travel
EASTER ESCAPE TO THE COTSWOLDS
Exploring the prettiest villages in the Cotswolds. BY PENELOPE BIELCKUS (THE FLYAWAY GIRL)
A
trip to the Cotswolds can often feel like you’re travelling back in time. Thatched cottages line the streets of quaint little villages and make you wish that you own a little cottage yourself so you can cosy up in front of a fire and drink hot chocolate (or do something equally as quaint and adorable).
collection, which usually means you will have to take a transfer shuttle bus to the pick-up location. ‘On airport’ car hire starts at £68 for manual transmission and £108 for automatic with provider Alamo.
The Cotswolds is a wonderfully picturesque region of the UK and is a place you must visit at least once in your lifetime. From historic market towns to little villages with beautiful churches or impressive abbeys, there is so much to see.
Firstly, let’s talk a little about the Cotswolds and what exactly this area is. The Cotswolds is an ‘AONB’, or an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. They cover an area of 2,038 km2 (787 sq mi) and is spread throughout five counties, these being Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, and Worcestershire.
For a road trip in the Cotswolds, Bristol is an ideal starting place. You can fly from Gibraltar to Bristol with easyJet directly and hire a car at the airport with providers like Europcar, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hertz or Avis. Car hire for three days (based on a Friday to Sunday rental) starts at £55 for a manual car and £79 for an automatic. Cheaper car hire companies will have ‘off airport’
WHAT IS THE COTSWOLDS?
The name ‘Cotswolds’ has a few potential origins, the most popular being from Old English ‘cot’ and ‘wold’, together meaning ‘sheep enclosure in hills’. A ‘wold’ is a range of hills that consist of open country overlying a base of limestone or chalk. Another possible origin of the name ‘Cotswolds’ is that it was derived
from the 12th century name ‘Codesuualt’, meaning ‘Cod’s high open land’. Cod was an Old English personal name that dates back to the 8th century and possibly refers to a mother goddess in Celtic mythology.
COTSWOLDS ROAD TRIP ITINERARY When starting a Cotswolds road trip from Bristol, you have a variety of routes available to you. Some example 2-3 day itineraries include the following:
THREE-DAY ITINERARY (BRISTOL TO BRISTOL) Day 1: Castle Combe, Lacock, > Bibury (stay near Bibury, e.g. in Cricklade or Cirencester)
Day 2: Stow-on-the-Wold, > Lower Slaughter, Bourton-on-
the-Water (stay in Bourton-onthe-Water, Stow-on-the-Wold or 63
