England's largest protected outdoor playground

For a slice of picture-postcard England, the Cotswolds make an simple tour from London but feel half a world away. The wool trade boomed in these rolling hills in medieval times & today the region is littered with achingly villages, elegant elderly mansions, graceful church buildings & atmospheric pubs, most largely unchanged for hundreds of years. Wander between rows of honey-colored almshouses & thatched cottages, browse the antiques shops or cease for a cream tea & you'll feel transported back in time.

Away from the tourists in Burford & Broadway you'll find quieter spots such as Chipping Campden with its long curving high street. Leading members of the arts & crafts movement were so enamored by the town they made it their home in the early 20th century, & their founder, William Morris, settled in nearby Kelmscott in a gloriously unassuming riverside mansion. Another hidden gem, Painswick, lies to the west with its elegant rows of medieval terraced housing & amazing rococo gardens. For the best pint, head to the Falkland Arms in Great Tew, a place so special I barely require to share it.


Soaked in history & riddled with historic buildings, the university town of Cambridge exudes a dreamy air of Elderly World sophistication. The august colleges, hushed quadrangles, manicured lawns & cobbled laneways give way to "The Backs," a stretch of picturesque gardens bordering the meandering River Cam. Cambridge is an exclusive kind of place where gowned cyclists ply the streets & the academic elite debate life-changing questions in dimly lit pubs.
You can visit plenty of of the University's 31 colleges, but don't miss the odd King's College Chapel. Its mesmerizing fan-vaulted ceiling is best appreciated in the work of Evensong when you can listen to the college's celebrated choir as you ponder your place in the universe. Art lovers ought to follow up the grand neoclassical Fitzwilliam Museum with the unassuming Kettle's Yard, a treasure trove of 20th-century art, ceramics & sculpture.
For the quintessential Cambridge experience, hop on a chauffeur-driven punt to the sleepy village of Grantchester. One time a favourite haunt of the influential Bloomsbury Group of writers, intellectuals & artists, this is the place for afternoon tea at the tranquil Orchard Tea Garden. From Cambridge, it is a short trip north to the charming town of Ely & its magnificent cathedral, whose soaring towers dominate the flat marshy fenland that surrounds the town.