Cosy weekend in the Cotswolds
*FYI- this is a trip where you need a car. You can train to Bath, but the rest of the villages you’ll need to rent a car or get a zipcar from London. There might also be group tours that take you around the villages too!
Day 1 itinerary
Castle Combe
This village is one of THE most photographed places in the Cotswolds. You’ll want to get here early to beat the crowds. When you arrive, you’ll park in a lot about .5 miles away & then walk down into the village centre. It costs ~£1 for up to 2 hours.
First is to get this iconic bridge shot, you’ll walk to the far end of the village. Even at 10:30am it was hard to not have people in the photos.
My favorite & most scenic spot though was visiting Manor House hotel, which is a beautiful estate covered in ivy & has acres of beautiful grounds & gardens, and even a Michelin restaurant! If you fancy a stay, it will cost you around £330/night, or you could treat yourself to an afternoon tea instead. They even have wellies for guests that want to go on a country walk.
From there, you can walk back down the idyllic side streets, grab a flat white at The Castle Inn & people watch as the tourists start to flood in.
Bath
Just a 30 minute drive from Castle Combe will take you to the city of Bath, home of many film sites & Georgian inspired architecture. We parked in the Charlotte parking lot with is on the northwest side of town & close to The Royal Crescent, a famous film spot.
It just so happened to be the same weekend as the Jane Austen festival! I loved seeing everyone dressed up in their Georgian frocks wandering around the town.
There are plenty of things you can do in Bath:
Visit the Roman baths (£12)
Mooch around the independent shops
Hunt down all the TV & film sites, including Bridgerton’s modiste (The Abbey Deli)!
Explore Bath Abbey
For my book lovers, visit the Jane Austen centre
See the Pulteney Bridge
Go to a Bath Rugby game
Admire the Georgian architecture
Prior Park garden
Relax at the Thermae Bath Spa
We grabbed dinner at a Spanish tapas place called La Perla, located over by the Pulteney bridge.The ox tail, squid, and bravas were our favorites. And of course, gotta have a red sangria 😉.
Now you have two choices, you could stay for the night at a hotel in Bath OR you can drive 30 minutes to Chippenham and stay there. We chose the latter as the prices were crazy high for the night, probably due to the Jane Austen Festival!
Day 2 itinerary
Lacock
After a nice lie in, a coffee, and brunch at the Grounded bar in Chippenham, we drove 10 minutes south to the village Lacock. While still a working village with residents, there are over 12 film sites in just a 1KM circle including famously Downtown Abbey, Pride & Prejudice, and of course, Harry Potter.
Harry Potter- Slughorn Horace’s house
This is a National Trust site, so if you have membership, the parking is free and you’d have entry into the Abbey. Otherwise, it’s £20 per adult which was too expensive in my opinion just to see the cloisters from Harry Potter scenes. But the grounds around it look beautiful as well if you want a walk.
We walked the village twice, they have some super cute independent shops including one called “quintessentially British”. Another shop had these unique scented handmade candles called Oliv. We also treated ourselves at the Chocolate shop to a Biscoff shake which was a decadently sweet treat but soo good. You could also grab lunch at the Red Lion Pub, there’s tons of space in the back garden!
Biddestone
We also ventured the 10 min drive to this tiny village because we had extra time. I personally would skip this one.
Now, if you have time to expand your trip, these were just two out of many wonderful Cotswold villages to visit. Some other villages on my list for next time:
Cirencester
Bibury
Stow-on-the-wold
Burford
Asthall
Broadway
Bourton-on-the-water
Tetbury
Sincerely,
Sarah
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