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Bibury
A village on the River Coln with a row of medieval cottages that draws up to 20,000 visitors on a peak weekend, by press estimates. Come early or late, and walk on down the river.
- Nearest station
- Kemble, then a taxi or the 855 bus from Cirencester
- Parking
- No council car park and little room on The Street; the trout farm's car park charges £10. Come by bus if you can
- Best time
- Before 10am or after 5pm, any day; a weekday between November and March
- When it's busy
- Summer weekends and bank holidays from late morning to late afternoon, when press reports put visitors at up to 20,000 on a peak weekend
- Toilets
- Public toilets on The Street, 50p, 8am to 8pm in summer and 8am to 6pm in winter, with an accessible cubicle (free with a RADAR key)
- Dogs
- On leads by the river and on the National Trust's path round Rack Isle
About Bibury
Bibury is a small village on the River Coln, about 6 miles north-east of Cirencester, and it is famous for one thing: Arlington Row, a terrace of stone cottages above a water meadow. On a summer weekend the narrow street fills with coaches and cars, and the bridge by the Swan is hard to cross. Early in the morning, or on a winter weekday, it is a quiet riverside village again, and that is when to see it.
Arlington Row and Rack Isle
Arlington Row began in the late fourteenth century as a wool store and was turned into a row of weavers' cottages in the late seventeenth. The Royal Society of Arts repaired it in 1929 and the National Trust, which owns it now, restored it in the early 1970s. It is listed Grade I.
The cottages are private homes, two of them let by the National Trust as holiday cottages, so there is no way in and the gardens are private. Look from the path along the front of the Row, or from across Rack Isle, the National Trust's water meadow between the Row and the river. The path is level and runs round the meadow, which the Trust looks after as wetland for wildlife. Opposite the Row, Eleven Bibury at 11 The Street is a café and brasserie, open every day from 9am to 5pm, with the village post office counter.
St Mary's and the river
St Mary's church, at the other end of the village, is older than anything on the Row. Parts of it date from the eleventh century, and it was enlarged over the next four hundred years. It is listed Grade I, and it is a short walk from the bridge.
Between the church and the Row the Coln runs clear and shallow beside the street. Bibury Trout Farm, which says it is the oldest working trout farm in England and was founded in 1902, is open daily from 9am, with a café and a shop; in 2026 an adult ticket was £9.50.
A morning in Bibury
Come early. Walk the path along Arlington Row and round Rack Isle while the light is low across the meadow, then follow the street past the river to St Mary's. If you want to stay longer, take the footpath out of the village down the Coln valley rather than another lap of the street: the river is the same, the crowds are not. For a pub lunch, the Sherborne Arms just outside Aldsworth is about 3 miles away on the Burford road; ring ahead early in the week, when it may be closed.
Nearer, the Catherine Wheel in Arlington, a few minutes' walk up from the Row, serves food; ring to check times, especially on Sundays.
Walks from Bibury
The Cotswolds National Landscape publishes two walks from the village, both without stiles. The longer is a 6-mile (10km) circuit to Coln St Aldwyns and back by the water meadows of the Coln, about three hours with 152m of climbing, on field paths and tracks with gates. The shorter is a 4-mile (6.5km) loop from the bridge by the Swan through Oxhill Wood, which is muddy after rain. More routes from the village are in our half-day walks and dog-friendly walks.
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When to come
Any season works if you come at the right time of day. Summer weekends and bank holidays are the busiest, from late morning until the coaches leave in the late afternoon. Before 10am or after 5pm the village is quiet even in August. On a winter weekday you may have the path along the Row almost to yourself. For more places to stay, see where to stay in Cirencester, the nearest town. Without a car, our car-free itinerary arrives on two buses from Moreton-in-Marsh at about 10.30am, Monday to Saturday; by car, three days in the Cotswolds starts its last day here at 9am.
Bibury Open Gardens, when villagers open their gardens to visitors, was held on Sunday 7 June in 2026.
Last verified 27 October 2026 by our editors
Part of
Cirencester and the Coln Valley
Cirencester, the Roman town of Corinium, and the River Coln running past Bibury, Coln St Aldwyns and Fairford to meet the Thames by Lechlade.
Things to do in Bibury
Family days out · Bibury
Bibury Trout Farm
A working trout farm on the River Coln at Bibury, founded in 1902, with a café, a shop, catch-your-own fishing and its own pay car park.
Where to stay in Bibury
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9 Arlington Row
Self-catering · Bibury
The National Trust's holiday cottage in Arlington Row, Bibury: a two-bedroom former weaver's cottage for three, with a wood burner and a private garden behind the famous terrace.
Verified Oct 2026
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Cotteswold House
B&B · Bibury
A renovated guest house in Arlington, Bibury, a short walk from Arlington Row, with double rooms, a family suite and two self-catering cottages, and a cooked breakfast for those in the rooms.
Verified Oct 2026
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The New Inn
Inn · Coln St Aldwyns
A 16th-century coaching inn with rooms in Coln St Aldwyns, reopened in 2020 by Baz and Fred, with a Garden Suite and food every day.
Verified Nov 2026
Where to eat and drink in Bibury
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Eleven Bibury
Cafes and tearooms · Bibury
A café, brasserie and gallery shop at 11 The Street, Bibury, opposite Arlington Row, open every day from 9am to 5pm, with a terraced garden and the village post office.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Sherborne Arms, Aldsworth
Pubs · Bibury
A family-run sixteenth-century inn below Aldsworth, about 3 miles from Bibury on the way to Northleach, with a flower-bordered garden, fresh fish and a function room.
Verified Oct 2026
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The Catherine Wheel, Bibury
Pubs · Bibury
A family-run pub and restaurant in Arlington, the upper part of Bibury, cooking from local suppliers since 2009, with a garden, an open fire and four rooms.
Verified Nov 2026
Walks in and around Bibury
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Bibury, Oxhill Wood and Akeman Street
Walk · Starts in Bibury · 1 hr, 45 mins · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 4-mile (6.6km) circular walk from the bridge by the Swan in Bibury, an hour and a half to two hours with a few short, steep climbs. It goes out by the church and up above the Coln to Oxhill Wood, along the line of the Roman Akeman Street and back over farmland to Arlington Row.
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Bibury and Ablington
Walk · Starts in Bibury · 1 hr, 45 mins · Circular
A 5-mile (8.2km) circular walk from Arlington Row in Bibury, an hour and a half to two hours of moderate walking with a few stiles. It goes up Packhorse Lane and the Salt Way over open wold, down to Ablington and its Elizabethan manor, and back beside the River Coln.
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Quenington to Fairford
Walk · Starts in Coln St Aldwyns · 3 hrs · Circular
A 5.75-mile (9.25km) circular walk from the Keepers Arms in Quenington, moderate with several stiles, in two and a half to three hours: down the river valley and through a permitted wood to Fairford's Mill Bridge and church, and back. The permitted path is closed on Tuesdays.
Sights in and around Bibury
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Ablington Manor
Sight · Historic building · Bibury
Ablington Manor is an Elizabethan house in the hamlet of Ablington near Bibury, dated 1590 for John Coxwell, with five carved royal heads over its porch. Listed Grade I and a private home, it is seen from the lane through the hamlet.
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Arlington Row, Bibury
Sight · Historic building · Bibury
Arlington Row is a terrace of stone cottages above the mill stream in Bibury, built as a wool store in the late fourteenth century and turned into weavers' homes in the seventeenth. Grade I and owned by the National Trust, the cottages are lived in and seen from the path.
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St Mary's Church, Bibury
Sight · Church · Bibury
St Mary's in Bibury is a Saxon church grown over five centuries, with eleventh-century walling, Saxon stones in the chancel, carved capitals of the Oseney canons, the county's earliest stained glass and a Karl Parsons window of 1927. Grade I and open daily.
Stories about Bibury
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The accessible Cotswolds
Story · Guides · 12 minute read
The honest picture of access in the Cotswolds: which villages are level and which are cobbles and hills, the step-free days out, every Changing Places toilet we can confirm, Blue Badge parking, stile-free walks, accessible stays and getting about by train, bus and taxi.
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The best villages in the Cotswolds
Story · Guides · 13 minute read
The best villages in the Cotswolds, from Bibury, Castle Combe and the Slaughters to quieter Naunton, Eastleach and Biddestone: what to see in each, a walk from the green and a pub or tearoom.
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The Cotswolds with a dog
Story · Guides · 11 minute read
The rules for a dog in the Cotswolds, where sheep and cattle graze the commons and the fields, then the best dog walks, the rivers for a swim, the attractions, gardens, pubs and places to stay that welcome dogs, and what to do on a hot day or in an emergency.
Quieter places near Bibury
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Coln St Aldwyns
Village · Cirencester and the Coln Valley
Two villages facing each other across the River Coln a few miles below Bibury, with a Norman church, a Knights Hospitaller gateway and a pub, and few visitors.
Getting to Bibury
- By bus
- The 855 runs roughly hourly between Cirencester, Bibury, Northleach and Bourton-on-the-Water, Monday to Saturday. There is no Sunday bus.
- By train
- Kemble is the nearest station; from there take a taxi, or go on to Cirencester for the 855.
- By car
- Parking is limited, and the county council fines cars parked where they shouldn't be. Check the council's Bibury traffic plan before you come.
Access
A level path runs in front of Arlington Row and round Rack Isle, narrowing in places and crossing a small, narrow bridge over the mill stream.
Places near Bibury
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Coln St AldwynsTwo villages facing each other across the River Coln a few miles below Bibury, with a Norman church, a Knights Hospitaller gateway and a pub, and few visitors.
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FairfordA small town on the River Coln with the only complete set of late medieval glass in an English parish church, and the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo.
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NorthleachA small wool town in the Leach valley with one of the great Cotswold wool churches, its floor full of brasses to the merchants who paid for it, and a Georgian prison.
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CirencesterThe Roman town of Corinium and the market town of the southern Cotswolds, with a museum of its mosaics, a great wool church, an amphitheatre and Earl Bathurst's park.