The Cotswolds is the England of chocolate box covers and Christmas cards and period dramas and is immensely popular with tourists from all over the world, as well as the UK.

If you’re planning on visiting the Cotswolds in 2021, there’s so much to see and explore, not just some of the most gorgeous traditional English pubs in the country. We have five of the best activities for your trip.

Explore the charming villages

Burford in Gloucestershire is a fantastic place to begin your explorations of the traditional Cotswold villages, with its hilly high street lined with inviting pubs and shops.

From there, travel to Bourton-on-the-Water – a kind of mini Cotswoldian Venice with its trickling waterways you can criss-cross over on cute bridges.

Nearby are the villages of Upper and Lower Slaughter – they may not have the most appealing of names but these villages are pretty much picture-perfect!

Marvel at the splendour of Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace boasts sumptuous interiors plus sprawling grounds and gardens to explore. It was where Winston Churchill was born and can be reached with ease from London or nearby Oxford. See if you recognise it from various film sets like the most recent James Bond film Spectre, too.

Get a view over the whole of the Cotswolds

Head up the hill beyond Broadway village to reach Broadway Tower – one of England’s most outstanding viewpoints at 1,024ft. The unrivalled views allow you to survey as many as 16 of England’s fair counties.

Spend the day in Cheltenham

Cheltenham is the Cotswolds’ cultural hub, a beautiful city with a spa heritage and a famous racecourse. Spend a day happily shopping and dining among the city’s Georgian architecture.

Visit a castle with a very royal heritage

Sudeley Castle boasts the Queens Garden as its centrepiece, named so due to no fewer than four of England’s queens – Anne Boleyn, Katherine Parr, Lady Jane Grey and Elizabeth I – once walked upon the original Tudor Parterre. It is the only private castle in England to have a queen buried within its grounds – the last of Henry VIII’s 6 wives, Katherine Parr.

Are you looking for private tours of the Cotswolds? Visit our site today for more details.

About the Author

Jamie is the owner and director of Cotswolds Adventures- a small boutique tour operator running unique cycling and chauffeur driven tours of the Cotswolds.