stable conversion in Upper Quinton near Stratford-upon-Avon. Four poster bed, full kitchen and garden. From &pound;135 to &pound;230 <BR>

Several people have spoken highly of the cottages right on the grounds of Sudeley Castle in Winchcombe:<BR><BR>http://www.sudeleycastle.co.uk/holidayacomm.html

We stayed at Sudeley Castle Cottages and were pleased.

Try the website www.english-country-cottages.co.uk they have LOADS of cottages in the area you want

Thank you all so much for your help!

I personally use English Country Cottages and have always been satisfied with them. I hate to say it, but the ones that say no children and no pets tend to be the best furnished and decorated.<BR><BR>You can see them and other self catering sites at http://www.sylviamilne.btinternet.co...ucked/tour.htm

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Try www.visitbritain.com<BR><BR>They have revised their website so that it is easy to find accomodations. (It used to be extremely difficult to try to find the listings).<BR><BR>The only difficulty now is that you need to enter the town to get a list - you cannont find by region.<BR>

Hi Kelley!<BR><BR>Premier Cottages is a great site! Have stayed in a few of the places they list including our up and coming trip in April/May!http://www.premiercottages.co.uk/<BR><BR>Another great place is Stanton Court Cottages which is in the Cotswold area itself and within easy access to many areas. We have stayed here a few times too!<BR>http://www.stantoncourt.co.uk/<BR><BR>Also, for a list of many rental listings check out<BR>http://www.allthingsbritish.com/cottages/index.html<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

Thank you for the websites! We're checking on a couple of places in Burford area. Do any of you have suggestions for food supplies? This may be a dumb question, but are there grocery stores or markets generally available nearby or would it be better to bring food in - at least for breakfasts?

Burford has a grocery store located midway up the high street. It's small but very well stocked. Fresh bread, produce, pantry items, wine. You would do fine there. The closest supermarkets are in Witney (Waitrose and Tesco Express) and Stow on the Wold (Tesco). Waitrose is my first choice.<BR><BR>When we rented a cottage in a Dartmoor village last summer, we hit the Waitrose for things like paper towels, snack foods, cereal and soda but used the village shops for produce, cheeses, wine and patries.

We booked two cottages through the Landmark Trust in Tewkesbury for about six weeks. We ate at the local pubs a lot, and bought food at the Safeway in town. We also used the smaller high street stores for bread, milk and the daily papers. My whole family (15 total) was there and my mother refused to cook. It worked out really well and it is probably the last time we will all be together on holiday. We loved the Landmark Trust and would use them again in a heartbeat!

Thanks for the info on markets and grocery stores! We've narrowed it down to two self-catering options. Stonecrop Cottage in Southrop, near Lechlade (from the manor cottages website Janis provided) or, Heath Farm, between Banbury and Chipping Norton. My apologies if this is two narrow of a question for the thread, but am just curious if anyone has any experience with either of these locations. Both places sound very nice. We plan on day trips to Warwick, Blenheim, Oxford, and possibly the potteries or Bath. Anyone know anything about Southrop or Lechlade? I don't hear much about Banbury on the forums - we just hear about Banbury cakes in the states ;-)<BR>

Before some fanatic dings me ... I'll do it first. That is to say ... &quot;too narrow of a question&quot; as opposed to &quot;two narrow questions&quot; ;-)

Not too narrow at all - I haven't stayed in either cottage, but do know both areas. <BR><BR>Lechlade would be more convenient to Bath and Banbury would be more convenient to the Potteries, Warwick, Stratford. But really - they are about equal. I would choose based upon amenities, cost, and which cottage has more &quot;character&quot;. The Cotwolds are very compact and you can get anywhere from either place.<BR><BR>No matter which you choose - Just north of Lechlade is the tiny village of Filkins. In Filkins is the Cotswold Woollen Weavers. This is a wonderful place - they shear their own sheep, spin the wool, and weave their fabrics and create some of the best wolen clothing, lap rugs, scarves etc anywhere. You can see old shephards caravans, and weaving equipment in action. If you are interested in that sort of thing - be sure to visit them.<BR><BR>If you have other questions maybe I can help - - - - [email protected]

Kelley don't know the Southrop area but do know Banbury &amp; Chipping Norton. Banbury is not particularly picturesque (it's one of the larger towns with a good supermarket though). Not a place to sightsee but convenient for self catering. Chipping Norton is more charming &amp; also has some decent shopping.You're not far from Burford which is lovely, Stow &amp; Woodstock where Blenheim Palace is. If you stay in this area, you might want to see Great Tew, a really charming small village with a great pub called The Falkland Arms &amp; a wonderful 12th century church St John's. Just out of curiousity, what happened with Burford?

mclaurie: just for clarification TT and Kelley aren't the same ;-) I was looking for similar information that Kelley was and jumped into the thread so as not to open a duplicate. It hadn't been active for a few weeks when I found it, so hopefully, Kelley received the information she needed. I believe the Burford options I was looking at either didn't respond or didn't have availability for the number in our family during the dates needed. Anyway, the Southrop one looked fairly close. I guess your points on Banbury are why there's not much said about it from a tourist perspective here in the forum. Thanks for the info on Great Tew - that sounds really nice.<BR><BR>janis: thank you for the info on Filkins - that sounds really interesting too. All things taken into consideration - we're going with the Southrop location. I'll have to remember to post a review of the area and the highlights for us when we return.