Monday 26 February 2018

FAMILY: Exploring Bourton-on-the-Water and Daylesford Farm in the Cotswolds


Following on from my previous post about Bibury, we then drove around 20-25 minutes to visit Bourton-on-the-Water. Another popular and highly recommended village to visit within the Cotswolds, due to its beautiful bridges, quaint tearooms and tranquil river running through the middle. As with a lot of these smaller Cotswolds villages (though Bourton-on-the-Water is a lot bigger than Bibury), the parking spaces can be few and far between. We ended up parking in the larger car park next to Birdland and the Dragonfly Maze, which also has public toilets. Another thing worth noting if you're heading to the Cotswolds is that almost all of the public toilets we came across you had to pay 20p to use, so make sure you have change with you.

There is a short walk, along the River Windrush, into the centre of the village where you'll find countless tearooms, restaurants and a few shops. There is also the Cotswolds Motor Museum, which is the home of Brum! As with Bibury it was very busy, so expect it to take a while to find somewhere to eat. We did not expect this and spent a long time trying to find somewhere suitable for lunch, which wasn't ideal with two hungry children in tow. There are quite a few pubs, restaurants and cafes that have seating looking over the river which is lovely and I can imagine these would be prime spots in the summer. However, on a cold February afternoon we didn't find it hard to get a seat outside. Unfortunately sitting outside was our only option as everywhere we tried (from pubs to restaurants to tearooms and cafes) couldn't fit a pushchair inside.

My biggest piece of advice if you're visiting with young children is to use a baby carrier, rather than a pram or pushchair because you will be able to enjoy and experience so much more of what Bourton-on-the-Water has to offer. Some of the places to eat that looked incredible, but we couldn't get into were The Croft and Bakery on the Water. The Kingsbridge Pub is where we ended up sitting outside, right on the waters edge which was lovely. The food was delicious, generous portions and reasonably priced too. They had a lot of outdoor seating available, so if you do find yourself struggling to get in somewhere then I'd recommend looking at the menu here. I had a Cheese & Pickle Tart, whilst my husband had a Burger and Isabella had Fish, Chips and Peas.
After lunch we carried on having a little wander around, Isabella had an ice-cream from one of the many ice-cream shops and we headed back to the car along the river. By this point is was around 3.30pm, so we didn't have very long before we really needed to head home for Isabella's bedtime. We decided to finish our day exploring the Cotswolds with visiting Daylesford Farm in Kingham, which is somewhere I've wanted to go for years and not too far from Bourton-on-the-Water. It is the epitome of luxury, with the most beautiful range of foods available, a restaurant, café, cottages you can stay in and even a spa! The day we were visiting it was due to be closed at 6pm for a private event, but when we arrived unfortunately the café had already closed. Despite that we had a quick wander around, though children are welcomed there I was conscious of all the people trying to have a relaxing shopping experience, and headed back to the car. 

We are already planning another trip to Daylesford Farm because it is honestly stunning there; the food, décor and luxurious feel about everything really makes it feel like such a special place. If you're ever staying or visiting the area I'd highly recommend a visit or booking in for a meal. The perfect 'special occasion' place to eat, drink and explore. 
I love that the Cotswolds gives so much for free, a day out there really doesn't need to cost very much at all, yet you experience history and culture at it's best. 

Have you been to the Cotswolds? Where is your favourite place to visit?

Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :)

Helen x
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20 comments

  1. Oh that food looks lovely and I love little places which have tearooms x

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    1. Love your photos I've never visited the Cotswolds before. I do love finding places that have little tea rooms.

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  2. I've never visited the Cotswolds before but it is high on my list of places I want to visit!

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  3. Daylesford Farm sounds like my kind of place. I'd spend a fortune! I used to do a lot of freelance writing and one assignment was to write about Bourton - it looked so pretty with the little bridges and I really enjoyed researching the place. Love to go one day!

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  4. I've never been but the Cotswolds look amazing from your photos. I'll definitely go and explore at some point.

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  5. Your photos look so calm and soothing, I’d love to visit the Cotswolds. So peaceful and elegant

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  6. Never been here but it looks so lovely. Adding it to my to do list!

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  7. I love Bourton-on-the-Water. I live about 40 mins away so often pop in for a cream tea on a free weekend.
    Cx

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  8. Bourton on the water is on my must visit list for this year. There's sooooo much to do there for families plus it looks so idyllic. I love your photos. That's good to know about parking, we won't bother dragging our caravan with us then....also good to know about the toilets. I hope they were nice and clean for 20p :)

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  9. I love to cotsworld and not been to this idyllic village yet but adding it to my list, I live over an hour away but not a bad drive to be honest.

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  10. I Love places like this, Quaint is the world. Love the little bridge :)

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  11. This looks like a wonderful place to visit. The produce on the stalls looks lovely, and inviting. It is a shame that there wasn't a pram friendly place to dine, but your advice of a carrier is spot on. Certainly a recommended day out.

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  12. What a beautiful place, I've never been to that part of the UK before but it looks like you had a fab day out x

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  13. It looks really idyllic! I love all the purple flowers.

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  14. How gorgeous, what a lovely place to walk around and explore! The food looks pretty good too :) Sim x

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  15. Bourton-on-the-water is SO pretty but me and my family went in the peak of summer and all of the people there completely ruined it!

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  16. I don't think I've ever spent anytime in the Cotswolds, which reading this post seems a real shame. This village looks idyllic and somewhere I'd be happy to explore

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  17. We've had a couple of holidays in The Cotswolds and it's beautiful. We visit The National Trust properties as we're members and there are some beautiful places

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  18. We only ever visited Westonbirt Arboretum in the Cotswolds and never ventured anywhere else which I'm a bit sad about now we're no longer based in the UK. Daylesford Farm sounds amazing, I'd love to visit. And Bourton-on-the-Water looks like a great village too.

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