I have about 2 days to see some Cotswold villages in September. I like the look of Chipping Campden and Broadway (and of course Stratford-upon-Avon) but am wondering if I am missing out on any other must sees.

I am travelling with mum and we are more interested in short walks (less than 5 miles within villages or in the countryside), and looking at lovely houses, etc than being inside museums.

We will have a hire car.

Sorry to have to post this in the Stratford-upon-Avon section. I couldn't find a 'Cotswolds' section.

Chipping Campden and Broadway are both very popular with visitors.

Bourton-on-the-Water and Stow-on-the-Wold are two others which I consider well worth a visit.

Bourton is a bit special /(abd pretty) because of the little river, which runs through the middle, and the bridges:

http://www.cotswolds.info/places/bourton-on-the-water.shtml

Stow-on-the-Wold ('where the wind blows cold') has the most beautiful honey-coloured stone buildings:

http://www.cotswolds.info/places/stow-on-the-wold.shtml

Moreton-in-March is another honey-coloured market town nearby:

http://www.cotswolds.info/places/moreton-in-marsh.shtml

Then there are the 'Slaughters',Upper and Lower a mile apart: 'classic English villages' in many ways. Lower Slaughter is a pleasant, well-marked one-and-a-half-mile walk from Bourton, and has a nice streamside cafe:

http://www.cotswolds.info/places/upper-slaughter.shtml

http://www.cotswolds.info/places/lower-slaughter.shtml

If you are interested in gardens, there are several lovely ones in the Cotswolds, including Hidcote Manor:

http://www.cotswolds.info/gardens/gardens.shtml

You might also like to visit Chedworth Roman Villa. The Cotswolds was a prime area for the upper-class to have their country estates even 2000 years ago!

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-chedworthromanvilla/

If you have a car, visit also Great Tew with its beautiful cottages and a charming pub (see my Hook Norton page), Wroxton, Hanwell. They are all lovely!

Try Upper and Lower Slaughterer, Stow on the Wold, etc. one village runs into another - enjoy!

I have always intended to visit Batsford Arboretum at Bourton on the Hill, if you are at all interested in trees & walks this should be a must. Walks within all the villages tend to be low interest unless you like touristy shops.

I would not worry about Stratford unless you are going to the Theatre, nothing special about the town.

Some of the less touristy towns such as Charlbury are charming.

http://www.charlbury.info/downloads/charlbury_visitors_guide.pdf

If you want see one of the Great Stately homes of England then visit Woodstock and Blenheim Palace. Home of the Duke of Marlborough after his victory at a battle in 1704 and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. It has been a World Heritage sire since 1987.

I'd miss Stratford too, actually.

Though I've just visited this afternoon (first time I've ever 'done' Stratford) simply to make some VT pages. One or two nice bits of Tudor building, and some interestinf church-y points of interest, but it's mostly just a spending-opportunity-for-tourist-groups.

Hidcote Manor Garden near Chipping Campden are worth a visit.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-hidcotemanorgarden/

Thanks for the great advice everyone. So much to see in so little time.

I did much the same as you and spent 2 days exploring the villages. One lovely village is to the west of Stratford and is called Henley in Arden. I spent a whole day there. Check out my pages as this really is the most beautiful village I came across in my travels. Full of half timbered houses and just a quintisential place.

Bourton on the Water is also a must see. They have the cutest little miniature village that is a delight!

Broadway has the 'Cotswold Way' walking track and the Broadway Tower. The Cotswolds were a major attraction for me on my last trip. I loved the place so much I am returning there next month to explore them further.

Where did you go in the end? What did you think?

Just letting you know which of the villages we ended up seeing. We loved Mickleton the tiny little one we stayed in. Great pub-The Kings Arms. Also a cute website with a great short (half hour leisurely) walk that you can print off and learn as you walk.

We loved Bourton on the Water-but the locals tell us it was a good thing we were there on a weekday as it is really busy on the weekend.

Stow had great shops but the roadworks EVERY day we drove through were a bit of a pain.

Chipping Campden was really good too although maybe a little more spread out. The market place was so cool. Just so much history.

The Slaughters were interesting. The Old Mill and walking between was really good fun. Very cute.

Did the Broadway Tower also.

Very nice area having to pay for parking and not really knowing how long we would be in a place was a bit of a pain. Often we paid for 3 hours and stayed only half an hour and other times paid for 1 hour and didn't even see half of what we wanted. And the parks were never nearby the main areas.

The narrow streets were tricky to drive down but very cute.

Great place to visit. We had a great time.

It sounds as if you managed to explore quite a bit - I just hope the weather was kind to you!
Thanks for letting us know about your trip - yes car parking is a pain here!

It is indeed: everywhere, and especially in tourist-popular places. It's a good way of raising money for local councils.

Glad you had a good exploration. The locals were quite right about Bourton! :-)

Glad you enjoyed your trip and were able to see quite a bit in a short time. I hope we will be seeing some of your photos on VT soon,
( By the way, did you get to see the White Horses in Wiltshire as well?)

We don't really mind the parking as long as they are putting it towards the up keep of some the beautiful old buildings etc over there. I must admit as much as I loved all the 'old stuff' I am a bit glad as an Australian tax payer that we don't have that burden (I don't really think that is the right word I am not meaning to offend). We are just so glad we can travel over to your side of the world and take it all in. Mind you with the Aussie dollar the way it is....

Anyway The White Horses yes we saw one. We were very excited too. It was somewhere between Avebury and the Cotswolds (obviously a lot closer to Avebury). We were very excited about that.

I am slowly getting my pages together but I won't be promising too much too soon.

Was a great trip trip. Oh and the weather would you believe we were in the UK for 2 weeks and only had 1 rainy day and another day of misty wind. We were so lucky. I am not saying we necessarily had SUNSHINE either but the overcast sky didn't worry us.

That's good and glad about the weather!
If we had a larger territory and a small population maybe we would not have parking fees. But our little island is home to nearly fours times the population of Australia and local authorities are responsible for raising some of the income needed to provide local services for the residents and visitors in their area!