Cotswolds in a Day Tour

Discover the Cotswolds in a day with award-winning guided tours from Moreton-in-Marsh or Stratford-upon-Avon. Explore charming villages and stunning viewpoints.

Duration: 7 hours, 15 minutes
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Cotswolds - On this tour you’ll explore the Cotswolds
  • Moreton-in-Marsh - Passengers joining the tour at Stratford-upon-Avon will be collected from Shakespeare’s Birthplace Coach Terminal at 08.50-09.00. Then, we travel to the Cotswold town of Moreton-in-Marsh, where we collect our final passengers from Moreton-in-Marsh rail station at 9.30am. From Moreton-in-Marsh, it’s a 15 minute drive to our first official stop. We’ll provide an introduction to the tour en route.
  • Dover’s Hill - It’s just a short drive to our first stop, the viewpoint at Dover’s Hill and long the way your driver-guide will begin their entertaining commentary telling you the story of the Cotswolds. At the viewpoint you’ll enjoy stunning views and learn about some of the Cotswolds’ more quirky traditions!
    *In poor weather, we may omit the stop at Dover’s Hill. It’s beautiful in lovely weather, but can get very muddy when it’s wet!
  • High Street Chipping Campden - Chipping Campden is a charming and typically Cotswolds market town, full of history and heritage but also home to great independent shopping and superb coffee and cake! Using the maps we provide, you’ll have around an hour here to explore and discover Chipping Campden for yourself.
  • Broadway Tower - Soon after leaving Chipping Campden, we will soon be driving slowly past by Broadway Tower. This striking folly sits on top of Beacon Hill and has an interesting story your driver guide will tell you all about!

Using the narrow backlanes, we then visit our “secret” Cotswolds village for around 30 minutes. This is an off-the-beaten-track location that many of our customers agree is the most beautiful village on the tour!

  • Stow-on-the-Wold Market Square - The highest town in the Cotswolds, Stow-on-the-Wold is a bustling, historic market town with plenty of good shopping, and a variety of excellent places to eat lunch (lunch not included). We stop here for around 1 hour and 15 minutes, and with the maps we provide, you can explore Stow’s highlights at your leisure.
  • Arlington Row - Using the narrow back lanes it’s approximately a 30-40 minute drive from Stow-on-the-Wold to Bibury. Bibury is a small but perfectly formed Cotswolds village, once described by William Morris as “the prettiest in England”. Join us on a tour to see if you agree!
  • Bourton-on-the-Water - After Bibury, it’s a stunning 30 minute drive to Bourton-on-the-Water, our last stop before returning our customers back to where they started. Described as the “Venice of the Cotswolds”, Bourton-on-the-Water is a picture-postcard village with Cotswolds stone bridges crossing the River Windrush that runs right through the centre of the village. It’s very popular with visitors, especially on a warm day when paddling in the river is the past-time of choice, but a tour of the Cotswolds wouldn’t be complete without a stop here.
  • Moreton-in-Marsh - For passengers who joined us at Moreton-in-Marsh, we return here to drop you off at approximately 5pm. If you are travelling from Moreton-in-Marsh by train, we always recommend that you purchase a flexible ticket that allows you to take any return train, and/or plan to depart after 17.00. We’ll then head back to Stratford-upon-Avon to drop off our final passengers at approximately 5.30pm. If you would like to start the tour at one pick up point and be dropped off at another, no problem! Just let us know when you request to book. We hope you had a wonderful day!
What's Included
  • Transport by minibus
  • Pickup from Stratford-upon-Avon town centre (9.00AM) or Moreton-in-Marsh rail station (9.30AM)
  • Local driver/guide
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Lunch
Additional Information

Award-winning guided small-group minibus tours of the Cotswolds from Moreton-in-Marsh or Stratford-upon-Avon.

Experience the Cotswolds with a local guide in a small and friendly group size of up to 16 people. We’ll explore picture-postcard Cotswold towns and villages including Chipping Campden, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bibury and Bourton-on-the-Water, as well as the stunning Dover’s Hill viewpoint and our “secret” off-the-beaten-track village, which many customers agree is a highlight of the tour!

Stratford-upon-Avon pick up is from Shakespeare’s Birthplace Coach Terminal - please arrive at 08.50 for 09.00 departure. If you’re travelling by train from Birmingham, then Stratford-upon-Avon train station is just a 5-10 minute walk from our pick up spot.

We then travel to Moreton-in-Marsh rail station to collect our final passengers. If you select pick up from Moreton-in-Marsh, please arrive at 09.30. There are direct trains to Moreton-in-Marsh from London, Reading, Oxford or Worcester.

  • Pick up in Stratford-upon-Avon is at 09.00; we will then travel to Moreton-in-Marsh rail station to collect the final passengers at 09.30
  • Sorry, no children under 3. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
  • Plenty of luggage space
  • Tour operates in all weather conditions – please dress appropriately. In poor weather, we may omit the stop at Dover’s Hill - it’s beautiful in lovely weather, but can get very muddy when it’s wet!
  • Please ensure you choose the correct pick up point. Occasionally, all guests for a particular tour request pick up from Stratford-upon-Avon, and in this case we will not go to Moreton-in-Marsh. Likewise, if all guests have requested pick up from Moreton-in-Marsh, we will not go to Stratford-upon-Avon. If the pick up point on your booking is incorrect, or you change your mind, please change it through your online account, or contact Go Cotswolds.
Location
Shakespeare's Birthplace Coach Terminal
Windsor Street
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(791 Ratings)
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906micaha
Sep 27, 2024
Fantastic experience - I did this tour Sep 27, 2024. The tour was everything I hoped for: Beautiful scenery, knowledgeable tour guide, tea and scones with clotted cream. Lots of great photo ops and I learned a lot too. Our guide, Steve, remembered all our names and was very thoughtful and funny. -Sarah
Review provided by Tripadvisor
643janiss
Sep 27, 2024
What a wonderful day tour! - What a wonderful day tour! As everyone knows by now if you do not have a car it is very difficult to get around the Cotswolds area. Well, even if you have a car you should leave the driving to them! Mark was such a great tour guide and so kind and patient with all of us. The towns on the itinerary are perfect and we enjoyed the whole day! It didn't hurt that the weather was pretty good for England :). (Just a little bit of rain and wind on the grassy hill). And in the busier towns he made sure we had time to explore. We felt the price was very reasonable especially being in a small van. Oh and at the end when Mark heard we were staying in a town that he was driving past to go back to Morton in Marsh he dropped us off so we wouldn't have to take a bus back. That was so kind. And we had had a difficult day the day before (lost luggage and unplanned train to London to get it) that an act of kindness was just what we needed! Thanks, again, you guys are great!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sandrafe8983yh
Sep 26, 2024
Marvelous adventure in the country! - Marvelous Martin was our guide. He was a history lesson on wheels. We learned so much about The Cotswolds and surrounding towns. He drove us safely in torrential rain for almost 8 hours! It was a terrific day and a highlight of our trip to the UK. If you get Martin, you’ll have a fantastic time! We highly recommend this tour!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Evvlabs
Sep 26, 2024
Fabulous Two Tours - Fabulous tour. Fabulous guide. Great way to do it with no worries about driving or parking. Very fun and informative. We did the Secret Cotswolds tour the next day and nothing was duplicated. Glad we did both. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Wayne_g
Sep 25, 2024
Day trip option for good overview of the Cotswalds. - Very enjoyable. We travelled to the Morton in Marsh by train and booked Cotswald Tours through Viator as a way of seeing more of this area. We are 77 years old and car travel was not an option. The day trip was perfect and we visited Snowshill, Stow, Bibury, Burton on Water and tower hill site along with other scenic outlooks. Just what we wanted and lots of camera stops. We would recommend this trip. On time and well organized.
Review provided by Viator
Westcoaster92067
Sep 24, 2024
Cotswold Steve is a great guide! - Very nice and informative tour. Took us to all the towns you need to see. Steve was a really good guide. Very friendly and helpful. We went on a rainy day and it was still amazing to see the very old Cotswolds. Plenty of time for shopping and sightseeing. The guide Steve is hysterical telling lots of great stories about people who live and have lived in the area. Go and book this you’ll be happy.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Randy_g
Sep 21, 2024
Great Tour - Got to see a lot of theCotswolds and Mark was a terrific guide. Great balance of riding and walking.
Review provided by Viator
701cyndik
Sep 19, 2024
Mark is the best - Mark was so great! We learned so much and had such a memorable time. If we had tried to visit these villages on our own in our rental car, we would’ve had a very stressful day. This tour relieved that stress and taught us so much more than we ever could’ve learned on our own
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Csamuel_w
Sep 19, 2024
A Day in the Cotswolds - Our tour was excellent. This was primarily due to Steve, our guide, who was most informative and most helpful.
Review provided by Viator
Elizabethwd5740nw
Sep 18, 2024
Fabulous, lots to see, learn and enjoy. Tour guide was outstanding! Well worth the investment! - The Cotswolds Tour was fantastic! Our Gide Martin was outstanding! He provided a lot of historical insight into all of the places we went! He had a great sense of humor and was very kind and flexible. He loves his job as evidenced by his overall attitude! We even saw him the following day at the train station and he took time to visit with us and another couple who took the tour! We strongly recommend the tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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1 Adult
September 2024
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