England Things to Do

If you want to see the England of picture books and chocolate boxes, head to The Cotswolds. Its green and rolling hills really are the perfect image of dreamy England and the villages are just so English. Lots of thatched roofs on honeycomb colored stone cottages, pubs and little shops in narrow winding lanes. And churches. Market places. Tea shops.

And the names! Stow-on-the-Wold, the Slaughters, Moreton-in-Marsh. I promise I am not making them up. To really explore The Cotswolds you’ll need a car, bicycle or sturdy legs because bus services within the area are limited and trains go only to the northern and southern edges, from London Paddington to towns such as Cheltenham Kingham, Chippenham and Gloucester. Otherwise, there are regular bus services from London, Oxford and Bath. If you can, plan to stay the night in order to enjoy the quiet village atmosphere when all the other visitors have gone home. Some of the villages get very crowded with cars and sightseers during the day: it’s all too pretty for its own good!

England might not be the first place you think of going for a day out at the seaside – especially not with the current bracing midwinter chill weather of sleet or snow. But for those few months of the year when it’s sunny, and in fact for all those other months of the year when it’s cool but not actually freezing, a bit of sea air in the lungs is just what you need, especially if you’ve been in the black grit of London.