9 places · every place verified by us
The South Cotswolds has the National Arboretum at Westonbirt, the abbey where Fox Talbot made the earliest surviving photographic negative, a baroque house and deer park at Dyrham and an Arts and Crafts manor at Rodmarton. Several open only on set days or by booked tour, so plan ahead.
9 places
Museums and galleries · Malmesbury
Malmesbury's free museum in the Town Hall, with the stories of King Athelstan and Eilmer the flying monk, a wheelchair lift and dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly · Rainy days · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Sport and activity · Tetbury
A polo club at Westonbirt near Tetbury, home of the Tomlinson family, where spectators watch free through the summer season, from late April to September.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Sport and activity · Castle Combe
A 1.85-mile motor racing circuit half a mile from Castle Combe, racing since 1950, with race days, action days, track days and driving experiences from spring to November.
Verified Nov 2026
Historic houses and heritage · Tetbury
An Elizabethan manor near Tetbury, finished by 1576 and home of the Lowsley-Williams family since 1891, known on screen as Trenwith in Poldark. Visits by reservation only, and few in 2026 because of filming.
Verified Nov 2026
Historic houses and heritage · Marshfield
William Blathwayt's baroque house of the 1690s below the Cotswold edge north of Bath, with a 270-acre deer park, a West Garden and Delftware, cared for by the National Trust and open through the winter as well as the summer.
Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Parks and gardens · Tetbury
The gardens at Highgrove, near Tetbury, open by booked guided tour from spring to early autumn, with tours that include lunch or tea.
Verified Oct 2026
Historic houses and heritage · Lacock
The National Trust's abbey made from a medieval nunnery, where Fox Talbot made the earliest surviving photographic negative in 1835, with its museum and village.
Car-free · Dog-friendly · EV charging
Verified Oct 2026
Historic houses and heritage · Tetbury
An Arts and Crafts house built from 1909 to 1929 by Ernest Barnsley and local craftsmen, with an eight-acre garden of outdoor rooms, open in summer.
Verified Nov 2026
Parks and gardens · Tetbury
The National Arboretum near Tetbury: 15,000 trees, a 300m treetop walkway, dog-friendly Silk Wood and a peak season of autumn colour.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Westonbirt, the National Arboretum, near Tetbury, is the big day out of the South Cotswolds: 15,000 trees, a 300m treetop walkway that works for wheelchairs and pushchairs, and Silk Wood, where dogs can run off the lead. Autumn colour peaks from late September to mid-November, when you should book ahead. Volunteer-led walks through the Old Arboretum leave at 11am and 2pm every day, with an extra walk at 11.30am from 1 October to 15 November, when a place costs £1 to book.
Close by, Highgrove's gardens open only by booked guided tour from April to September, with tickets on sale in March, and Rodmarton Manor, the house Ernest Barnsley and local craftsmen built by hand from 1909 to 1929, opens on Wednesdays, Saturdays and bank holidays from May to September. Chavenage House, Trenwith in Poldark, takes visitors by reservation only, and in August 2026 its owner said filming left little chance to tour the house.
Lacock Abbey, the National Trust's abbey made from a medieval nunnery, is where Fox Talbot made the earliest surviving photographic negative in 1835. The museum, the abbey and the village's four streets fill a morning. The abbey rooms close from 1 November to 1 March, apart from the Great Hall at Christmas.
North of Bath, Dyrham Park has William Blathwayt's baroque house of the 1690s, a 270-acre deer park with long views and a play area, open every day but 24 and 25 December. In Malmesbury, the Athelstan Museum in the Town Hall tells the stories of King Athelstan and Eilmer the flying monk. It is free, with a lift, and dogs are welcome.
Beaufort Polo Club at Westonbirt lets spectators watch free every weekend of its summer season, from late April to mid-September in 2026, with picnics and dogs on leads welcome. Only the Beaufort International charges. Castle Combe Circuit, half a mile from the village, holds race days from spring to November, with under-16s free.
The Athelstan Museum and the polo are free. An adult pays £15 at Rodmarton, £19 to £22 at Westonbirt in autumn, £21 at Lacock and £23 at Dyrham (2026). Lacock and Dyrham charge non-members to park, £5 and £4 a day (2026). Rodmarton's car park is free. Dogs are welcome in Lacock's garden and Westonbirt's Silk Wood, but not at Dyrham, because of the deer, nor at Highgrove or Rodmarton. Without a car, take the X34 bus from Chippenham to Lacock. Westonbirt is cheaper if you arrive by bus, train or bike: £13 on weekdays and £15.50 at weekends in autumn 2026. For the town and its gardens, see things to do in Tetbury, and for lunch, places to eat in the South Cotswolds.
In July, Sherston Boules Festival closes the village High Street for a day, and on Boxing Day morning the Marshfield Mummers perform their play along Marshfield's High Street. Lacock is the last stop on our film locations drive, for Hogwarts, and a week in the Cotswolds ends with three nights in Malmesbury for Westonbirt, Castle Combe, Biddestone and Lacock.
Westonbirt for the trees and a dog off the lead, Lacock for Fox Talbot, Dyrham for the deer park, the Athelstan Museum for a free hour, Highgrove and Rodmarton for gardens on set days, and the polo and the circuit for a summer weekend.
All places
Parks and gardens · Tetbury
The National Arboretum near Tetbury: 15,000 trees, a 300m treetop walkway, dog-friendly Silk Wood and a peak season of autumn colour.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Historic houses and heritage · Lacock
The National Trust's abbey made from a medieval nunnery, where Fox Talbot made the earliest surviving photographic negative in 1835, with its museum and village.
Car-free · Dog-friendly · EV charging
Verified Oct 2026
Historic houses and heritage · Marshfield
William Blathwayt's baroque house of the 1690s below the Cotswold edge north of Bath, with a 270-acre deer park, a West Garden and Delftware, cared for by the National Trust and open through the winter as well as the summer.
Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Museums and galleries · Malmesbury
Malmesbury's free museum in the Town Hall, with the stories of King Athelstan and Eilmer the flying monk, a wheelchair lift and dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly · Rainy days · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Parks and gardens · Tetbury
The gardens at Highgrove, near Tetbury, open by booked guided tour from spring to early autumn, with tours that include lunch or tea.
Verified Oct 2026
Historic houses and heritage · Tetbury
An Arts and Crafts house built from 1909 to 1929 by Ernest Barnsley and local craftsmen, with an eight-acre garden of outdoor rooms, open in summer.
Verified Nov 2026
Sport and activity · Tetbury
A polo club at Westonbirt near Tetbury, home of the Tomlinson family, where spectators watch free through the summer season, from late April to September.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Sport and activity · Castle Combe
A 1.85-mile motor racing circuit half a mile from Castle Combe, racing since 1950, with race days, action days, track days and driving experiences from spring to November.
Verified Nov 2026
Through the arboretum at Westonbirt, out from Lacock over Naish Hill, round Malmesbury by the Avon, and the Cotswold Way past Dyrham.
All walks starting here
Walk · Starts in Tetbury · 1 hr · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 2.6-mile (4.2km) easy, nearly level loop of about an hour through Silk Wood at Westonbirt, the National Arboretum, from the treetop walkway out to the Waste Gate, round by Oak Avenue and the maples and back along The Link. Inside the arboretum, so entry is paid.
Walk · Starts in Malmesbury · 1 hr · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 2.5-mile (3.9km) circular walk from Cross Hayes in Malmesbury, easy and about an hour, mostly level with some stiles: down from the Market Cross past Daniel's Well, along the Avon by the meads and the silk mills, and back round under the abbey.
Walk · Starts in the South Cotswolds · 3 hrs, 45 mins · Dog-friendly
A 6.6-mile (10.6km) one-way walk on the fourteenth section of the Cotswold Way, moderate and about three and three quarter hours: from Tormarton over the M4, round the wall of Dyrham Park, through Dyrham village and up through Dyrham Woods to Cold Ashton.
Open days, autumn colour and what is on across the South Cotswolds, in your inbox about once a month.
Dyrham Park has a play area at Old Lodge and a deer park to walk in, and Westonbirt's treetop walkway suits pushchairs. Under-16s go free at Castle Combe Circuit's race days with an adult. The Athelstan Museum in Malmesbury has a children's corner with activity sheets, and Lacock's village and Fox Talbot museum make an easy morning. Highgrove does not take children under 9.
Westonbirt is the best for dogs: they can run off the lead in Silk Wood, though not in the Old Arboretum. Lacock takes dogs on short leads in the garden all year, the Athelstan Museum welcomes them, and the polo at Beaufort is dog friendly on a lead. Dyrham Park takes assistance dogs only, because of the deer, and Highgrove and Rodmarton take none.
Watching polo at Beaufort Polo Club, free on summer weekends from late April to mid-September. Bring a picnic. The Athelstan Museum in Malmesbury is free, with donations welcome. National Trust members go free at Lacock, parking included.
Partly. The Faresaver X34 bus runs from Chippenham station to Lacock, and the Stables Café gives a free hot drink if you show your bus ticket. Westonbirt charges less if you arrive by bus, train or bike. Chippenham and Kemble stations are on the lines from London Paddington, but Rodmarton, Dyrham and the polo need a car or a taxi.
The southern wolds as they fall towards Bath and Wiltshire: Tetbury's Market House, Castle Combe's street by the By Brook, Malmesbury's abbey and Lacock beyond the edge.
What is on, what is new and what is in season in Cotswolds Info, in your inbox about once a month.