Cotswold return

A lot of tourist information offices have closed or are open limited hours. With the advent of the internet, booking in advance - even only a few days in advance - is so easy, that I don’t think many TIs even offer this service anymore in person. However you should be able to find tourist information websites for various towns/regions which will have links to hotels and B&Bs - and will often have links to the smaller ones that you’re looking for. Booking.com is the other go-to.

Additionally the first week of September is a hugely popular time to visit the Cotswolds - the first week after the school holidays have finished, weather still good - perfect for childless people (or those whose kids are grown up) to head off on holiday.

So: you will absolutely need to book in advance.

And I think the Cotswolds has grown in popularity and gone considerably upmarket as a destination (Rick Steves must shoulder some responsibility for making it a must-visit for Americans) so be prepared for everything being a bit more expensive and luxurious than before. You’ve mentioned some of the most popular and heavily touristed towns and villages.

I’ll leave others to recommend specific hotels, but I just wanted to sound a note of warning: book accommodation in advance and expect it to be expensive. And busy. On the other hand, beans are a fairly common component of a full English breakfast so that shouldn’t be an issue.

These days in the Cotswolds, you are likely to find a Nespresso coffee machine in your en suite bedroom or suite than basic accommodation with a shared WC! Prices in the Cotswolds are high and judging by the number of visitors on this forum that head there, it must be full of Americans.

Everybody serving breakfast will include baked beans (I can’t stand them!).

You are travelling at a time when many schools haven’t returned, so places are going to be busy. Book asap online. The days of calling in at a TI office and booking something for that evening are unfortunately long gone. Booking.com is the best place to look. For something upmarket, I also look at Sawdays.co.uk.

The Cotswolds covers a huge area - you could also consider somewhere such as Minster Lovell (handy for Oxford, Blenheim and Burford) or Winchcombe (a great days out would be Cheltenham and a trip on the nearby heritage GWSR railway). Accommodation maybe easier to find here at this late stage.

$12 or £12 is a thing of the past, but there are still plenty of B&Bs out there.

For the splurgey bit of the trip, have you considered Lords of the Manor near Upper Slaughter? 'taint cheap, but they can open the eyes of your lad. I've never stayed there but my parents lived just down the road. I've never heard anything negative about them. They are in a lovely location.

https://www.lordsofthemanor.com/

We stayed in Chipping Campden at the Volunteer Inn and it was great. Spacious rooms, private bathroom. Great pub and Indian Restaurant. Reasonable rates

Thanks for the posts and advice. Off the beaten track seems to be a common thread in early September... With my son's interests in mind, now considering a polo match at Cirencester Park (with strawberries & cream at the club restaurant for me!) Has anyone experienced attending a polo match, or maybe cricket, rugby? Certainly, not avoiding crowds here, but what would be more British!
Mom looking for options

If you can get tix to the polo match do it!

Also easy way to find a BnB is to use AirBnB or Vrbo websites.

Another way to discover “ sport matches, “ boot sales,” “music programs,” et al, is to read church bulletin boards.

As far as a manor house stay try booking.com or simply research Manor House accommodations Cotswolds to start. Or try this website:

https://www.thehotelguru.com/en-us/best-hotels/united-kingdom/the-cotswolds-best-country-house-hotels

There is nothing more English on a lovely afternoon (and early September should provide a few) than watching a game of village cricket with gentle ripples of applause from the small bunch of onlookers.

This link should help. http://www.lovingthecotswolds.com/clubs/sport/cricket

I don’t know anybody that has ever been to a polo match. Cricket or rugby is more traditional.

When exactly are you visiting? Your dates may not tie into any fixtures, as it’s getting to end of the cricket season and the start of the rugby season. From the Cotswolds, Bath is the obvious rugby location.

There is local league cricket in the Cotswolds at the weekend in places such as Chipping Campden.

Found a "fixture" at the Cheltenham Cricket Club for a 1:30 p.m. match. If going there, are there other places of interest we should take in? Could possibly head over to Gloucester... Has anyone tried bell ringing?
Mom with too many choices!

If it's a rugby match you want to see, Gloucester has a professional club which plays both nationally and internationally. It might be more convenient than Bath, but you will need to check the dates when they are playing at home (Kingsholm for Gloucester; the Recreation Ground for Bath. Rugby is a popular sport in this area, and you will find amateur teams in many towns.

If you are looking for more historic sites, consider Chedworth Roman Villa, the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, and the Roman ampitheatre to the south of Cirencester. Also, large houses such as Sezincote, the house and fountain at Stanway, Hales Abbey and the steam railway between Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse via Winchcombe. These are less of tourist hotspots.

Bob, Would you know...
If taking the GWRS out of Cheltenham, would we get more out of the experience if debarking at one of the stations for a look-see vs traveling to the end of the line (Broadway) only to turn around to make the cricket game at 1:30 p.m.? Stops include Gotherington, Winchcombe, & Toddington. To put another way: Are there legs of the train trip with views that we don't want to miss?

Mom with more questions

I miss the TIC ‘Book A Bed Ahead’ service! I guess it’s something else that has fallen victim to the interwebs. Although it did provide me with the duffest accommodation I think I’ve ever been in, The Druid Motel at Amesbury. Don’t worry, I won’t get sued as, coincidentally, the last time I drove through Amesbury (many moons ago) I noted, with a certain grim satisfaction, that it was in the process of being demolished. It was an aberrant blip in what otherwise was a really good service.

Ian

Re Warwickshire and Gloucestershire Railway
There is also a request halt at Hayles Abbey, the stop for the ruins of Hailes Abbey. Only the diesel railcar services stop there
A just over a mile from Toddington is Stanway House which claims to have the second highest gravity fed fountain in the world, but it only operated at limited times
See www.stanwayfountain.co.uk

We went to a polo match years ago, Princess Charles was playing. We ended up getting one of the balls.

Cheltenham is a wonderful place that gets few mentions on this forum as luckily RS mustn’t have included it in a book. Meander round the charming Montpellier area, a Georgian delight. You can easily fill a day looking at Regency buildings such as the Pitville Pump Room. Give me Cheltenham rather than Bath any day.

I spent a whole day on the GWSR. Half a day may not do it justice. There are steam and diesel trains. There are several options for stops. A day ticket permits you to get on and off at whichever station you want. The station at Winchcombe gives details of the line’s history in an old train carriage. There’s a vintage cafe on the platform. The lovely village of Winchcombe is about a mile from the station.

At Toddington, there is a demonstration signal box and you can tour the yard plus there’s a cafe. There’s not much to see in Toddington itself, but you could spend an hour at the station looking at the exhibits. At Broadway, it’s a 20 minute walk into the village, a typical busy Cotswolds place (full of tourists, cafes and interior design shops) - can you tell I’m not a Broadway fan? It’s a bit too Disneyfied for me.

We were held at Winchcombe for 20 minutes as the steam train embers had caused a small line side fire down the line which they had to extinguish.

Re Toddington Station
There a pub just down the road, the Pheasant Inn, selling local Donnington brewery beers

You will need to check the railway timetables, which vary with the day of the week and the month of the year, and I am not sure where you will be spending overnight, but I don't think it would be easy to do the two things in a day. The station at Cheltenham Racecourse is quite a way from the cricket ground, and a difficult journey unless you had the car with you. I don't go through Cheltenham often now, but the traffic can be bad, and the route confusing. It is not something I would advise, but it could be possible. How much of the cricket match do you want to see? The length of a match can be variable, depending on how well matched the teams are.

Now that's a good question... How long is a cricket match? We will be driving, coming from Stow-in-the-Wold and parking at the Cheltenham Racecourse station to catch the first train (steam) at 10 a.m. There's a half-line ticket that'll take us to Winchcombe and back The first return (steam) allows us 1.3 hrs in town, arriving Cheltenham at 12.10; the next train (diesel) giving us over 2.5 hrs in town, arriving Cheltenham at 1:35 p.m.

My visit to Cheltenham in the 80s was a wet one... After checking into Mr Knowles B & B ($12), my first stop was to the local laundromat to throw all my clothes (including shoes) into a dryer. I'm hoping for a sunnier experience this go around. Of course, it's the people I had met at the B & B that I remember the most vividly... the Watsons from Derby on holiday with their caravan. Mr. Watson, like I, was in the banking industry. How I envied his bankers hours & holidays!
Are there other "must sees" in/near Cheltenham?

Down to my last bit of planning... From Cheltenham, have Saturday evening and all day Sunday to explore before a 8 a.m. Monday morning flight from Heathrow. What in-between is a must-see/do? Thinking of a unique overnight stay on Saturday and castle or manor house tour on Sunday; Sunday night's accommodations in close proximity to the airport.
Initial thoughts - to spend Saturday night near a place like Blenheim Palace/Oxford; Saturday head south to Windsor or Highclere
Thanks for your suggestions!
Mom on a mission to finalize plans

If your flight from Heathrow is at 8!! am I'd suggest staying at the airport the night before. You'll be at the airport no later than 5 am. Any distance away at all will be stressful, and how many non-airport hotels serve breakfast at 4am?

Which terminal at Heathrow? Of course you'll drop your car before Sunday night?

So many things to suggest in and around Cheltenham. Cleeve Hill is obvious - because it is obvious. My uncle used to have Cleeve Hill as his home golf course - huge bunkers, lots of sheep, and the wind, oh the wind. Quite similar to a Scottish links in some ways. There are walking paths up there, and the views spectacular.

Winchcombe, and what is around there.

Prestbury, under the hill, and coincidentally where many of my family are buried, is a lovely little village, somewhat poshified since I lived there.

Pittville pump room (in Pittville Park) for the waters. https://www.pittvillepumproom.org.uk/whats-on-2/

I agree that the one-way road layout, installed probably 50 years ago now, must have been the result of a man's bad dream. It is and always has been awful. Not as bad as Bristol, but still awful.

There are walks around Cheltenham to see the Regency buildings.

But do remember that Cheltenham is a busy major town, and not a cute chocolate box village. A very nice one, but a busy one.