After spending 4 glorious days in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival we picked up our rental car and headed south to The Lake District. Spent 3 days in The Lake District and then headed south to spend 3 days in The Cotswolds. After The Cotswolds spent 3 days in Oxford and then returned the car at Heathrow.
We visited in August 2023.
You might like to check out my blog on our first leg – Edinburgh in August – The City of The Festivals
On our way down south to The Lake District we stopped for Lunch at The Gretna Inn situated in the famous village of Gretna Green. Gretna Green is a small village on the Scottish side of the border between Scotland and England. Gretna Green’s claim to fame is that it became the haven for young English couples. In England following the Marriage Act in the late 1800’s couples who were under the age of 21 could not get married without their parent’s consent – this Act did not apply in Scotland. Hence this small picturesque village on the border became a wedding destination!
Our lunch at The Gretna Inn was a delicious traditional pub meal.
The Lake District is English Countryside at its’ best. It is lush, soft, picturesque and beautiful. The area has an abundance of rain – so no surprise that there are 16 gorgeous lakes. The very green fields with cows grazing seem to go on forever.
We opted to make our base at Lingwood Lodge in Browness-on-Windermere from where we traveled The Lake District. There are two roads going north to south in The Lake District, A591 and A592. In order to savor this glorious area just get in your car and drive from village to village from lake to lake. You won’t be disappointed.
We visited Ambelside, Grasmere with its’ very famous Ginger Bread Shop, Ullswater, Pooley Bridge, Keswich with its house on the bridge, Keswick.
Ambelside a gorgeous village is famous for The Bridge House, a tiny stone house built over the The Stock Beck River. It was built over the river to avoid land tax!
We left The Lake District and on the way to The Cotswolds stopped over for a couple of hours in Chester. Chester is famous for its’ black and white buildings, the Rows – medieval two tier buildings which today house shops, galleries and restaurants.
Stow on the Wold was our base in The Cotswolds. We stayed 3 nights at the fabulous Old Stocks Inn.
We had breakfasts and dinners at the Old Stocks Inn and highly recommend the Hotel which turned out to be a great base from where we explored The Cotswolds.
Stow on the Wold is a market village predominately for the sale of sheep. There are several narrow alleys around the market square which were used soley to bring and take sheep from the market square .
Stow on the Wold is also famous for St. Edwards’ Church with its iconic very photographed tree framed entrance.
We didn’t do the famous Cotswold Way Walk but did do the walk from Bourton-on-the-Water to the two Slaughters, Lower and Upper Slaughter. We parked in Bourton-on-the-Water, walked through this beautiful village and then through endless green fields to the Slaughters and back down to Bourton-on -the Water.
We took a drive to Broadway, visited Broadway Tower and drove around the picturesque village.
All one needs to do in the Cotswolds (if you don’t do the walks) is get in to the car and drive from village to village – they are all charming and picturesque. We visited Chipping Campden where we had a great Italian lunch.
On our last day in The Cotswolds, on the way to Oxford, we visited probably the most photographed village of all – Bibury,
Bibury is tiny and can be done in a few hours. It is best to arrive early as Bibury is such a tourist attraction, parking is scarce and you really don’t want to be walking this extremely picturesque village with loads of other tourists…
We were in Oxford for a family event and stayed at the very special Old Parsonage Hotel, where one afternoon we had their typical High Tea – highly recommended!