Me again!
I told you I’d be back soon with the second instalment of the Cotswolds series 🙂
Read on for a run down of places to visit and what to do whilst you’re there. For an accommodation suggestion and the full itinerary see the first Cotswolds post.
Day 1
Burford
Today was a travel day. It took about 3 hours to get to Burford from Essex, so we felt this was a natural break on our journey as mum and dad had been driving for quite a long time. Burford is a town in Oxfordshire situated on a hill that goes down towards the River Windrush. It is often referred to as “The Gateway of the Cotswolds” so it seemed pretty apt to make this our first stop on our Cotswolds journey.
We parked at the bottom of the hill and had a wander up and down its steep high street poking our heads into a few of the shops. We sat for a packed lunch in the grounds of the church which was really peaceful. It is a really picturesque village with ancient buildings, lots of independent shops and eateries, and a lovely place to stretch our legs after being in the car for a while. Another cool thing about Burford is that it is home to Reavely Chemist, England’s oldest pharmacy which has been in Burford since 1734
After exploring Burford, we continued onto the cottage in Brimscombe, Stroud and spent the evening settling in and getting some sleep before our big adventure ahead.
ST John the Baptist Church in Burford 
Pretty side street in Burford
Day 2
Cotswolds Water Park
Today was mainly spent at Cotswolds Water Park. The park is actually a HUGE lake system (180 lakes!), many of which have different activities that people can do. We had booked some paddleboards and kayaks with 4 Lakes Waterski School in South Cerney which is situated on lake 59 in the Water Park. There is ample parking at the lake and we felt it was really good value at £10 an hour for paddleboard/kayak hire, and you can hire wetsuits too if need be.
Abby and I went out on the paddleboards in our wetsuits, whereas mum and dad preferred not to get wet so instead used kayaks. There were probably only about 10 people out on the lake and it is nice and big so didn’t feel at all cluttered. There was also some water-skiing going on in the other half of the lake, so every now and again a wake would rock the boards and boats which made it that bit more challenging and fun!
The only slight negative of our experience was that by paddle broke when I was out in the water so I had to surf-paddle back to shore to ask for another. As all the other good paddles had been handed out, I got given a rather heavy one that was too short for me, which was a shame as it did make it harder to get the most out of the session but these things happen I guess. The moral of that story is make sure you check your paddle BEFORE you go in!
You can find more info on 4 Lakes Waterski School here
Our next stop of the day was also in a sub-section of the Water Park called Cotswold Sculpture Park. This isn’t something we’d normally go for as a family but we heard good things about it so thought we’d give it a try. There were so many beautiful sculptures around the grounds and you followed a trail so it meant you didn’t miss any! The variety of the sculptures on display was really good to see there was definitely something for everyone, and we spent a good hour and a half just having a wander and taking them in. We decided to treat ourselves to a sweet treat after all our hard work out on the lake earlier, so purchased some biscoff cake and lemon sorbet from the on-site cafe. A lot of their cakes were vegan-friendly which was great to see, and tasted delicious!
To find out more information about the Cotswold Sculpture Park, click here
Cirencester Park
To finish off our day we headed to Cirencester to go for a walk in Cirencester Park, the grounds of a country house that are free to visit. It is part of the Bathurst Estate, and has been used previously as both a deer park and a military base. We only walked up the main strip and back as it was drizzling and I think were were all a little exhausted, but there is so much more of the park we didn’t explore. It was a nice place to spend some down-time, and there was also a cool caravan-cafe type thing selling food and drink.
Click here for more info on Cirencester Park and the Bathurst Estate
So that’s what our first 2 days consisted of, more adventures will be on their way soon.
Happy travelling!
Zoe and David x
Written by Zoe
Not-So-Trendy Travellers 
Xxx
LikeLike