The Model Village - Cotswold
 

My three frinds and I will be traveling by car in the UK during April 2008. On one leg of our trip we will be traveling from Bath to the Peak District. We saw a show that featured The Model Village in Cotswold. It looked interesting. In your opinion would it be worth a stop and see? About how long would it take to tour the village? Would there be another must see or must visit pub in the area before we go to the Peak District.

In Bourton on the Water, there's a one in nine model of Bourton on the Water (BOTW).

Now BOTW - the real, fullsize one - is quite pleasant most of the time. But between 11 and 4 on tourist days (Easter weekend, then all weekends from early May to mid September, and sometimes the fourth Sunday in Lent - Mothering Sunday - if the weather's fine) it is, in my humble opinion, the ghastliest place on earth, because it's just too small to handle the people turning up. And getting served at all in the pubs is practically impossible. Don't even think about food

Any other time, I'd say walking round the real place is a lot more interesting than gawping at the model.

Give yourself lots of time, then drive along the Fosse Way from Cirencester (the ancient Roman road) till it hits the M69. Then head north to the Peawk District. There are no must-sees in the Cotswolds: just enjoy the drive and stop wherever you see anything nice.

We used to go on holiday every year to Startford and regularly visited the model village. And loved it. But we WERE kids.

thye had a Birdland place as well, where I first cam across real parrots. I wonder if that's still there?

Yep - Birdland is still there. As well as the motor museum, and the Perfumery.

cestmavie: Bourton-on-the-Water is a LOVELY village. However, as flanneruk mentioned - it can get VERY crowded. But if you hit it on a weekday in April you should be fine. Just avoid a weekend if possible.

When we visited BOTW this past October on a weekend it was still jammed; the Birdland was less so. I can only hope those birds are well-cared for.

Thanks for your replies you've been most helpful. I will pass this info along at our next planning meeting.

t