1. Bourton-on-the-Water
Our favorite by far! Bourton is one of the most touristed of the towns, but there is good reason for it. Fortunately, we travelled in the "shoulder season". The weather was great, but the crowds were not as heavy as they might be in the height of summer. We spent several hours exploring the neighborhood streets, enjoying tea and scones, checking out the shops, drinking beer, and visiting the Model Village. Until we saw Hot Fuzz this spring, we had never heard of a Model Village, but after we knew we had to see one for ourselves. It was a riot. And there was even a model village of the model village inside of the model village!
2. Snowshill
See the previous post.
3. Chipping Campden
We spent two nights in charming Chipping Campden (pronounced Cam-den). The main street was a continuous row of honey-colored cuteness. Several houses had actual thatched roofs. It became obvious as we visited the shops and pubs why the English aren't typically very tall--the ceilings were all super low. We watched an England national soccer game in a pub with such low ceilings and limestone for walls. On our final evening, the owner of our B&B invited us to see their family's sheep. It was so cool. The sheep all came running towards us when they saw her approaching. We were able to pet them a bit and learn their names. So sweet!
4. Stow-on-the-Wold
We spent our first two nights in Stow. When we arrived at 7:00 the first evening, we discovered that everything (except the pubs and restaurants) had shut down for the evening. We headed to a small pub where we immediately got a real feeling of community. Locals had the front section reserved for card playing and socializing. When one guy came in, the bartender called him by name and asked if he wanted the "usual". We packed in the back with other tourists and had a nice steak-and-ale pie. The best part about Stow for us was meeting the owner of our B&B. He had loads of opinions to share with us in his witty, sarcastic English way. Plus, he made a kickass full English breakfast for us, too.
5. Broadway
The walk into Broadway was so fantastic that my expectations for it soared. The town's main street was quite a wide thoroughfare, though, with a lot of traffic buzzing around. I was a bit disenchanted with the vibe created as a result. We did, however, find a really cool little shop where we bought a swell tin to store our tea in.
6 & 7. Lower Slaughter & Mickleton
These towns ended up being quick stopping points along the way on our walks. Lower Slaughter was tiny, but lovely, with a sweet little stream, bridges, and a church right alongside the footpath we were following. If we had only had more time, we could have literally spent weeks exploring this part of the country.
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This is cool. The closest I ever got to anything like this was when I drove to Amesbury to see Stonehenge (which is easy to get to since it's right on the highway). I really wanted to drive around and see some of the rest of the countryside, but I was by myself and afraid of getting lost (the roads aren't exactly a "grid system", as you know)!
ReplyDeleteMaybe a future trip, eh? Since you and Jessica love to take road trips, just fly yourselves to jolly old England and go from there. Fortunately, the distances are short. =) And, you've one upped me here, I've never been to Stonehenge (in the 8 or 9 times I've been to England!). ciao, h.
ReplyDeleteI probably wouldn't bother with Stonehenge unless you happen to be in the area... its mysteriousness doesn't really have much of an effect when it's surrounded by 50-100 tourists taking pictures with the camera's flash on.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would like to check out sometime is Hadrian's Wall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian's_Wall). My understanding is that all but about 20 miles of it has been re-claimed as a public right-of-way, even though it goes through mostly privately owned land. The trails that you wrote about reminded me of that.
Has the UK started to go metric yet when talking about distances? I was surprised in 2004 at how prevalent the use of "miles" still was, and I've read that, since then Ireland has made a big push toward using km. instead. That's OK, I guess, but I hope that it never gets to the point where you go into a pub and order a litre of beer!
Hi again, Dave --
ReplyDeleteYou know, I believe that you can actually "walk" Hadrian's Wall, as well. That came up a lot during my research. In the Cotswolds (and perhaps up north for the Wall as well), there are tours where you walk from B&B on your own, but a company will take your bags from location to location. Something like that could be a lot of fun. =)
Otherwise, I think the switch to metric was recently overruled. I feel like I read or heard that while we were there. Everything was definitely still in miles which was very helpful for us!
Hey Heather,
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely want to find out more about the companies that carry your luggage for you sometime... When I read about most of the wall being opened to the public a few years ago, I remember thinking that it would be a very walkable distance, but not if you had to carry a bunch of stuff!
Btw, the Cotswold Way pathways are a mixture of public and private land too, but apparently every year the local government sends out a bunch of people to walk every bit of it just to make sure no farmers put up fences or anything like that, at which point they would be unceremoniously removed.
ReplyDeleteThat's cool that they try to keep it open. Maybe New England should take a cue from Old England... you wouldn't believe how many private beaches, etc. there are around here!
ReplyDelete