Visiting the Cotswolds from abroad

Most visitors from overseas need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) or a visa before they travel, and the rest of a Cotswolds trip turns on a few habits: drive on the left, pay by card, order your drinks at the bar, and expect shorter opening hours on Sundays. Everything else, from the weather to the buses, is on our planning pages.

The ETA: apply before you fly

If you are not British or Irish, check whether you need an ETA or a visa on GOV.UK (opens in a new tab) before you book. Visitors from Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia usually need an ETA, which costs £20, lets you visit for up to six months, and is needed by every traveller, babies included. Apply through the official GOV.UK service or app only.

Arriving and getting about

The nearest big airports are Heathrow, Birmingham and Bristol, each an hour to an hour and a half's drive from the nearest Cotswold towns without traffic: our airports page and getting here have the routes and times. Without a car, the railway stations at Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury, Kemble and Stroud are the way in, and the local buses are on our buses page. Contactless cards and phones work on the buses and in almost every pub, shop and car park. Carry a little cash for village honesty boxes and the odd café.

Driving on the left, and the lanes

Britain drives on the left, overtakes on the right and gives way to traffic from the right at roundabouts. If you hold a full licence from another country you can drive a car here for 12 months from your last arrival (GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)). Hire firms list manual and automatic cars separately, so if you only drive an automatic, choose one when you book.

The speed limits are 30mph in towns and villages unless signs say otherwise, 60mph on single-carriageway roads and 70mph on dual carriageways and motorways (GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)). Signs and speedometers are in miles. The drink-drive limit in England is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)), lower than many visitors expect. The safe rule is not to drink at all if you are driving.

Many Cotswold lanes are a single car wide between stone walls, with passing places. Pull into the nearest gap on your left, or wait opposite one on your right, and expect tractors, horses and cyclists round the bends. In the famous villages, park in the car park rather than the street: our parking page has the charges. Cotswold District Council's car parks take cards or a phone app only, with no cash.

Pubs, restaurants and tipping

In a pub, you order and pay for drinks at the bar, and often for food too: find a table, note its number, and order at the bar unless someone comes to take your order. Nobody expects a tip for a round of drinks. In restaurants and dining pubs with table service, many add a service charge to the bill. If they do, the bill says so and you need not add more, and if they do not, leaving something for good service is usual. Under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 (opens in a new tab), in force since 1 October 2024, employers must pass tips and service charges on to their staff in full.

Opening hours, Sundays and bank holidays

Large shops in England may open for only six hours on a Sunday, between 10am and 6pm, and stay shut on Easter Sunday. Small shops, pubs and cafés set their own hours. Many village pubs stop serving food between lunch and dinner, and some kitchens close on Monday or Tuesday, so check before you set out. On bank holidays most attractions open, and the car parks in the famous villages fill early.

Plugs, the weather and the heritage passes

Britain uses the three-pin plug (type G) at 230 volts, so bring an adaptor, and a converter for any device that only runs on 110 volts. Pack for rain in any month: our weather page has the Met Office averages month by month.

Most of the big houses and gardens belong to the National Trust or to private owners and charge at the gate. The Trust's own houses here include Hidcote, Snowshill Manor and Chedworth Roman Villa. English Heritage's Cotswold sites, such as Belas Knap and Minster Lovell Hall, are mostly free, open ground. English Heritage sells an Overseas Visitors Pass (opens in a new tab) for its paid sites across England, £58 for nine days for one adult between 25 March 2026 and 16 March 2027. Our page on what the Cotswolds costs works out when a pass pays.

Planning the trip

For a first visit, two or three nights is enough to see the north Cotswolds without rushing. Our itineraries give one, three and five days, and where to stay compares the bases.