9 things to do in the Cotswolds

There's an abundance of fabulous houses in the Cotswolds, topped by Blenheim (blenheimpalace.com), the only non-royal, non-episcopal palace in the country.

But one I would be reluctant to miss is Snowshill (nationaltrust.org.uk), near Broadway, partly for the house, partly for the garden, but primarily for the incredibly eclectic collection of 20,000 'treasures' accumulated by a previous owner, the Caribbean sugar baron Charles Wade, on his travels.

The OS maps of the Cotswolds are a spider's web of rights of way, topped by the official National Trail – the 100-mile-long Cotswold Way (nationaltrail.co.uk) that starts in Chipping Campden and finishes in Bath, slicing right through the heart of the Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There’s no shortage of places to stay along the route, too, so it can be tackled in a series of weekend breaks.

Image credit - Picture by Nick Turner © Country Agency

The Cotswolds does gorgeous villages like nowhere else in Britain. But if I was forced to pick just one, it would have to be Bourton-on-the-Water, the so-called Little Venice of the Cotswolds. Achingly pretty, it has the river Windrush and its fringe of dropping willows at its core. It’s also home to a perfumery, a model village, a pottery, a motoring museum, a brewery, an equestrian centre and a maze!

There’s no chance of boredom here, even for families with young children in tow. Take a steam-driven ride on Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (gwsr.com) from Cheltenham’s racecourse to Toddington, with an extension to Broadway currently being tracked; visit the Cotswold Farm Park at Guiting Power (cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk); see eye to eye with giraffes at Cotswold Wildlife (cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk), near Burford; and inspect some 500 birds, from pelicans to penguins and parrots to pheasants, in a natural woodland setting at Birdland near Bourton-on-the-Water (birdland.co.uk).

The National Trust’s hilltop Hidcote Manor Garden (nationaltrust.org.uk), an Arts and Crafts masterpiece, is really a series of smaller gardens, each with its own special features and atmosphere.

If trees are more your thing, two aboretums beckon: the Forestry Commission’s 600-acre Westonbirt, particularly magnificent when declaring its autumn colours, and Batsford, once home to the Mitford Family.

Image credit - Picture by Simon Toomer/ Forestry Commission

An unusual choice, perhaps, but certainly a must – or must-taste! – for anyone with a craving for jam roly-poly, treacle sponge and spotted dick. You can find details of Pudding Club meetings on the website of the Three Ways House hotel (threewayshousehotel.com) in Mickleton, the venue for the club and a good place to stay – especially handy if you want a night of Shakespeare in nearby Stratford-upon-Avon. It’s even got a few pudding-themed rooms.

Image credit- Picture by Andy Stammers

The Cotswolds has an abundance of good gastro pubs with rooms if you fancy a night’s stay. My two top scorers would be the Wheatsheaf Inn (cotswoldswheatsheaf.com) in Northleach, ivy clad and historic without, designer inspired within, and the eponymous Village Pub (thevillagepub.co.uk), opposite (and owned by) Barnsley House hotel and especially snug in Winter with its dark woods and log fires.

Also consider: the Ebrington Arms (theebringtonarms.co.uk), a peaceful retreat just two miles from Chipping Campden; and de Savary's Old Swan and Minster Mill (oldswanandminstermill.com).

The region has some of the country’s most handsome towns, including Bath, Stratford and Oxford, but Cheltenham is really its urban hub. It’s a handsome Regency spa town with stylish shopping along the Promenade and in The Suffolks, a top museum and a racecourse, home of National Hunt racing.

There’s a lot of it about – with Roman Britain well represented. Cirencester has artefacts in the Corinium Museum. And Chedworth (nationaltrust.org.uk), one of the largest Roman villas in Britain with exquisite mosaics, should also be on your radar. The enormous Arts and Crafts legacy includes the Gordon Russell Museum (gordonrussellmuseum.org) in Broadway, and the collection in the Cheltenham Museum (cheltenhammuseum.org.uk), due to reopen this 5th October.