England

Amazing views, great guides but so glad we went with e-bikes this trip😅

One of VBT's most beautiful trips. The scenary was breathtaking. Our local stops for tea and lunch were really terrific and gave us insight to local communities. Our tour guides, Mick and Hattie, were terrific. This tour was more challenging than I had anticipated with some very steep and long rides, which I could not do. Our guides consulted with me each morning and if there was a climb I could not do I went in the van to the top and biked down. The real surprise was that we DID NOT have rain the entire time!!!

The tour directors, Cotswolds, and Bath were all wonderful. So my “3” rating does not reflect THEM. I’m rating the activity level rating and the bikes: this trip is not “easy/moderate” even with an e-bike. I ride at least three times per week at home and found myself struggling with the hills and daily distance. VBT advertises this trip as one with quiet roads, when many of the roads were actually very narrow, commercial, and busy. The bike design made them hard to get on and off, leading to falls. It was more stressful than the relaxing trip I’d hoped for.

The Cotswolds are incredibly beautiful! Small villages with golden stone buildings almost don't look real. All of our hotels were top notch and the food was excellent. Biking on the left hand side of the road was a bit scary at first, but the drivers were courteous and gave us a wide margin; and most of the roads we biked had minimal traffic.

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.