We are deep into our second week in England and after our stay at Andover, it was time to explore the Cotswalds. The highly anticipated scenic leg of our journey. Our plan was to make our way from Andover through part of the Cotswalds to our next accommodation Cheltenham.

England Tour – Cheltenham

We spent a leisurely day driving to the town of Lacock and then Castle Combe. Such delightful English country towns.

A pub lunch later and we were arriving at our Cheltenham accommodation. Again we choose AirBnB for our stay and was not disappointed.

That’s us up on the left hand top floor two windows. Isn’t it perfectly English!!

The view out our kitchen window was again as English as they come, I had a pinch myself moment right there.

I think this was holly all over the buildings, it was so pretty, and the bees loved it, with hives in so many of the trees on the street.

We spent a few days resting and exploring Cheltenham itself, however our favourite find in our time in the Cotswalds was Burton on the Water, it was just the most sublime town even on a grey rainy day.

Burton on the Water was full of antique shops, I think the Builder thought he had died and arrived in his version of Heaven. We spent many hours here just window shopping. Our final visit before heading onto our next desitnation was Stratfod-upon-Avon, Shakespeares birthplace and what a showstopper this town is. Gorgeous churches, Tudor buildings and stunning lake, another unexpected favourite.

For our final few days in England, we travelled to Miss R’s families Grandparents home in Finedon. Such a gorgeous farm house conversion, the absolutely epitome of our accommodation in the UK. Unfortunately I don’t have great photos of our time here but suffice to say, we enjoy the home nearly as much as we did the opportunity to meet all the family.

Sending your 20 year old daughter to the other side of the world, to work for and live with strangers is made all the better experience when the strangers are such warm accommodating people. I have not ever felt so instantly at home as we did with this family.

This house is truly stunning and was an educational experience for us, as the family had been instrumental in the build, and shared their journey with us. While there are many similarities between the building trade there and here, there are just as many differences.

Leaving this home and our girl for our final 2 days in London were the most difficult of all. We had a magical trip and didn’t want it to end, though we did have a 2 night stopover in Singapore to look forward to.

Do you enjoy Shakespeare? Where in the UK would you like to travel?

Nicole xxx