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Where are the Cotswolds?

What to See and Where to Go

A great way to experience the many Cotswolds villages is to rent a car or hire a driver to get around the countryside. Otherwise, you might be surprised to know that the Cotswolds is well connected with train links and bus routes.

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The most popular villages on a Cotswold tour would include Bourton-on-the-water, Burford, Stanton, Kingham and Bibury. While visiting these villages, you’ll also make a fantastic discovery along the way, The Slaughters. I suggest to start out your day trip from Oxford in the medieval town of Burford, also known as the gateway to the Cotswolds.

First Burford…

You’ll arrive in Burford in about 35 minutes, driving through the winding country roads surrounded by sheep grazing hills. The village has many little boutiques, where you can buy Oxford shirts, Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbits and Hogwarts souvenirs.

After strolling the town, this Cotswolds tour’s next destination is the Slaughters, recommended by a local resident. With so many towns to choose from, I’m happy we took her advice and visited this one. The Slaughters is absolutely epic of them all. Again, always take advice from people who’ve actually been there.

Visiting the Slaughters

Visit the Old Mill and its little shop, indulge in a tasty homemade ice cream, sit outside and take it all in. In essence, we can’t imagine visiting the Cotswolds without seeing the Slaughters. Plan an hour to have time to explore the village and make sure your camera’s battery is well charged to snap all of the many photo opportunities that await you.

View  The 10 Best Cotswolds Tours & Tickets from London on Viator

Visiting Highclere Castle, Downton Abbey’s filming location

Carrying on, about an hour to the South, you’ll reach Highclere Castle, home of where the Downton Abbey television program was filmed. We loved this period series and were quite saddened when it came to an end. When the chance to visit this well know location came up, it was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. Even if you’re not a fan of the TV series, Highclere castle is a most memorable place to visit on a day trip from Oxford or London.

The castle is privately owned and lived in by the Carnarvon family since 1679. Hence, by doing Highclere castle tour, you’re more than just entering Downton Abbey’s set, you’re going into an actual family estate and get to peek into what castle life is and was all about. As you can imagine, the cost of running such a place is exuberant, so the tours and filming of the series help with management and upkeep costs. There is a fee to enter, it includes garden ground access and a self-guided tour of the castle. The Carnarvons open the castle’s doors to the public about 65 days a year, so make sure to check the dates of your visit and preferably book your tickets ahead of time.

As most people who’ve visited the castle will tell you, the building is much smaller in stature than you would expect from the show.

It still remains a grand place to visit, one that will transport you back into an era of opulence and elegance. Settings in such places as when you enter the grand foyer with its magnificent staircase, the location where you’d expect Sir Crawley to come down. Or when looking through the second floor, you get a glimpse of Sybil’s and Mary’s rooms where you can see modern magazines amongst the decor, reminding you of its present modern-day residents.

Unfortunately, like most castle visits, no pictures are allowed inside (total bummer). But when entering rooms, a large picture of a scene filmed in that room is shown on an easel. The dining room is as splendid as seen in the TV series, set with royal china and silverware. As you enter the library, you come to expect to see a cute Labrador lying on its floor. The main disappointment is to find out that the kitchen and servants’ quarters isn’t actually in the castle’s basement, but set in a different location altogether.

Get insight into the real story of Highclere castle written by the Lady of the house, Fiona Carnarvon. A story which covers periods from 1894 to the Great War, similarly like the first two seasons of Downton Abbey: Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey

If you want to delve into Downton Abbey’s filming locations, these tours offer just that…

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