Our Cotswolds Day Trip Itinerary + What We Would Change

My husband and I recently took a Cotswolds day trip and it was absolutely lovely. Although we usually travel with the whole family in tow, this time it was just us and baby.

Exploring the Cotswold felt like stepping into a scene from Downton Abbey (or whatever your preferred period drama is).

Many of the homes and buildings date back to the 1500s with one special row of buildings in Bibury (Arlington Row) that dates back to the 1300s.

I initially thought that the Cotswolds was one specific place…. like one village. But oh was I wrong.

I quickly learned that it’s an entire region of England comprised of gently rolling hills, rural farms, and quaint villages. It felt daunting trying to pick where we wanted to visit with our limited time in the area, so this post is our Cotswolds day trip itinerary for you to steal (or for you at least to get ideas from).

I include both what we liked and what we would change if we were to do it again.

Hopefully, it helps you as you’re trying to decide what to add to your Cotswolds itinerary too!

*There are affiliate links in this post.  Read my privacy/disclosure policy to learn more

✈️OUR TRIED-AND-TRUE FAVORITES✈️

📸 Tours/Excursions: Viator & Get Your Guide
🚕 Airport Transfers with Car Seats: Welcome Pickups
👉 Travel Strollers: Zoe Traveler & Zoe Double
🍼 Baby Carriers: Tula Carriers, Wildride Hip Carriers 
📱 International Data Phone eSIM: Airalo
🚗 Cheap Rental Cars: Economy Bookings
🏠 Accomodations: Booking,Expedia,VRBO,Airbnb
🌎 Travel Insurance: World Nomads

Are the Cotswolds Worth it?

If you love quaint villages with picture-perfect homes amidst rolling grassy hills, then you’ll love the Cotswolds.

You’ll just want to make sure your transportation to and from the Cotswolds will be easy enough and that you’ll have time to explore 2-3 villages to make a day trip to the Cotswolds worth it.

Best Time of Year to Spend a Day in the Cotswolds

The most popular times of year to visit the Cotswolds are June, July, and August. The weather is typically warmer, the sun may be out and the days are longer.

However, this also means so.many.people. will be doing the exact same itinerary as you.

Parking is quite limited in many of these villages making it nearly impossible to find a space. People will park along the country road leading into town and walk 20-30 minutes just to get into a village.

I’ve also heard towns like Bourton-on-the-Water can feel a bit like Disneyland with crowds of people causing it to lose some of its charm.

We visited the Cotswolds in November and it was very quiet and lovely. We easily found parking in every village which made it so easy to explore then hop back in and continue on to the next stop.

It was cold and a bit drizzly in November, but with a coat, we were plenty warm. The trees had also lost their leaves and there wasn’t as much life as you’d find if you were to visit in Spring but we still found it charming and lovely.

How to Get Around the Cotswolds in a Day

The first thing you need to consider when planning your day in the Cotswolds is the form of transportation you want to use. We rented a car which allowed us to make whatever itinerary worked best for us.

However, I understand that it can be daunting to drive in England if you’re not used to driving on the left side of the road so there are a couple of alternative options.

Most of the main villages can be accessed via a combination of trains and buses, however, it’d take a lot of planning and the capability to stick to a rigid schedule. Here is a great post I came across about public transit in the Cotswolds if you want to go the public transit route.

Rather than battling with public transit, I’d recommend booking a guided day trip instead.

This private day trip to the Cotswolds stops in all of the towns I suggest and has great reviews. Or if you don’t mind sharing your tour with others, this Cotswolds group tour from London would be a great choice.

If you want to squeeze a lot into one day (and I mean it’d be a lot), you can visit both Stonehenge and the Cotswolds on this tour. This is a great option if you don’t mind making fewer stops and driving more.

Various tours leave from London, Bristol or Oxford, etc. depending on what you are looking for. You can search through the tours yourself here on Get Your Guide.

How to Plan 1 day in the Cotswolds

Remember that the Cotswolds is a large geographical area comprised of villages, towns, and farms. It’s not somewhere you drive to and spend all your time in one place (although you could do that if you chose just one village to visit).

I’d recommend thinking about the type of villages you want to see. Do you prefer quiet residential villages? Do you want a more lively village with shops and eateries? Do you want to be off the beaten path or do you care to share the space with other visitors?

Our itinerary includes both residential villages and villages with cute shops. The most residential (Upper and Lower Slaughter) we only drove through because it felt a bit *too* residential to us.

It seemed strange to be walking past so many people’s homes as tourists. That being said, I know the Slaughters are very popular stops on most Cotswold itineraries so maybe we are the strange ones for feeling that way.

My favorite villages for shops and eateries were Stow-on-the-Wold and Bourton-on-the-Water.

Map of Things to Do on a Day Trip to The Cotswolds

*Use this interactive map to see the best things to do in 1 day in the Cotswolds. Click on the full-screen icon in the top right corner to have this map open in your own Google Maps app or click on the arrow in the top left corner to see a pullout list of all points on the map*

The Main Towns We Visited During 1 Day in the Cotswolds

I find it tricky to keep all of the different towns and villages in the Cotswolds straight in my mind. So here are the main towns we visited and a brief synopsis of what they are known for.

• Cirencester: Has a couple of streets good for shopping and it’s known as ‘The Capital of the Cotswolds (I’d skip this one if we did it again in order to spend more time in Stow-on-the-Wold or to go to the Broadway Tower).

• Bibury: Tiny residential village with a beautiful row of buildings from 1380 built to be a monastic wool store which were then converted into weavers’ cottages in the 1600s, There is a picturesque river and fish farm (which would make a surprisingly great stop if you have kids).

• Upper and Lower Slaughter: Small, picturesque residential villages (we just drove through) but a lot of people love these ones.

• Bourton-on-the-Water: Picturesque village along a river with shops, eateries, and a quaint model village of the town. We really enjoyed our time here, but I hear it’s a bit like Disneyland in the summer.
• Stow-on-the-Wold: Very picturesque with lots of cute shops and eateries. Home to a unique church door that is thought to have inspired J.R.R Tolkien’s Doors of Durin.

Our In-Depth Cotswolds One-Day Itinerary

1. Cirencester

We started our day with an early lunch at Keith’s Coffee Shop in Cirencester. Keith’s is a cozy cafe with a cute gift shop with very English snacks and trinkets for sale.

Although we aren’t coffee drinkers, Keith’s has quite the collection of coffee beans to try or take home. We did, however, try their hot chocolate which was some of the best hot chocolates I’ve ever had.

For lunch, I had their quiche of the day and my husband ordered an English sausage sandwich which looked shockingly plain but was surprisingly tasty.

We followed lunch with a walk down the two main streets in Cirencester for shopping: Black Jack Street (where Keith’s is located) and Castle Street. We also meandered down a couple of surrounding streets with cute shops.

My favorite shop was Octavia’s Book Shop on Black Jack Street. Octavia’s has an adorable selection of children’s books and we loved browsing for our kids at home.

Cirencester is also home to one of the largest parish churches in England and is sometimes referred to as one of the great ‘wool churches of the Cotswolds’. Meaning that the Cotswolds earned their fortunes from wool and you can tell by the grandeur of the Cirencester cathedral with its amazing gothic architecture.

Most of the serving parts of the cathedral date back to the 1200s, with other parts from the 1300s, 1400s, and 1500s. The Cirencester Cathedral is open every day and entrance is free.

We parked in the Sheep Street Car Park in Cirencester, just a short walk to the main shopping streets. You can find it on Google Maps here.

2. Bibury

Bibury is such a quaint stop and I highly recommend adding it to your Cotswolds itinerary. The main attraction in Bibury is Arlington Row which is a picturesque row of cottages built in 1380 as a monastic wool store.

The buildings were then later converted into cottages for weavers and are now inhabited by private tenants.

It’s amazing to walk past these buildings and imagine all of the history they’ve seen.

Your time in Bibury can be very short if you only do the picturesque walk past Arlington Row. Or you can make your stop a bit longer by following a longer suggested walk that’s posted on the signs near Arlington Row.

Another main attraction is Bibury Trout Farm. A fish farm may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the Cotswolds, but this one is England’s oldest working trout farm (and it’s quite picturesque).

If you’re visiting Cotswolds with kids, the trout farm would be a huge hit. You can take a tour, fish, BBQ or eat at the cafe (plus they have a playground!).

If you’re looking for lunch, Twig Cafe looked super cute and yummy and I wish we had had room in our bellies!

We parked right near Arlington Row across from the trout farm in a small row of free parking that you can see here on Google Maps. The Trout Farm has its own car park if you plan to visit there (or if it’s peak summer months, you may be parking on the road a bit out of town).

3. Upper & Lower Slaughter

We only drove through Upper & Lower Slaughter (which is right on the way if you are following this itinerary). These are two picturesque residential villages that are common to visit on many Cotswold itineraries.

We didn’t stop because we wanted enough time for Bourton-on-the-Water and Stow-on-the-Wold. Plus, since they are just small residential villages, you are basically walking through people’s neighborhoods, which we didn’t need to do.

That being said, I know these villages are some people’s favorites!

4. Bourton-on-the-Water

We loved our time in Bourton-on-the-Water for a couple of reasons. The first reason is because we visited an amazing bakery called The Cornish Bakery and we are still thinking about it today.

Their pistachio croissants and Cornish puddings were SO GOOD. Seriously, if you do one thing in Bourton-on-the-Water, go to The Cornish Bakery.

We also visited a quaint little model village of Bourton-on-the-Water that was unique. It’s a scale model village (of the same village it’s located in) initially built in the 1930s. The craftsmanship is amazing and they’ve updated all of the buildings with the names of the stores that are currently housed in them today.

It was fun to spot the mini versions of the shops we had just passed walking through town.

Admission is really inexpensive (less than five pounds) and it’s a quick stop that I recommend. Strollers aren’t allowed in because some of the pathways are too small, but you could carry your little ones or just take turns going in.

There’s no need to pre-book tickets. It’s a pretty small operation, and you can purchase tickets at the gate.

I’ve heard tell that Bourton-on-the-Water can get extremely crowded at peak travel times, making it lose some of its charm. But we really enjoyed our stop there on a quieter day in November.

We parked in the free car park right in the center of the village in Bourton-on-the Water, which you can see on Google Maps here. However, I’d imagine this is hard to get in peak summer.

5. Stow-on-the-Wold

I think that Stow-on-the-Wold was the real hidden gem of our day trip to the Cotswolds. We pulled up to this town just before dusk and only had a little bit of time to explore, but I wish we had had more!

There were sooo many cute shops and eateries and just a fun vibe to the town. We would have loved to have dinner here if our schedule had allowed.

Stow-on-the-Would is what I was hoping Cirencester would be. But I find Stow-on-the-Wold a much better overall pick.

One unique thing about this town is the door of St. Edward’s Church. One of the church doors is rumored to be the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Doors of Durin’.

It’s a large wooden door uniquely framed by two large yew trees. Nobody knows whether that’s true, but it does look shockingly similar!

What We Would Change if We Spent One Day in the Cotswolds Again

It can be difficult to know which towns to add to your Cotswolds 1-day itinerary. We were very happy with our day in the Cotswolds, however, if we were to change one thing, we would have skipped Cirencester.

We initially chose Cirencester because I heard that it had cute shops (which it does have). However, Stow-on-the-Wold also has loads of cute shops and eateries and I would have enjoyed having more time there.

If our timing and driving route had allowed, I would also have considered visiting Broadway Tower instead of Cirencester.

Stow-on-the-Wold has a large parking lot surrounded by shops right near St. Edward’s Church that may even open spots in the summer. You can find it here on Google Maps.

Check out these other UK posts, I know you’ll love them:

• Is it Worth it to Visit The Cotswolds in November?
• 8 Things You Need to Know Before Visiting The Cotswolds in England
• Our Day Trip to Oxford, England | An Easy Itinerary
• 3 Days in London with a Toddler: A Realistic Itinerary + Tips & Map
• 18 Things You Need To Know Before Visiting The Isle of Skye in Scotland
• The Ultimate Guide to the Isle of Skye with Kids: 21+ Things to Do & Top Tips
• 16 Helpful Tips That Make Driving in Scotland Feel Easy

And that’s everything about our Cotswolds day trip! Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about what we did. I’ll be sure to get back to you!

Like it? Pin it!