Small Pleasures In The Cotswolds
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Posted On :
Dec-16-2011
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Article Word Count :
554
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Rolling green hills dotted with small villages built of honey coloured stones – ah! The English Cotswolds. If anywhere more typifies the green and pleasant land it is yet to be found.
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Rolling green hills dotted with small villages built of honey coloured stones – ah! The English Cotswolds. If anywhere more typifies the green and pleasant land it is yet to be found. The Cotswolds is an area of green gorgeousness, and although has no strict boundaries is in the counties of Worcestershire, Dorset, Wilshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and North East Somerset. Covering just under 800 square miles, it is the country’s largest are of outstanding natural beauty.
To stay
It is not surprising it is one the UK’s top tourist destinations nor that there is a large amount of holiday accommodation to be found from the simplest camping sites to top quality hotels. With only a few large towns, villages are quintessentially English and there is a good number of stately homes dotted about. Surrounded by tranquillity and gorgeous scenery, The Cotswolds offers a holiday for every taste, whether it’s a week in a tent in the woods or a weekend break in a luxury manor house hotel.
The places
The Cotswolds has more than its faire share of chocolate box villages: The strangely named Lower Slaughter with its water mill on the River Eye and its sister village Upper Slaughter present postcard views; olde worlde Bourton-on-the-Water with its shallow river that at times is but a few inches deep; Broadway – the Jewel of the Cotswolds – once home to luminaries Edward Elgar, J.M Barrie, William Morris and Vaughan Williams; and the little market town of Moreton-in-Marsh.
To do
Visitors certainly don’t lack for things to do in The Cotswolds. The countryside is perfectly suited to outdoor pursuits. Walkers, cyclists, anglers, golfers and horse riders are all well catered for. The fabulous Cotswold Water Park is a must visit place for anyone who can’t resist getting wet.
Naturally, this is farming country and country life is well represented by all manner of events throughout the year across the region. Country fares, steam rallies, barn dances, point to point, flower shows, English Civil War battle re-enactments and craft festivals pack out a calendar of events.
To visit
Not sure if the countryside is your thing? The Cotswolds will change that. There’s something for all tastes: Marvel at the details of the scale model village of Bourton-on-the-Water before walking a few steps across a tiny stone bridge to a thatched cottage cafe for a cream tea before heading off down the road to Birdland; enjoy the region’s legendary fresh produce by loading up on baskets of fruit at a pick-your-own; go hunting for antiques; visit Tudor and Jacobean stately homes that have escaped being turned into manor house hotels – Sudeley Castle, Lydney Park and Sezinhill being just three worthy of mention; wander leisurely through stunning landscaped gardens and arboretum; or hop on a locomotive for a ride through glorious surroundings on the Avon Valley Steam Railway.
The Cotswolds is a simple place, offering up simple pleasures. Pubs still have roaring fireplaces, thatched roofs and serve up gold old English ale and good old English food, but you’ll find Michelin Star dining too. Markets and village greens are still centres of the community and there’s an appreciation of joy in the surroundings. Would it be a cliché to call The Cotswold idyllic? Probably, but it’s true.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Small Pleasures In The Cotswolds_113748.aspx
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Author Resource :
For a Manor house hotels to enjoy the best of The Cotswolds in the gorgeous setting of Upper Slaughter , visit www.lordsofthemanor.co.uk
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Keywords :
Manor house hotel,
Category :
Business
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Business
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