England · The heart of the countryside
If you close your eyes and picture the English countryside, what you are seeing is most likely the Cotswolds. This gentle range of limestone hills, threaded with clear streams and dotted with villages, has a softness and a sameness of color that comes from a single source: the honey-gold stone quarried here for centuries and used for everything from grand manor houses to humble garden walls.
The pleasure of the Cotswolds lies in the wandering. Bibury, with its row of weavers' cottages reflected in the River Coln, is so pretty it has been called the most beautiful village in England. Bourton-on-the-Water earns its nickname, the Venice of the Cotswolds, with the low stone bridges that step across its little river, while villages like it sit frozen in a more graceful century. In between are dry-stone walls, sheep-cropped meadows and footpaths that have carried walkers for generations.
We always tell travelers to slow down here, because that is entirely the point. Base yourself in a village inn, linger over a Sunday roast by a log fire, potter through walled gardens and antique shops, and let a day unspool with no particular plan. A car opens up the hidden corners, though we are just as happy to arrange a private driver so you can simply watch the hills roll by.
