The Cotswolds (Photo by HerryLawford)
The Cotswolds holidays take you to a part of England, west of London. Cotswold is named wold meaning soft hills and Cots referring to the sheep enclosures which dot the land. The Cotswolds, selected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty has villages and towns entwined with outcroppings of the yellow limestone Stands of old grown beech trees spread the countryside. It is the sanctuary of endangered plants and animals including the Duke of Burgundy Butterfly
History buffs will find Neolithic remains with 80 long barrows, Iron Age hill forts. two Roman roads, two Roman villas–one at Chedworth -and the Corinium Museum of Roman relics at Cirencester.
The Cotswolds abounds in many tourist highlights: The Cotswold Summer Vintage Fair, Longborough Festival Opera, WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Stroud Festival of Nature, Cotswold 600 Classic Car Hire (a 3 hour tour in a classic Fiat), Cotswold Falconry center which present bird of prey, Dragon Fly Maze amusement park, Cotswold Perfumery, Cotswold Motor Museum, Cotswold Way – one of Britain’s National Trails, Hildcote Manor Gardens. Keith Harding’s World of Mechanical Music, Berkeley Castle, Cleve Hill Golf Club, Ancient Ram Inn, and Bourton Model Railway Exhibition.
It is easy to get around in the Cotswold’s as it is located near several major motorways. Trains run in the south and the west and it is serviced by motor coach. The weather in the Cotswold is mild because it is near the warm waters of the Gulf Stream to the west. Temperatures reach the 80s in the summer and the 30s in the winter, rarely freezing. The climate is comparable to the Northwest of the United States with cloudy weather and rain. The weather is the driest from April to July.
The official currency of Britain is the pound sterling, called the pound, which is divided into 100 pence or pennies. Travellers will enjoy the Cotwolds as the British do as it is a spot to enjoy with all its various sites, pubs, trail walks and long summer days.
