The Cotswolds: Lavender, Being Giants & Honey-Colored Cottages

The last week of July we were meant to be headed back to see family and friends in the U.S. Obviously, that wasn’t possible. With a week of vacation Tim needed to use, the boys on school break, and our feeling hearts a little heavy, we headed out – car pointed south and ready to (eventually) get some sun! Our first stop though was the Cotswolds. It’s one of those places I kept hearing associated with England, and didn’t know much besides it was beautiful. It took a little bit of research to figure out where to go/what to do there, because part of the charm of “doing” the Cotswolds is just enjoying the natural beauty, and we did just that.

With a car packed full of gear for rain, sun, hiking, & swimming, we headed out early on a Saturday morning. While researching, I stumbled across the Cotswolds Lavender Farm, which fortunately, looked to be in the final phases of the growing seasons. Knowing how crazy people get over poppies/sunflowers/tulips/beautiful fields of flowers, I suggested we should go there first.

We arrived right before opening, and there were already people waiting ahead of us.  Not to stereotype those who were just “doing it for the (Insta)gram” BUT it was a fair amount of twenty-something women with pretty outfits and a camera, with slightly-less-enthused but obliging boyfriends in tow. But hey, who am I to judge??! I took well over my fair share of photos which many weeks later were finally posted to Instagram too (as you’ll see below)! Please know, though, that is Bennett’s normal rain jacket  – I did not make him buy and wear a purple coat for this event alone, ha.

The lavender fields were beautiful, different rows in various states of bloom and hues of saturated purples. People spread out to go explore and there was plenty of room for the boys to run. They enjoyed hiding in the rows and popping up to surprise us, doing a few rounds of chase, and Nate did some twirling and posing with the umbrella as well. Of course, I made them take photos, but after a while they really just wanted the ice cream. Normally, there’s a large gift shop open to peruse, but because of Covid, it was a little outdoor stand. I bought some overpriced soap and room spray, because I am nothing if not an obliging tourist ha, and the boys picked out their lavender ice cream. We sat and enjoyed for a bit, then loaded back into the car.

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The next stop was to the nearby Broadway Tower. We were all expecting a large, looming tower, our memories haunted by dozens of flights of stairs of cathedrals that had come before, but this wasn’t too bad. When reading up more about it, I saw it referred to as an architectural “folly” – which I probably would know if I would have continued with my interior design degree…and should probably still know because of my journalism degree. Basically, it’s a building designed to look like something with a specific purpose, but was primarily designed for decoration. It looks as though it could have been an important part of battles of long ago, but was designed in the late 1790s for mostly for other purposes – special events, the housing of a printing press at some point, and in the 1950s, monitoring Cold War nuclear activity. It now houses exhibitions dedicated to those endeavors, and it was interesting to stop on each floor and learn more.

The view from the top was pretty, although we declared it not unlike the views from atop of the hills in our own beautiful Cheshire! The surrounding park was full of wildlife, including Red Deer. We snapped a few photos, re-sanitized on our way out and decided to walk the trails for a bit. We had packed a picnic, so we wandered around before ending up outside of the car, eating our packed lunch with the wind blowing and enjoying the views.

We set out to our next destination, Sudeley Castle. We were staying in a cottage technically owned by the estate of the castle, not too far away, so we got free tickets to enter. That made us feel like even though we know our track record with castles, it would be worth it! The castle is still actually a private family home, but has a wing marked for visitors, including an exhibit explaining the history of the castle. There are beautiful grounds to explore, a chapel, a cafe and for those pheasant enthusiasts, a pheasantry. There’s a ton of history at Sudeley Castle (interesting backgrounders and timeline on the website here, if you’re so interested. Most famously, Queen Katherine Parr, the last and surviving wife of King Henry VIII (yep, one who didn’t die or been ordered to die by him) is buried on the grounds.

We went rather quickly through the exhibition, awkwardly doing the dance we all do now, trying to maintain distance with other people while reading tiny plaques with a large amount of text while breathing quietly into our masks. Once outside, the rain had started, but luckily these guys had an umbrella and there was a lot to explore. The gardens were beautiful, and I recall saying to Tim, “see, this is pretty…maybe I’ll get into gardening!” Then we laughed because we both know it’s not true.

There was a helpful guide in the chapel who told us all about its history, and the story of how Katherine Parr’s burial site was discovered. I quickly walked through the pheasantry and ended up at the playground. For us, this was the hidden gem of the whole place! It had a large wooden play castle structure, which made for great hide and seek, lots of activities surrounding it and the pièce de résistance, the zip line.

It was castle closing time now, so we headed out the short distance to our home for the next two evenings, a cottage just off of the castle grounds. It was a lovely honey-colored cottage, with roses climbing up the front, a stone driveway and a nearby red phone booth. I was charmed.

We started the next day in Bourton-on-the-Water, arriving before 9:00 in an effort to beat the crowds. It’s a charming town, known as the “Venice of the Cotswolds” because of the lovely river and bridges running through the center of town. It was a Sunday morning, and still fairly quiet as we grabbed pastries and coffees and enjoyed them while sitting along the water. Dogs played in the low river (stream?), the boys ran around and we took in the character of the buildings before making our way over to the Model Village.

This was something I read on a list of local recommendations, and we tried to set expectations for what we were getting with the boys, telling them it was just an area with a little buildings to make you feel like you’re a giant. They were slightly confused, but were into it. We were the first in line and went in eagerly right at 10 a.m. open, the boys casually walking through. Tim and I had to encourage them to get down and look into the model houses – and as soon as we entered Nate had to leave to go find a toilet – but after a while, they were having fun.

They pretended to be the BFG stalking through town, pointed out the models of the same businesses and buildings we’d just passed, and Bennett especially loved the model village within the model village town (which then had a model village within, about six to seven times over we counted?) Inception-level mind-BLOWN. The admission price wasn’t very steep, which was good because it was a rather quick walk-through for our boys, but charming nonetheless. And the pictures are pretty funny!

We wandered for a bit around the bridges and along the stream, and I stopped into a shop to get a tea towel and Christmas ornament (again, obliging tourist ha!) but the town was starting to get busier, so we headed out. Definitely a quaint, pretty spot, but plan ahead! The summer rush was real, but I imagine it’s stunning in all seasons.

Our next spot was the Cotswolds Wildlife Park and Gardens. It’s basically a zoo, with the usual suspects of giraffes, rhinos, zebras, camels and more specific animals like capybaras and anteaters, and a large bird population. The park is spread across large, pretty grounds so we had some lunch in front of the giraffes in a grassy spot. We wandered for a couple of hours, avoiding indoor spots and lines.

Our final spot was looking at the birds and it didn’t take long for Tim and I to look at each other with the nod of “yep, we’re good here…time to go.” Always good to leave when you’re ahead. We kicked the football out in the grassy parking lot and had some cool drinks as we broke the news of what the next item on the itinerary was. A. WALK.

There are two small villages about an mile apart, called Upper and Lower Slaughter, and it’s a rather popular walk to go between the two through the fields and countryside. We parked in Upper Slaughter, with visions of stopping for a drink and dinner at an inn and restaurant in Lower Slaughter. The walk was easy and the boys actually enjoyed themselves, hopping onto trees and stumps, and stopping by pools of water as we let them go at their own pace. We walked past more sweet honey-colored cottages just past an Old Mill in Lower Slaughter.

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However, when we got into the middle of town, the sign outside of the restaurant said they were completely booked. It’s not as easy to just pop in and grab a table somewhere during these times, is it? Sometimes we forget that. There didn’t seem to be a lot of other options, so we made the walk back to Upper Slaughter, hopped in the car and returned to our cottage for frozen pizza, enjoying the setting sun and other treats from the patio. An early night before heading out the next morning to our next stop, Bath.

Well done, Cotswolds, you were as charming as promised…and whenever we long for you, we’ll just spray another spritz of overpriced lavender room spray! 😉