[Traveling with Kids] England 2019 - The Cotswolds

We have finally made it to The Cotswolds part of our trip! This may have been the part of our England trip that both Thomas and I were most looking forward to.  I had done a day trip from London 20 years ago and my memory was fading, I will tell you one thing - the English Countryside is absolutely beautiful and all the viewpoints you can see from the roadside is picturesque.  All of the Limestone homes and buildings were a feast for my eyes and I became so confused as to what my actual dream house looks like: Modern American Farmhouse? Irish Stone Cottage? or now a Cotswold Limestone House?  How does one choose? haha

We arrived at our sweet little town of Bourton-on-the-Water and were set to spend 3 luxurious nights there.  We stopped in and had the most delicious lunch at The Garden Cafe, the weather was glorious and we were able to eat outside which all three kids loved.  I got the girls (and by that I mean Ellie) the Ham Sandwich - just plain with nothing on it and Thomas and I shared the Ploughman's Plate.  Everything was absolutely divine, except the pickled onions because I just don't like those anywhere.  The atmosphere was darling and it was a great introduction to such a sweet and walkable town.

The Ham Sandwich with a garden salad and crisps

The Ploughman's Plate: ham, garden salad, two kinds of cheese, bread, butter, pickled onions, veggie crisps, chutney, and a ham pie.  While I may not be much of a ham/pig eater back home...when traveling eat what the locals eat.

We were then off to search for our Airbnb.  Our host gave us great directions and was so helpful when giving us tips as for what to do, where to go while we were having our visit.  We stayed at The Bourton Croft Cottage, it was right in the middle of town and everything was within a 5 minute walk.  It was very clean, spacious, and had lots of charm.  The kids loved all the space, the fireplace, and of course, the stairs.  We also received the sweetest welcome larder of bread from the local bakery, homemade currant jam (my favorite), butter and eggs.  It was so incredibly thoughtful and a great set up for our stay.

The lovely private garden

The spacious kitchen with so many amenities.

Our Welcome Larder

The Dining Room complete with a high chair!

The Living Room with TV, fireplace, and access to the stairs.  There was the cutest detail of a mouse formed into the cement of the stairs that Finnley was wild over...we felt like Cinderella!

The Gold Room.  We had asked for the two main rooms to be set up with King Size beds.  This room had a view of the street and the River that runs through town.

The Bathroom just down the hall.

The little 3rd bedroom which overlooked the private garden (and into the neighbors)

The Second Bathroom, the girls insisted on showing it off

...And the Blue Room, complete with Vanity and windows overlooking a parking lot and the garden.

view of the garden from the Blue Room

You can just see the mouse on the corner of the stairs...doesn't look like much in this picture but it is there.

We then walked around town in search of the Playground and the grocery.  Switching over from B&B's and eating out for all our meals in Ireland to having kitchens and preparing some of our own food here in England was quite fun.

Séamus and I shared the little room...which also meant we got the diffuser 💕😴

The next day Thomas's parent joined up with us, after they ventured to Paris!! We met up with them for lunch at The Rose Tree...yes please.  It was the only place I wanted to eat after that! SO so good. Thomas's mom got the crab, shrimp and avocado salad and my mouth was watering when they set it down on the table.  I had the lasagne, Thomas got a burger, his dad had the lamb shank, and the girls ate chicken nuggets.  For dessert I couldn't pass up the Sticky Toffee Pudding.  Séamus fell asleep in my arms as we were waiting for our food and proceeded to sleep during the entire meal.

After lunch the girls played by the river and then we walked around town for a bit before heading back to the cottage.  We got all settled in and just ate on snacks for dinner.

Ellie was the only one who liked the cold water of the river but the other two obliged and dipped their toes.

The next morning, I walked over to the bakery to grab some fresh scones for breakfast and then we drove the loop to check out many of the cute little towns of the Cotswolds: Stow-on-the-Wold, Moreton-in-Marsh, Chipping Campden, Upper Slaughter, and Lower Slaughter, among others I can't recall the names of.  Some of them we just drove through, while others we parked and walked around the shops a bit. We stopped for lunch in Chipping Campden, had Ice Cream in Moreton-in- Marsh, and saw some cute shops in Stow-on-the-Wold.  While each of the towns were lovely we all agreed that Bourton-on-the-Water was the best choice of where to stay and we were so glad we chose it!

sure the butter dish is made in the USA but I've never seen Ellie's name on anything before!

The kids loved the Toy Shop in Moreton-in-Marsh and could have spent all day there.

The Thatched Roofed houses were so fun to look at

Fish & Chips for lunch!!

Our fresh Breakfast Scones were so yummy with the homemade jam and proper clotted cream!

When we arrived back the girls got to go shopping for a toy with Nanny and Papa and they settled on Burrito Pets.  We stopped into the Motoring Museum Gift Shop and all the old cars were so so cool!

We had dinner at De La Hayes, the girls loved hanging out at the river while we waited for our food and playing tag in the restaurant garden with some other children.

We then walked back over to the playground for the kiddos, and I stopped with Séamus to take a few photo's just in case I missed my opportunity when we arrived back home for his 1st birthday.  He was a total champ...and then tried eating the flowers.  Once he and I made it into the playground he figured out a way to climb up the ladder and go down the slide all on his own.  He loved it so much that he did it over and over again until his little body was just too tired to move any more!

Waking up and getting to see him sleep will be forever a favorite memory of this trip...just like it was for Ellie's first trip and Finnley's too!  Once we were ready I walked the kids over to the bakery for some more goodies while Thomas loaded up the car and we said goodbye to our sweet Cotswolds Cottage, took one final photo (or two) on one of the many bridges and made our way towards London by way of Oxford and Windsor.

The Cotswolds is a lovely place and I really don't think a proper visit to England would be complete without a stop in.  Whether you can stay a night or two or to make it a day trip, seeing these old towns and the friendliness of the people is worth it.

Stay tuned for Oxford and Windsor and then our stay in London!

Previous Posts:
Ireland post ONE
Ireland post TWO
Ireland post THREE
England post ONE

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♥ Ashley