Adventourus Active Vacations

7 night semi-escorted tour

Just one and a half hours from London lies the Cotswolds. This is quintessential England of a bygone era. Here we will find rolling hills, antique shops, tearooms, stone cottages draped in Honeysucckle with roses around the door and country pubs of great character.

Our safari begins amongstthe dreaming spires of the historic city of Oxford, a seat of learning for over nine hundred years. We escape the city and its beautiful colleges via a cycleway to quickly arrive at the spectacular Blenheim Palace, ancestral home of Winston Churchill, with its famour gardens. We follow sections of the Oxfordshire cycleway to bring us into the hear of the Cotswolds where we take in the beautiful villages of Burford, Burton-on-the-water, Broadway and the picturesque Lower Slaughter and Stanton. Our rest day sees us venture into the historic town of Stratford-upon-Avon, unchanged from the Elizabethan times. Other attractions include museums, boat trips, nearby Warwick Castle or even the possibility to see one of the masters plays at the famous Swan Theatre. We take to the saddle again for another delve into the Cotswold countryside before arriving back into the city of Oxford.

The tour starts in the splendour of the city of Oxford. Oxford is a very attractive and historic city and well worth visiting in its own right. It is especially worth seeing the Christchurch, Trinity and Balliol colleges (there are 36 in total!). A climb of the Carfax Tower offers a good panoramic view.
A taxi ride from the railway station/coach station should cost no more than about £7.00.
If you arrive early, feel free to check in (the hotel will be expecting you), leaving you free to explore the city unencumbered by luggage. The guide will meet you in the foyer of the hotel at 6.30 pm and after a short introductory talk accompany you for dinner at the hotel which is included in the tour cost.

Having selected your bicycle the tour heads alongside the canal tow path and then onto a Sustrans cycle track. This brings us to Woodstock and the opportunity to visit Blenheim Palace.
Blenheim is one of the great palaces of England. It was presented to John Churchill (1st Duke of Marlborough) in 1704 after his success against the French at Blenheim. It is set in a 2000-acre park, landscaped by the famous gardener Capability Brown. The long library is one of the longest single rooms in Britain and the guided tours (every 5-10 mins) offer a great insight into the life and the history surrounding Blenheim including its most famous son, Winston Churchill. (Entry fee £10, includes access to the house, gardens, park, Winston Churchill exhibition and the train ride). Woodstock is a pretty town, the Bear Hotel being particularly noteworthy dating from the 13th Century.
The cycle then takes us deeper into the Cotswolds with its limestone cottages along quiet back roads. Our destination is Burford with a particularly attractive mainstreet of handsome Inns and charming cottages that leads downhill to a medieval bridge (1322) by the old mill over the river Windrush.

Day 3: Burfort to Boradway (50 km)

Leaving Burford we cross the heart of the Cotswolds to take in the famous village of Bourton-on-the water, dubbed the Venice of England, with its many different attractions including Birdland, miniature village, motor museum, model railway and perfumery.
We then escape the hustle of Bourton to the quieter (and at least to us, prettier) villages of Lower and Upper Slaughter. The afternoon cycle brings us to the incredibly lovely Stanton, which has been virtually untouched since the 17th century.

We begin the cycle with a stretching of the legs up to the quaint village of Snowshill. We then loop around to Broadway Tower and Country Park. This folly has seen the likes of William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelite Painter Rossetti stay here. On a clear day you can see 12 counties from the top of the tower. We then meander our way through a few villages before arriving at our lunch stop, a 13th century thatched tavern. After lunch we take a disused railway line, now converted to a cycle path, which provides a traffic free entry into the heart of this famous town.

Stratford-upon Avon is the birthplace of the world’s greatest poet and playwright and has a lovely preserved Elizabethan town centre. There are several sights and museums that can be undertaken whilst here.
A great excursion is Warwick Castle – home to the all-powerful Earls of Warwick, the site was first fortified in 1068 and has survived 1000 years of turbulent history intact.
Open-top bus tours stop at all the major tourist sights on a hop-on, hop-off basis (cost £7.50 run every 15 mins 9-17.40), includes all the Shakespeare homes.
Plus there is always the opportunity to see one of the master’s plays. At the time of writing schedules were not available for the summer, but more details can be found at www.rsc.org.uk.

Leaving behind Stratford we are soon into the countryside and back onto pleasant country roads. Today brings the opportunity to visit some of the lovelier gardens of the Cotswolds such as the noteworthy Hidcote Manor or Batsford Arboretum with its Falconry centre.
Lunch is taken in Chipping Camden one of the loveliest and best preserved of the Villages before ambling our way through Broad Campden and Blockley. Moreton in the Marsh offers further shopping and Tea Room opportunities before arriving into the lovely Square of Stow On the Wold. The Royalist pub claims to be one of the countries oldest, with scientific tests dating the beams back to 947AD.
There is also a toy museum in the town with many Victorian toys and Teddy bears as well as other exhibits of porcelain etc.

Today’s cycle sees us follow the Oxfordshire cycleway for much of the morning, with most of the journey being pleasantly downhill.
Our lunch stop for today is the market town of Witney, originally famous for its blanket making and now known for its unusual 17th century butter cross. Just outside of the town, a mere quarter mile off the route is the Cogges Manor Farm Museum that contains working kitchen and dairy as well as other exhibits from the Edwardian period. The last part of the cycle sees us retrace our steps for the last three miles back to our starting point in Oxford for our last night together.

Depart this morning after breakfast.

PRICE & DETAILS

DEPARTURE DATES:

June 18                 July 16

- 7 nights in excellent quality B & B hotels and guesthouse; all rooms with private facilities.

- Personal welcome meeting and distribution of tour information

- Daily meetings with guide, who accompanies the tour with the luggage van.

- English breakfast each day.

- Two dinners

- Luggage transport from hotel to hotel.

- Maps with indicated routes, detailed route description, tourist information about places of interest.

- 21 speed hybrid bike with pannier.

EASY TO MODERATE: You cycle on safe cycle paths and minor country lanes. Just a few small hills so this tour is suitable for all cyclists who are reasonably fit. Total distance = 250 km (150 miles)

The nearest international airport is London. Trains depart for Oxford on a very regular basis. The cost is approx. $30 one way.