Bourton-on-the-Water
The Venice of the Cotswolds: a village built around the broad, shallow Windrush and its low stone bridges.
The Venice of the Cotswolds: a village built around the broad, shallow Windrush and its low stone bridges.
The charm of Bourton, for us, lies in its simplicity: honey-coloured stone, water and grass, and not much need for anything more. The River Windrush runs broad and shallow right along the main street, crossed by a run of low, flat footbridges that give the village its nickname, and flanked by wide greens where children paddle on warm afternoons and the ducks patrol the shallows with a certain proprietorial calm. We think it photographs beautifully but feels even better in person, particularly if you get there before the coaches do.
It is one of the most visited villages in the whole of the Cotswolds, and we will be honest with you about that further down. But when you catch it right, early on a still morning or late on a long summer evening, it earns every bit of its reputation. We tend to park, walk the length of the greens, cross a bridge or two, and let the children lead us to whichever attraction has caught their eye that day.
Bourton packs an unusual number of small paid attractions into a short stretch, most of them a couple of minutes' walk from the greens. These are the ones we keep coming back to.
Bourton is not short of tea rooms and ice-cream shops, and on a warm day the queue for a cone by the river is part of the experience. For something more substantial we like the pubs a little back from the water, where you can usually find a table and a garden even when the greens are busy. The Kingsbridge, right on the river, is a lovely spot for a pint on a summer evening, and there are plenty of cafés for a lunch or a proper cream tea. If you would rather eat somewhere quieter, we often combine a morning in Bourton with lunch in one of the smaller villages nearby.
We would not be doing our job if we let you turn up at noon on an August Saturday and blame the village. Bourton is beautiful and, precisely because of that, it is one of the busiest places in the Cotswolds. Peak summer weekends and school holidays can be shoulder-to-shoulder along the greens, and the car parks fill early. Our advice is simple: go early, ideally arriving by mid-morning, or better still visit off-season. Spring and autumn weekdays are wonderful, the light is often better for photographs, and you can have the bridges more or less to yourself. Even in summer, an hour before the day-trippers arrive is worth setting the alarm for.
Opening hours and admission for the attractions change with the season, so it is always worth checking the individual websites before you set off, especially in winter. Bourton-on-the-Water sits about forty minutes from Well Cottage by car, which makes it an easy morning out or a full day if the children want to do everything. You will find more ideas for the wider area over on our things to do guide.
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.