Cotswolds

The idyllic Cotswolds offer natural beauty and human history

Between Oxford and the River Severn, a 2-hour drive west of London, the pastoral Cotswolds occupy a stretch of grassy limestone hills, deep ravines, and barren plateaus known as wolds, Old English for "God's high open land." Ancient villages with names such as Stow-on-the-Wold, Wotton-under-Edge, and Moreton-in-Marsh dot this bucolic area, most of which lies in Gloucestershire, with portions in Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, and Worcestershire.

Made rich by wool from their sheep, landowners sponsored some of Europe’s finest domestic architecture, distinctively built of honey-brown Cotswold stone. The gentry didn't neglect spiritual duties, for some of the simplest Cotswold hamlets have churches that, in style and architectural detail, seem far beyond their modest means.

Mobbed by tourists, overrun Broadway, with its 16th-century stone houses, is the most popular attraction, but head also for Bibury, Painswick, or other small villages to capture the Cotswolds’ true charm. Cheltenham, once one of England's most fashionable spas, has a wealth of Regency architecture. And families travel to Birdland, in Bourton-on-the-Water, to can see some 361 bird species.

Biking the country roads is one of the best ways to experience the area’s quiet beauty, and this is also one of Great Britain’s most famous regions for hiking.

© 2009, Wiley Publishing, Inc.