England

England/Scotland in early June was our 22nd VBT Tour. We had five days of riding in some rain. The tour before us and the one after had much better weather. When the skies cleared the scenery was quite nice and the small villages charming. All the hotels were in good locations. Due to the long hill climbs, this tour deserves the Moderate rating. If you are not a strong rider, get an e-bike. This is a new tour and there are some minor kinks that need to be worked out. The pre and post trips are very good.

Recommend this trip however, keep in mind the hills and potential for rainy weather. I had really looked forward to the Lake District but mother nature had other ideas and due to rain it was head down, watching the road and I cycled. All in all good scenery when available to us although no truly blue skies until the extension. I would consider something other than the hotel in Penrith at the start. Really appreciated seeing 3 differing areas and style of countryside and geology. Hattie and Dan were wonderful guides and kept us all going despite the weather. The 4 stars was due to feeling like we could have had more cultural experiences. Hattie wonderful in talking about culture although that's not quite the same.

There is no better way to see and learn about a beautiful and historic area like Southwestern England than on a bike! We loved our VBT Cotswolds adventure.

We loved our VBT cycling trip in the Cotswolds. The countryside and charming villages we passed through were beautiful, and and we learned so much from our two guides, both local to the area. We've taken many cycling trips, and this was among our favorite. Highly recommend this trip!

My husband and I did this self-guided tour in early September and absolutely loved it. Country Walkers did an impeccable job taking care of every detail--booking hotels, moving our suitcases between hotels, and, best of all, the "route notes" book was so detailed and had everything we needed from step-by-step directions and restaurant suggestions to history and ideas for things to do. It felt like a wonderful adventure following the famous paths through sheep pastures and little forest thickets, past gardens and ancient churches, and climbing over or around all the different gates. It was often overcast and misty in the mornings, but the mid-day sun burned it all away. Our highlights are choosing to stop for an hour to check out the Hailes Abbey Museum and rubbing elbows with some locals at the only pub in a tiny village. So many great memories! We liked the intimate experience of doing a self-guided trip and the independence (without the planning!) that it provided. We spent some extra days in London at the end of our trip...that was just icing on the cake.

What a fantastic trip this was. This was my 6th time going to England, but my first for the Cotswold region and what an extraordinary time it was. The food was fantastic, everywhere you looked the views were spectacular. It was fantastic trip which I would do again in a heart beat.