This is a full day tour departing from Bath . It is available throughout the year on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, but extra days are added when we are busy so please check the calendar on the booking page.
This is your chance to discover an English landscape that you may have thought was lost forever. During your day with us you’ll experience a host of unspoilt cottages, villages and towns, stunning architecture and wonderful views with plenty of free time to explore.
- We keep our tours small and personal, this gives you the opportunity to relax and enjoy this stunning part of England and gives our driver guides plenty of time to share their extensive local knowledge.
- Our local guides have a wealth of knowledge about the area and will provide you with plenty of information about our history and culture.
Tour Highlights include many of the following:-
Bibury, Stow- on- the- Wold, Castle Combe, Badminton, Tetbury, Malmesbury, the Coln Valley and The Slaughters.
Tour Itinerary
This tour offers a flexible, relaxed itinerary with the opportunity to explore the best of the Cotswolds whatever the season. The area has many hidden corners and we make plenty of stops to soak up the atmosphere.
At Bibury we have time to savour the beauty of the village and to hear about it’s long history and strong connections with the Cotswold woollen industry. We guide you around the much photographed Arlington Row where you will learn about its connection with Arlington Cemetery in the USA. We follow the course of the river Coln as it meanders through the beautiful Coln valley passing through Northleach and Bourton on the Water until we reach the historical market town of Stow on the Wold. This is usually our lunch stop, a favourite choice being the 400 year old Queen’s Head. Your driver guide will be happy to show you a menu and order food in advance of arrival to allow more time to explore. Stow is also great place to sample traditional English cream tea.
Our afternoon explorations will enable you to take on more of the Cotswold way of life with visits to villages and towns including The Slaughters, where you have the option of a short walk through unspoilt countryside between the upper and lower village ( weather permitting!).As we head back to Bath we stop in the small market town of Tetbury with its Regency church featuring a stained glass window known as “The Lantern of the Cotswolds”. This is the nearest town to Highgrove House, home to his Royal Highness, Prince Charles.
Timings
This tour begins at 8.45am prompt from the Best Western Abbey Hotel, 1 North Parade, BA1 1LF. This is a one minute walk from the Abbey church. Please aim to arrive at 8.30am so we can depart on time.
It is quite difficult to give a specific tour itinerary and timings as we like to keep it flexible to make the most of the natural highlights that occur. However as a general rule, we usually spend an hour at Bibury and 1 hour 40 minutes at our lunch stop. Other stops vary in length depending on interest, weather and special events etc. We return to Bath at approximately 5.30pm.
Do you want to stay in the Cotswolds?
You may be interested in using this tour as a means of transporting you to the heart of the Cotswolds. We will happily drop you off as long as we have room for your luggage! Please email us this information when you make your booking. There is an additional charge of £2.50 per person (minimum £5.00) for drop offs in Morton in the Marsh as this is not on our itinerary. Please pay this on the day in cash to your guide.
Are you staying in Cirencester or Tetbury?
We can collect you as we travel into the Cotswolds and drop you off before we return to Bath. Please email us about this when making your booking.
Do you want to see Blenheim Palace ?
Join our tour and we can drop you off at Moreton in the Marsh. From here you can get a train to Oxford from where there is a scheduled bus service to Blenheim Palace. Please email us about this when making your booking.
Price
This tour costs £35.00 GB pounds per adult. Children aged 5 to 12 years are £17.50. Under 5s are £5. We have kept our prices as reasonable as possible and therefore are unable to offer discounts to students or seniors.
Bookings
To make sure you have a seat on the date you require we highly recommend you book in advance. During winter months not all of our tours are available on our website. If the date you require is not available please call us +44 (0) 7769 668668 or email [email protected]