Looking for last minute ideas for a great vacation? If so, you’d do well to consider one area of the United Kingdom that is often overlooked by people from this side of the Channel.
The Cotswolds region around Cirencester is a fantastic part of the UK to visit for families (it was voted the n°1 location for staycations) and is within easy reach of Europe.
There are trains from London Paddington, the nearest airports, Bristol and Birmingham, have good links to Europe and, for those travelling by car, it’s virtually motorway all the way after arriving at Dover or Folkestone.
The Cotswold Hills, a chunk of Gloucestershire, are dotted with enchanting villages and visitors enjoy a harmonious blend of man and nature — the most pristine of English countryside.
Here’s our tips for anyone lucky enough to visit this terrific destination.
1. Where to Stay: Ingleside House Hotel
Opened in May 2021, this is the latest boutique hotel to open in the Cotswolds. Located just outside the centre of Cirencester, Ingleside is an independent hotel with top notch customer care and wonderfully designed interiors.
Our focus is delivering excellent service from the minute you arrive.
Rachel Wright, director of the Ingleside House Hotel
The 11 well equipped bedrooms (max. number of guests is 26) are all individually designed with excellent mattresses and great showers. Thought to the design starts the minute you walk through the front door and you’re greeted with bold wallpaper and dark blue walls. All the many original features of the building are sympathetically enhanced throughout the building, which dates back to the late 18th century.
On the ground floor is the resident’s lounge called the Garden Room, finished in a bold mix of green and pink, the main bar and Teatro restaurant (open for evening meals six days a week and Sunday lunch).
Upstairs is a lovely touch: all the rooms are named after “key people” who have worked at Ingleside in the past and today. Through each pale pink bedroom door is a room that has been painstakingly designed to be ‘dramatically different’.
It’s also well situated: Cirencester is the largest town in the Cotswolds and it is just 15 miles southeast of Gloucester and 13 miles northwest of Swindon (just off the M4 motorway). The town lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the Thames, and is the hub of a network of roads.
Ingleside has been owned and managed by Ian Carling with Rachel Wright since 2007. It is a delightful Grade 2 listed building and all the rooms have dressing gowns, nespresso machines, radios and TVs. Free Wifi is available throughout.
Ingleside is great for a family visit but also offers corporate events, parties and weddings from 10 people to 180. It has four grades of rooms (doubles from just £120/140€ a night B&B) while, opposite, is a large pay machine car park. This makes an ideal and relaxing base to explore the Cotswolds.
2. Where to eat: Roots + Seeds Kitchen Garden
The the perfect spot for a lunch or dinner visit (or even breakfast). It’s very family friendly during the day but in the evening is a tad more adult focused.
This is a cafe restaurant with its own on-site kitchen garden located within the Grade 1 listed parkland of the Bathurst Estate, located on the edge of Cirencester. Open daily for coffee, breakfast, brunch, lunch and afternoon tea and elevated evening dining from Thursday to Saturday.
Head chef, Sam Idione, proudly showcases the finest local Cotswolds artisan produce, generally sourced from within a 25-mile (40 km) radius, on his modern British menus which come with creative French touches. The fruit and vegetables are grown at the on-site kitchen garden. A full bar serves seasonally changing, bespoke gin cocktails, award-winning English and Old and New World wines and beers produced in a small brewery next door by Corinium Ales. Vegetarian and vegan dishes are featured on every menu and a children’s menu is also available.
In the evenings, Roots + Seeds offers a more refined dining experience within its beautiful, newly-built space with 54 covers. It is all housed within a lovely single-storey building and boasts stunning vaulted ceilings with exposed oak beams. Overlooking pretty surrounding parkland, the resto is furnished in chic rustic industrial style with scrubbed farmhouse tables, oversized pendant lights, vintage garden tool displays and potted vegetables on tables. It all adds to what is, overall, a really terrific ambience.
For families there’s also a fun, interactive and enclosed space for younger children with curtains to conceal it during evening service, and outside, two courtyards with al fresco dining for up to 30 and a secure outdoor play area.
The focus is very much on sustainability and, according to its two innovative, go-ahead (and friendly) founders Sam Lawson-King and Toby Baggott, “creating a sense of community.” This resto takes pride in sourcing supplies of fresh produce daily and is even used for public talks about how to “grow your own.”
Roots + Seeds is wonderfully situated within Cirencester Park with its network of tree-lined avenues and is open daily 8am until late. Next door is a large car park and worth noting that families and dogs are welcome both inside and out.
3. Cirencester
Often referred to as the Capital of the Cotswolds, this was at the heart of the woollen trade and the second largest town in Britain during Roman times. Today, Cirencester is an attractive, bustling market town steeped in history.
Cirencester is a vibrant and thriving market town, with a population of around 20,000. Its handsome streets of golden stone are generously punctuated by green space and its creative spirit is reflected in its growing number of independent shops and seriously good restaurants and cafés.
Its market square is dominated by the cathedral-like Parish Church of St. John Baptist (one of the largest in England) while its market town status was mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1086. Traders still set up their stalls every Monday and Friday.
4. Bathurst Estate
One of the country’s oldest and most beautiful privately owned parks. Unusually for a stately home, the park sits within the town of Cirencester, screened from it by the tallest yew hedge in the world. This remarkable feature has been much recorded in local and international history, especially when it comes to its annual trim – a job that takes two men two weeks to complete. Clippings have been used to further the research of the use of ‘taxol’ to treat cancer.
The estate has seen many changes over the years, most notably during the Second World War when the estate was an essential tool for the war effort on many levels. The core of the Estate has fundamentally remained unchanged and has a well maintained and thriving mix of property, parkland and farmland.The estate today comprises around 15,000 acres and is run by the 9th Earl Bathurst.It is also home to that quintessential English pastime – polo.
Cirencester Park Polo Club, the country’s most historic (founded 1894), is located at the heart of the Estate, stretching across 11 polo grounds. Over the last 100 years they have played host to some of the most influential figures of our time including George V & VI, Edward VIII, the Maharajas of Jaipur & Jodphur, the sultan of Brunei and the current Royal Family. It hosts 300 games from April to September. Why not take a picnic and make a day of it – it’s well worth it not least for those who may be unfamiliar with this underrated sport.
5. Cotswolds Country Park & Beach
This is located on what used to be former quarries and is massively popular with families and others. The site is packed with excellent facilities and activities to keep you (and the kids) entertained and occupied for a whole day.
The area is located about two hours’ drive from the nearest stretch of coast but if you want a nice beach to relax on you will find one right here along with a couple of large lakes which are used for a range of water-based activities including SUP and pedalos. It all makes for great fun.
The park is open from April until late September and many go for the day, along with a picnic. You are sure to have lots of pleasure and enjoyment.
If you are still searching for inspiration for a holiday why not give this beautiful part of England serious consideration? It makes for a truly great and relaxing break – whatever time of the year.
