A complete guide to the Cotswolds: hotels, restaurants and scenic trails

Stretching across five counties in southern England, the Cotswolds is one of the UK’s most prized natural landscapes, with biscuit-box perfect rolling green hills. It is hard to believe that its single-track lanes and quiet villages are just a two-hour drive from the bustle of London, but the Cotswolds’ close proximity to the British capital is part of its appeal to burnt-out urbanites seeking a countryside recharge.

Once famous for its wool trade – which saw affluent merchants set up stately homes and churches during the 18th century – the Cotswolds today is in a UK staycation staple, known for its boutique hotels, pubs with rooms and farm-to-table restaurants. Its villages and towns are built from a distinctive honey-yellow sandstone, which can be seen from Bath, on the southern edge of the Cotswolds, up to Chipping Campden in the north.

At its heart, the town of Cirencester draws crowds for its weekly farmers’ market and handsome high street, while quintessential villages such as Charlbury, Chipping Norton, Witney and Broadway are studded with stylish pubs and coaching inns-turned cosy lodgings. Almost wherever you go, you’re guaranteed a picturesque village centre and quintessentially English pastoral scenery. 

 We highlight how to do the Cotswolds right, from homely boutique stays to Sunday roasts and restorative walking trails.

Where to stay in the Cotswolds

The Cotswolds accommodation scene is diverse, from storied boozers with good-looking rooms to boutique hotels and sublime manor houses. In the rural village of Eynsham in Oxfordshire, Estelle Manor has turned heads since its 2023 launch, putting a contemporary twist on a traditional country club concept. Set within 3,000 acres of parkland, this Jacobean mansion offsets original features – including regal fireplaces, ornate ceilings and vintage furnishings – with contemporary art, while there’s a greenhouse restaurant serving food from the onsite allotment and a Roman-inspired thermal spa.

A ten-minute drive south of Eynsham you’ll find Artist Residence in South Leigh. The thatched-roof farmhouse is boldly updated with House of Hackney wallpaper and bespoke four-poster beds, or you can stay in the two-person Shepherd’s Hut in the garden.

In Cheltenham, Cowley Manor Experimental contrasts modern decor with original 17th-century features. The estate is said to have inspired Lewis Caroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), which informed its renovation by French designer Dorothée Meilichzon, visible in its chequerboard carpets and rabbit door knockers. The destination restaurant is overseen by London-based chef Jackson Boxer and is renowned among local circles for its seasonal plates and brilliant Sunday roast.

If you’re after a quieter alternative, chefs Tom Noest and Peter Creed (of The Bell in Langford and The Little Bell at Soho Farmhouse) offer ten cosy rooms at their neighbourhood pub The Lamb Inn in Shipton-under-Wychwood. Room ten is the best of the bunch with its patterned headboard, freestanding bath and exposed brick walls. For something a little more unusual, The Fish Hotel in Broadway offers a stylish scattering of treehouses and shepherds huts equipped with log burners and retractable stargazing roofs perfectly positioned above the bed.

The best places to eat and drink in the Cotswolds

The region’s farmland supplies ample produce to a host of innovative fine dining restaurants and vibrant gastropubs. Caryn Hibbert’s Ox Barn restaurant, at her sprawling countryside estate Thyme in Southrop, beats the drum for the Cotswolds’ natural larder. Botanical cocktails include a rosehip martini and menus are steered by seasonal produce. Watch chefs preparing and plating food in the open kitchen, while concrete floors and original wooden beams are made cosy with an open fire and candlelit tables.

The Bull in Charlbury reopened under the reigns of local restaurateurs James Gummer and Phil Winser (of The Pelican in Notting Hill) in 2023. Reasonably priced seasonal dishes utilise produce grown at the duo’s plot at nearby Bruern Farm, or supplied by local farmers and growers. Drop in for the tasty bar snacks – pork pie, crab on toast and picked farm veg – or dine on salt cod, beef fillet, pork chops and barrels of oysters at dinnertime.

In Witney, The Harcourt Arms serves elevated British pub grub, like rabbit chops with herb butter, or lamb belly with seasonal vegetables. There are also ten spacious bedrooms upstairs, should you like to linger longer.

Sometimes, a pillowy pizza piled high with toppings is the only thing that will hit the spot. If that’s the case, make tracks for Baz & Fred’s The Stump or The New Inn in Cirencester, where wood-fired pizza is served in a cosy Cotswold pub.

The best cultural hits in the Cotswolds

William Morris, the founder of the 19th-century arts and crafts movement, kept his country home at Kelmscott Manor in west Oxfordshire. Now a museum, it’s been carefully preserved with original furnishings including Morris’s handmade wallpapers, chairs and paintings, as well as intricate needlework by his wife and daughter.

There’s a thriving antiques scene in the Cotswolds. In Broadway, Saintbury Antiques & Architectural Salvage offers various upcycled furnishings and vintage signs, while The Malthouse Collective in Stroud brings together some 80 independent dealers. Neighbouring Antiques Emporium Griffin Hall is a mix of traditional homewares and is the sort of place you’ll want to spend an entire afternoon. Lily’s Antiques & Interiors in Cirencester is the place to note for handmade ceramics and country-chic kitchenware.

Carole Bamford’s farm shop Daylesford Organic has become a Cotswolds landmark for its jam-packed dairy, hand-tied bunches of vegetables and wonderful deli. To swerve its sometimes sizeable queues, the lesser-known Upton Smokery farm shop in Burford still delivers the organic goods – plus there’s an onsite distillery alongside the fresh pastas and condiments. If you’re visiting on a weekend, most major towns such as Bourton-on-the-Water and Woodstock have farmers’ markets that are worth packing a spare tote bag for.

The best walks in the Cotswolds

Expect picturesque hiking routes wherever you base yourself. The scenic Cleeve Hill loop in Cheltenham is a six-mile hilltop route that marks the highest point in Gloucestershire, with trails cutting through wildflower grassland. Dover’s Hill in Chipping Campden and Cooper’s Hill (famous for its annual cheese rolling race in May) in Gloucester pass through beautiful woodland and can be linked together for a challenging hike.

National Trust standouts including Snowshill Manor and Garden, Newark Park, Hidcote and Woodchester Park are great for a gentle stroll, while Winston Churchill’s ancestral home and Unesco-protected landmark Blenheim Palace has 2,000 acres of immaculate parkland and gardens to explore.