The Cotswolds

I was most looking forward to this day! The Cotswolds are made up of many different little villages & cities that are very picturesque and charming. I was ready for a day to just relax and walk around, enjoy the villages & shops and take in the scenery and be away from the more touristy parts. When researching the Cotswolds I found a "Romantic Road" route. I knew we wouldn't be able to squeeze in all of the villages but I got even more excited because when we went on our European vacation several years ago one of my favorite things was the "Romantic Road" route we did in Germany!!

The English villages did not disappoint. The weather, of course, was though. The rain did let up a little bit in the first village we stopped in and we were able to get one decent family picture.

It was almost impossible to get a picture without someone else in it because it turns out the Cotswolds are pretty touristy. Tour bus after tour bus of Asians were unloading right across the bridge. They would come swarming over and they seemed to find us more interesting than the beautiful surroundings....they were watching us and even snapping pictures of us! It was crazy. Once we finally got a decent picture we decided to walk around the little village some more.

 

We got back to the car just as it started raining again. We drove on to the next village of Bourton-on-the-Water. Even though it was still raining we had to get out because it was like a little Venice. Very cute!

 

This picture doesn't really do it justice. Unfortunately, I didn't really take many more. We were too busy ducking in and out of shops and tea rooms to get out of the rain. After we ate we went on to the other villages on the route and basically just drove straight through them because the rain wasn't letting up at all. We decided to get out again once we got to Stratford-Upon-Avon. We got out and walked to the different homes that Shakespeare lived in. We also walked to his wife's, Anne Hathaway, childhood cottage which is the most charming of them all. We didn't pay to go in to any of them and so we couldn't get that great of a view either.

Other than those sites we really only walked along a couple of streets. It seems like a cute little city with lots of shops. I know we missed a lot because of the weather. Whenever I read threads about top places to take visitors Stratford-Upon-Avon is always at the top. I'm looking forward to going back to the Cotswolds villages when the weather is nicer!

Shakespeare's Last Home

Shakespeare's Birth Home

This is a rarity.......they don't usually get along

The drive home was a good 3 hour drive but we had some great entertainment.....