Classic English countryside, golden stone villages, unforgettable gardens and parks, and some really rewarding places to visit - often quite unexpected. We have also tracked down plenty of excellent places to stay in.

Villages of golden limestone, medieval churches enlarged or built in the medieval heyday of the wool industry, and fields divided by sturdy dry-stone walls are some of the characteristic features of the Cotswolds. A uniform harmony of textures and colours is the key to much of the Cotswolds' identity, but you'll also find a rich blend of history and sights, with a splendid array of manor houses and gardens - many showing the influence of members of the Arts and Crafts movement who "discovered" the area around 1900. It's the countryside above all which delights here - especially the rolling hills themselves, with their traditional dry stone-walled fields, occasional beechwoods, meandering streams, beautiful villages of warm golden-tinted stone picturesquely roofed in heavy stone slabs. Many villages have handsome medieval churches, and their cottages and houses don't hide away behind gardens and high walls, but tend to be right by the road. Often, there's a strip of daffodil-planted grass between pavement and road (the area is particularly attractive in spring), and sometimes a little stream. The one snag is that the Cotswolds tend to be expensive - particularly in the north. In the south are a clutch of fine Roman sites. The area can get crowded at weekends, but on weekdays out of season you will have much of it to yourself.

Each tour could be covered in a day if you don't stop to visit the many places we recommend. However, there is so much to see, with so many interesting places to visit, that you may prefer to stretch each tour over a long weekend or even a more leisurely week, so as to explore to the full. The areas covered are compact enough for you to return to any of our recommended places to stay, rejoining the tour the next day.