Cotswolds: A guide to the wonderful English countryside

D’ambrosi Deli

Located in Stow-on-the-wold, D’ambrosi Deli offers restaurant quality, and we mean quality, food that can easily be taken on the go - the perfect lunch for a long walk or to come home to. Owned by husband and wife duo, Andrew D’Ambrosi and Interior Designer and Floral Stylist Jesse D’Ambrosi, D’aambrosi uses local sustainable produce to create a variety of delicious dishes anyone can enjoy. Whilst the food is notable, the store also houses handcrafted and bespoke D’ambrosi candles and bouquets or flowers for any occasion big or small. Safe to say the aromas that you’re greeted with when you enter are hard to believe!  A great place to eat and to buy some last minute travel gifts for your loved ones at home

The Lamb Shipton 

Located in Shipton Under Wychwood, the Lamb is a country pub with a modern twist, letting you feel comfortable in its ambiance whilst holding a sense of quality and upmarket charm. Offering a great selection of beer and wine, to accompany a delicious range of pub-classics, the Lamb really sets a bar for a good pub and quality pub food. A hearty, and quintessentially British menu, it has become a must-do amongst us here at August, and now hopefully you too! 

The Cellar

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Aptly named, The Cellar is a wine bar and shop based in Stow-on-the-wold, offering a huge range of wines that are all sustainably sourced with the classification of ‘Sustainable viticulture’. This essentially means that the vineyards produce the best wines they can without impacting the environment, with The Cellar adopting traditional methods to show maximum respect to the wine and environment that earthed it. Definitely worth a booking to try a selection of their wines and delicious snacks and small plates, it's the perfect opportunity to learn more about wine in general and the practices that are changing the industry to make it more sustainable. 

Hidcote National Trust

Nationally recognised, Hidcote national trust is a great way to get out and experience British horticulture. Influenced by the ‘arts and crafts movement’ the gardens are designed to feel ‘fenced in’ or cut off from the outside world, almost to act like a safe space away from reality. There are over 25 in the uk, and Hidcote is a great example of them - with different ‘rooms’ or sections designed for particular plants or landscape design; you can find a myriad of beautiful plants, water features and designs to help you soak in the atmosphere. It can be busy at the weekend, so we would recommend an early in the week visit just to truly get the most out of it. There is also a cafe with indoor and outdoor seating so you can stop off and have lunch before wandering around.  

Rollright stones

For those wanting to dip into British history, the Rollright Stones, are an ancient site located on the Oxfordshire and Warwickshire border in England comprising three different elements dating from completely different periods. The oldest, known as Whispering Knights doldem, is early neolithic circa 3,800-3,500 BC, followed by the Kings Men’s Stone circle, neolithic circa 2,500 BC and the King stone which is dated back to the early to middle bronze age, circa 1,500 bc. There are rumored to be 72 stones in the king's men circle, but legend dictates that ‘no-one shall live who counts the stones three times and finds the number the same’...

Cotswolds Distillery

The only full-scale working craft distillery within the cotswolds, the distillery is also a beautiful place to visit all year round. Established in 2014, it is one of the few distilleries that produces english whisky, along with award winning dry Gin including worlds best London dry gin at the 2016 World Gin awards. The distillery offers tasting tours along with cocktail and blending masterclasses, along with events throughout the year for people of all ages, so there will be sure to be something for everyone. 

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