My Birthday Weekend in The Cotswolds
Over the bank holiday weekend, I turned 26 years old! For my birthday, I was whisked away to The Cotswolds for a few days by Stefan. I’ve never actually visited the area before so it was lovely to explore the beautiful chocolate box villages. We actually stayed in Cheltenham at the Queen’s Hotel by M Gallery but it was a great base to drive to the countryside each day. I’ve got to say it was super duper busy in The Cotswolds as it was a bank holiday but we tried our best to keep our distance. We would love to visit again in quieter times and explore but here’s a little look of what we got up to!
Our first stop was Stratford Upon Avon which isn’t actually The Cotswolds but it’s not too far away. We had a very whistlestop tour of Stratford as we had a dining reservation later that day to get to. Stratford-Upon-Avon was absolutely beautiful! Obviously, it’s well known for being William Shakespears birthplace which we had to visit. You can also visit his grave, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and many more places linked to the famous playwright. It was a gorgeous morning and just lovely to sit by the River Avon. Even at around 10.30 am it was really busy with long ques for the boat trips and a local food market lining the river. We could’ve probably spent all day here as it was just a lovely place to chill and just enjoy the scenery. Stratford-Upon-Avon is certainly somewhere we will return.
It was then time to head towards the Cotswolds as we had lunch booked in Stow-On-The-Wold. On our approach to the village, it was when we realised, how busy things were. The ques for villages were astonishing with our last two minutes of the drive taking 40 minutes. We parked at the Tesco superstore as they have a free car park on the outskirts of Stow-on-The-Wold. The great thing about the Cotswolds is that most of the parking is free!
We had lunch booked at The Porch House in Stow-On-The-Wold on recommendation from Haydy. The Porch House claims to be one of the oldest Inns in Britain and also claims to have one of the Best Sunday Roasts in The Cotswolds. I’ll be doing a more in-depth review for The Sunday Roast Diaries but it was a lovely pub. I’m sure you can tell by the photo that the food wasn’t bad either! Stow-on-Wold was a lovely place to just wander around with cute little shops, ice cream vendors and tea rooms. We also visited St.Edwards Church which has an incredible medieval tree-framed door. This door was supposedly used as inspiration by JRR Tolkien for the gates to Moria.
Our next stop was visiting the Slaughters. Two villages, just 1 mile apart. We first visited Lower Slaughter which really is the most beautiful place with a little stream running through it with lovely cottages on the banks and a running mill. There are a few places to eat here so it’s worth checking them out and booking ahead as the scenery is just stunning. We decided to leave the car in Lower Slaughter and walk one mile to Upper Slaughter. To be honest, there isn’t a lot there but the walk is pleasant. I also bumped into fellow Yorkshire blogger, Lucy! Of all places to bump into someone!
As I mentioned before, we were staying in Cheltenham at the Queen’s Hotel. It was an absolutely lovely hotel, amazing service and we felt super comfortable with everything going on. The hotel was a pretty good base as there was plenty of nightlife in the city yet we were in driving distance to The Cotswolds.
The following day which was my 26th Birthday, we had a lovely breakfast in bed before heading over to Burford to meet Jess who lives nearby. Jess was going to be our tour guide for the day starting off in Burford where we grabbed some lunch at the Mermaid Inn. Although it was a bank holiday, we were really lucky that Eat Out to Help Out was still going on. The food was really lovely there and I would really recommend the pies! There were lots of little pubs and shops along the main street of Burford which was on a hill. Jess showed us Burford Church which is steeped in history before we headed back up the hill and on to Minster Lovell.
Just 10 minutes down the road from Burford is another gorgeous little village called Minster Lovell. The small streets are lined with the most beautiful cottages, some with thatched roofs. At the far end of the village is the Minster Lovell Hall Ruins sat on the bankside on River Windrush. The Hall dates back to the 15th century and is now an English Heritage site. Minster Lovell seemed not as popular as the other places we visited but it certainly was worth a visit as it’s such a pretty village. I’ve also been informed it’s home to a couple of Hollywood stars too!
After popping to see Jess’s new house, we headed back towards Cheltenham but en route we did have to pay a visit to Bibury. Here you’ll find one of the most photographed places in the UK; Arlington Row. I couldn’t believe how busy it was even at 6pm in the evening. Arlington Row really was one of the most picturesque places I’ve visited. I also read online that you can stay in one of the cottages through the National Trust which would be amazing. Also in Bibury is a Trout Farm which is a popular attraction in the area. Although Bibury was quite small, we loved this little village and would even consider staying here on future trips as The Swan Hotel looked so lovely!
I know visiting The Cotswolds over the Summer Bank Holiday wasn’t the wisest option in terms of avoiding the crowds but we just wanted to get away over my Birthday. We would love to visit again when it’s a little quieter or even in Winter. We didn’t manage to visit Bourton-On-The-Water which is one of the must-visit places in The Cotswolds but we’d heard that it was horrendously busy. Hopefully, we will be able to visit on another visiting along with places like Broadway, Chipping Norton, Castle Combe – the list goes on!
We had our final evening in Cheltenham celebrating my Birthday and visited a beautiful restaurant called the Daffodil which was in a restored cinema from the 1920s. It really was a lovely place to celebrate my Birthday. I went for the Steak and Stefan got Lamb Rump before we also treated ourselves to a dessert! It was a lovely restaurant, especially for a special occasion and the service was amazing too!
Before we headed back up North on our final day, we headed towards Oxford which was about an hour from Cheltenham. Our first stop off with Bicester Village which I was ever so excited about visiting. I’m going to be doing a separate blogpost about visiting Bicester as there’s a lot of rules and guidelines and I think writing about my experience might be quite helpful. We also popped to Oxford for a few hours and grabbed some pizza from Franco Manca and saw some of the cities sights. I’ll add a few photos but as I’ve visited Oxford before, I showed Stefan most of the places that I visited last year which you can read all about in this post.
It was a long trip home but I had such a lovely Birthday in the Cotswolds and I loved exploring somewhere new. It’s quite doubtful that I’ll be heading abroad anytime soon so it’s lovely to have this opportunity to explore some parts of the UK that I’ve not been before. We’re currently planning another UK break which I can’t wait to share with you soon!
Have you ever visited The Cotswolds?
XOXO
