A WEEKEND IN THE COTSWOLDS: HOW TO VISIT WITHOUT HIRING A CAR
Originally Posted 16 August 2019
At the end of Winter we spent a long weekend in The Cotswolds - our very first trip to the area- and we completely fell in love. It didn’t hurt that the weather really turned it on for us either! 16 degrees and sunny in February is a rare treat that we took full advantage of.
We were going to be exploring the North Cotswolds on this visit, and while you could also take a tour bus or hire a car and drive, we opted for our favourite mode of transport; the railway. Leaving London Paddington early Saturday morning, we arrived at Moreton-in-Marsh train station just an hour and a half later (direct trains run frequently between the two).
Knowing this was only going to be a whirl of a weekend trip we made the decision ahead of time to book a private guide, who would be able to drive us around all the must sees of the area. Chris our driver was brilliant, he was waiting on the platform for us when we arrived with a friendly smile, and throughout the whole day kept us entertained with his humour. He was a walking/talking guidebook for all things Cotswolds and we so enjoyed relaxing and taking photos while he did all the hard work of navigating the tiny country roads.
We visited so many lovely spots including: Upper and Lower Slaughter, Chipping Camden, Broadway, Snowshill and Burton on the water (the most popular and probably our least favourite as it was basically a Disneyland for tourists). Chris knew all the best back streets and even some private roads and off the beaten track spots. We could of very happily stayed for hours to explore any one of these little villages, but alas! time was against us and at around 3pm we were back in Moreton-in-Marsh at our hotel for the evening. We then had a classic pub dinner and an early night courtesy of the quaint Swann Inn.
Snowshill
Cotswold Art Supplies in Stow-on-the-Wold
Lower Slaughter Mill -Can you spot the two heart reflections?
Bright and early Sunday morning we ordered a taxi to take us to our next stop of Broadway (there are actually buses that run twice a day between the two villages…except Sunday as luck would have it! the taxi cost us about £25 for the 20minute journey). We had driven through Broadway on Saturday and were excited to get back and explore the village in Depth. Staying at the delightful Lygon Arms hotel right on the high street was a perfect location and one of our very favourite hotel stays in a long time. After a disastrous experience with the bad service and awful staff on our Finland trip a couple of weeks before, the staff at The Lygon Arms seemed like angels in comparison!
The Lygon Bar & Grill
Broadway isn’t huge, but has everything you could want for a weekend away - beautiful scenery, 2 pubs and a few cafes, little boutiques to browse and some walks in the local countryside (not to mention endless photo opportunities thanks to the beautiful architecture and nature). Spending the days wandering through the shops, and country lanes, eating cream teas and basking in the sunshine made us feel like we were a million miles away from London. Without a doubt we will be back to explore more of this corner of the world!
WHERE WE ATE
Swan Inn - A friendly pub with huge portions!
Tisane's Tea Room - For a tasty Cream tea
The Broadway Hotel- For some cocktails in the garden
The Lygon Arms Bar and Grill - for an up market dinner date
WHERE WE STAYED
The Swan Inn in Moreton-in Marsh - No frills country Pub with good food and easy location to the train station for direct trains to London
The Lygon Arms - The highlight of our trip, this is a Quintessentially English Luxury hotel, and the perfect base for a stay in the North Cotswolds. Around every corner was some sort of ye olde British detail to “Oh” and “Ah” over. They have a delicious breakfast, a good restaurant and cocktail bar, a wine bar, pool, gym and spa! They even have a boot room if you forget to bring your wellies!
HOW WE GOT AROUND
Belleweather - Private Day tour
Car service/ Taxi - Just one that was recommended by our hotel to get between Moreton-in Marsh and Broadway
Bus - We used the bus for our return trip to Moreton-in-Marsh Train station. You can find the timetables here
Train - From London Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh with Great Western
Broadway Village
Have you visited The Cotswolds? Tell us which village we should visit next in the comments!
