Cotswolds ancient Towns & Villages to visit

".... the lost sunlight of centuries"

The Cotswolds is an expanse of gently sloping green hills and ancient, picturesque towns and villages in southwestern and west-central England. It is a designated area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the largest in the country, and its quintessentially English charm predominantly spans Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, while also reaching into parts of Wiltshire, Somerset, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire.

The Cotswolds has the largest number of conservation areas of any English region, stretching from the northern gateway of Broadway to the magnificent roman town and Georgian city of Bath on the southern fringes. The region includes Shakespeare's Stratford upon Avon, the king maker's castle of Warwick, the historic academia of Oxford, and Winston Churchill's childhood home, Blenheim Palace.

Not only is the Cotswolds home to unspoiled heritage towns and villages dating back more than five to six hundred years, but the surrounding rolling countryside with its 3000 miles of cross-country public footpaths is steeped in prehistory too. It is an area rich in Neolithic remains, with about 80 long barrows, the remains of some 400 round barrows, and many Iron Age hill forts.

In the Middle Ages, the Cotswolds was made wealthy by the wool trade (the name Cotswolds derives from old English words referring to sheep and hills). Wool merchants built themselves fine houses and commissioned the building of magnificent churches, which today still stand and often resemble beautiful, mini cathedrals. It’s a quirk of the area, small quaint towns with their tumble of grand homes, humble weaver’s cottages, shops, and greens, gathered around beautifully elaborate places of worship. Many of the smaller communities have scarcely altered since they grew up on the prosperity of the medieval wool trade.

As well as its rolling, green countryside, woods and river valleys, the region is famous for its ancient honey-coloured limestone, which was used to build the villages and bustling market towns. The warm, mellow colour of the communities blends perfectly with the surrounding golden green countryside — a big part of what makes the Cotswolds so breathtakingly distinctive.

J. B. Priestley once wrote of Cotswold stone -

"the truth is that it has no colour that can be described. Even when the sun is obscured and the light is cold, these walls are still faintly warm and luminous, as if they knew the trick of keeping the lost sunlight of centuries glimmering about them."

The Cotswolds is one of the most treasured and visited destinations in the UK and indeed the world. Nowhere else will you find such timeless, unique and heart-warming preservation on such a scale. No doubt a reason it recently placed number two on a list of top ten paradise locations on earth.

For further Cotswolds information: -

• See - Top Things in the Cotswolds
• See - Heritage & History
• See - Cotswolds Fact Sheet
• See - Most Romantic Street in Britain
• See - 5th Top shopping street in Britain
  

Click - For lager scale map

Practicalities of Touring the Cotswolds

The Cotswolds is a very rural region interlaced with many thousands of miles of country lanes. Many of the ancient villages are hidden in idylic valleys and within wooded hills. To fully explore these timeless places touring by car is certainly the best option and if you do not want to drive then the hire of a Chauffeur Personal Car is a good alternative.

Tours by Bus or Coach companies are available for exploring the more accessible towns and villages.

Touring by using Public Buses can be done reasonably easily but it is suggested you choose your base at a largish Cotswold town to have more choice of destination places to explore.

Touring by using an Organised Tour Company is a 'hassle free' way of seeing the best of the region.

Getting to the Cotwolds by train

The Cotswolds are at the heart of the British Rail network with mainline trains to the Cotswolds from London, the Midlands and the North and the South West of England.

There are main line railway stations at Cam and Dursley, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Kemble (serving Cirencester),
Moreton-in-Marsh, Worcester, Stonehouse and Stroud.

Visitors as part of a rail based holiday are recommended to plan accommodation within easy reach of these stations.

There are regular rail services through the Cotswolds including:-

• From London Paddington to Cheltenham via Swindon, Kemble (serving Cirencester), Stroud, Stonehouse, and Gloucester
• From London Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh via Charlbury and Kingham and ending at Worcester.
• Between Gloucester and Cardiff
• Between Birmingham and Bristol via Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Dursley
• For further information see - Touring by Train

Getting to the Cotswolds by Car

Travel time by car from London - circa. 1.45 hours

Travel time from Birmingam - circa 1.0 hours

For more - travel information and useful tips

Cotswolds Places to Tour and Visit