The Cotswolds in June

June in the Cotswolds is roses, long evenings and the start of the lavender, and its weekdays are the last quiet ones before the summer. The Met Office's averages for Little Rissington (opens in a new tab) for 1991 to 2020 give a high of 19°C and a low of nearly 10°C, and June is one of the drier months, with rain on about nine days, 57mm in all, and nearly seven hours of sunshine a day. The sun rises before 5am and sets at about 9.30pm around the longest day, with more than 16 hours of daylight. The villages are busy at weekends and at ease in the week, because the school summer holidays do not start until after 20 July.

The averages are for the wolds above Bourton-on-the-Water. A warm June day on the open wolds or the escarpment has little shade, so carry water on a walk. The evenings cool quickly on the hills.

What is in flower in June

Roses, lavender and the gardens at their fullest. Kiftsgate Court, near Chipping Campden, gives its name to the Kiftsgate rose, the vigorous rambler that fills half of one side of its rose border; the garden says it is covered in white flowers in early to mid July, so June brings the other roses first. Next door, the borders at Hidcote are coming into their best, and Rodmarton Manor opened for longer, 11am to 4pm, in June and July in 2026. Our gardens weekend from Chipping Campden puts Hidcote and Kiftsgate in one day by car.

Cotswold Lavender at Snowshill, above Broadway, opens its fields in mid-June and the colour builds through the month towards its peak, which runs from the last week of June to about the third week of July. Tickets are bought on arrival by card, not in advance, and the farm recommends arriving by 4pm; last entry is 4.45pm. Our guide to lavender and sunflower fields has the season in full.

Pick your own starts too: Hayles Fruit Farm near Winchcombe has strawberries from June, and posts what is ready on its Facebook page. The limestone grassland of the commons, at Leckhampton Hill among others, grows wild orchids, with wild thyme on the old quarry floors, and early summer is the time to look for them.

What is on in June

June is a month of music and talks rather than customs. The Cheltenham Science Festival usually runs for six days in early to mid June, with free hands-on zones in its festival village in Imperial Gardens and talks in the Town Hall; the dates are confirmed when the organisers publish the programme. Longborough Festival Opera, in a theatre near Stow-on-the-Wold, opens its summer season at the end of May or in early June (30 May in 2026) and runs into early August, with a 90-minute dining interval for a picnic in the grounds. Public booking opens at the start of March, so book early.

When the spring bank holiday falls on 28 May or later, the Chipping Campden customs spill into June: Robert Dover's Cotswold Olimpick Games on Dover's Hill on the Friday after the bank holiday, and Scuttlebrook Wake in the town the day after; check each year's dates with the organisers. In those years the May half term runs into the first days of June as well.

The markets run on: Stroud Farmers' Market every Saturday, Stow Farmers' Market on the second and last Thursdays, and the charter markets at Cirencester, Moreton-in-Marsh and Witney. The summer shows begin in July, with the Cotswold Show at Cirencester on the first weekend.

What is open in June

Most places are open in June, on summer hours, and two open that are shut the rest of the year. Stanway House, the Jacobean manor below the edge near Winchcombe, opens on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 2pm to 5pm in June, July and August only, with its water garden and fountain. Cotswold Lavender (opens in a new tab) opens in mid-June and closes in early August (11 June to 5 August in 2026). The car park is a free grass field, no cash is taken anywhere on the site, and dogs come in on a lead, though not into the children's play area. The farm calls July its busiest time and suggests coming earlier in the season for a quieter field. Highgrove runs its garden tours, some with lunch or a champagne tea, all booked in advance; each season's tickets go on sale in March.

There is no bank holiday in June, so places that close on public holidays keep their usual days. Kiftsgate's opening days change through the season, so check its own page. Each listing has the latest dates we have.

Walks for June

June is the month for a long walk with a late start and a pub at the end. The paths are dry, the light lasts until after 9pm, and the only hardships are long grass, nettles and the heat on the open tops.

• Snowshill and Snowswood, 2.1 miles (3.4km) from Pipers Grove car park, short but hilly. Nettles and insects in the woods in summer, so wear long trousers; walkers on AllTrails report sheep in the pastures and one stile with no gap for a dog
• Stanton, Snowshill and the edge, 6.6 miles from Stanton up the Cotswold Way to Snowshill and back along the top, with steep sections and stiles
• Swinbrook and Fulbrook, 4.3 miles in the Windrush valley from the Swan at Swinbrook, easy, with stretches of road that walkers report as busy and cows in a pasture near Swinbrook
• Cleeve Common and Cleeve Cloud, 4 miles on the highest ground in the Cotswolds, with no shade, so take water

Keep dogs on a lead near cattle and sheep, and on open access land until 31 July, while birds nest on the ground. For an evening walk, the Swinbrook loop takes about two hours, so starting from the Swan at 6pm brings you back to the river with more than an hour of light to spare and a table waiting, if you booked one.

Where to stay and eat in June

June suits a pub with a garden or a terrace, and a midweek stay, when rooms are easier and the villages quiet. For the lavender and the north edge, stay in or near Broadway: our places to stay in Broadway page has the town, and the Childswickham Inn, 2 miles out, has a garden and ciders. In the Windrush valley, the Swan at Swinbrook sits on the river in the Mitfords' village, with rooms in its stables, and our Burford guide has the town 2 miles away.

Book the weekends ahead, and ask for a table outside when you do: on a fine June evening the gardens fill first.

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School holidays and bank holidays in June

There is no bank holiday in June. The May half term is the week of the spring bank holiday, which in some years runs into the first days of June. After that, the schools in Gloucestershire (opens in a new tab) are in term until the summer holidays, which begin after the last day of term around 20 July (Monday 20 July in 2026). That makes June, after its first week, the quietest summer month: the famous villages are busy on fine weekends and at ease in the week.

A Tuesday in June is one of the best days of the year to see Bibury or Bourton-on-the-Water: long light, full gardens and the lanes clear. Go before 10am or after 5pm, when the day visitors have thinned out. Our guide to the Cotswolds without the crowds has the busy hours and the quieter villages.

If you only have a day in June

Pick a weekday in the last week of June. Be at Cotswold Lavender for 10am, when it opens, walk the Snowswood loop or look round Snowshill and St Barnabas, then drive down to Broadway for a late lunch. On a Tuesday or Thursday, spend the afternoon at Stanway House, and finish with the long evening light on the walk from Stanton up to the edge.

Our guide to when to visit the Cotswolds has July and the rest of the year.