Cotswolds Alternatives

There are many areas across the UK that would be ahead of the Cotswolds for me. I could suggest a number of areas but given the fact that you will be visiting Winchester and Portsmouth the two obvious areas would be the New Forest and the South Downs. Both are designated as National Parks, which is the level above National Landscape, which is the Cotswolds designation. Not my areas of expertise but here are the websites and I'm sure others will have more detailed suggestions.

https://www.southdowns.gov.uk

https://www.thenewforest.co.uk

I'd also suggest the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, along with Corfe Castle.

PharmerPhil, I posted this article in a thread late last year, which lists eight "quaint" villages that are not in the Cotswolds. So you might find one or more places you like on this list.

Chocolate-box heaven: 8 prettiest villages for day trips near London

Definitley think about Dorset or the New Forest area. There are loads of small and very attractive villages to discover (as well as the ponies in the New Forest). The names are wonderful too - Blanford Forum, Tolpuddle, Puddletown, Piddletrenhide, Droop, Maiden Newtown, Fifehead Magdalene....

I was going to suggest Dorset too. The Corfe Castle area is very attractive, as is Dorchester and Gold Hill; also Lulworth Cove. The gardens at the stately home at Stourhead are stunning on a nice day (the house itself is so-so, though).

Also if you're interested in WWII stuff, there is the tank museum at Bovington

On our last trip to the UK, I had an inclination to revisit the Cotswolds but we made it a small part of our trip between on the way to Bath, Cornwall and Wales. For me it was nice to get a taste of it because I had loved it when we did a walking tour. You could do something like stay in Bourton on the Water and walk to the Slaughters or take a day in Stow on the Wold and then move on to your next location.

PharmerPhil, if you don't already, I recommend subscribing to Britain and/or Discover Britain magazines. You can get a subscription from the U.S. or at least sign up for their email newsletters. Each issue tends to have a region, village, small town, or estate that wasn't necessarily on my radar. Good for travel ideas.

Thanks everyone for your replies. Keep 'em coming! Leaning towards South Downs area as that brings me closer to Portsmouth and Winchester (and possibly a stop at Chartwell en route—WWII history is a primary focus of much of my travel). But still open to more suggestions. One thing I like about the Cotswolds is the relatively close proximity of several quaint villages that are easy to move between. Does this area meet that goal?

I'm by no means an expert on this, but we've been to Petworth (South Downs) a couple of times, including a few weeks ago, and loved it. You can take the train to Pulborough and a bus from there and it's an easy day trip from London. Lots of antique shops and Petworth House.

Not a village but a town, but absolutely beautiful is Rye - again we were there a few weeks ago and it's incredible.

I'll offer a route from Winchester to Southwick on the outskirts of Portsmouth. Southwick is a pretty little village full of thatched cottages and was the home for Montgomery and Eisenhower whilst they planned the D-Day operation.

From Winchester take the A31 and then B3046 to Cheriton and then on to Bramdean and West Meon. From West Meon head to Warnford where you'll pass a nice pub, www.thethomaslord.co.uk. From West Meon move on to Exton where you'll find one of my favourite country pubs for dining, www.theshoeexton.co.uk. If you're looking to visit for a meal on the weekend then booking is essential. From Exton drive through Corhampton, Meonstoke, Brockbridge and on to Hambledon. Hambledon is the birthplace of cricket and the Bat and Ball pub overlooks the pitch where it all started, www.batandballclanfield.co.uk. There's also Hambledon Vineyard, the birthplace of British wine and which produces some award winning wines, they offer tours and tasting as well as having a nice restaurant, www.hambledonvineyard.co.uk. From Hambledon head towards Denmead and take the Bunkers Hill road to Southwick. You can stop off at The Golden Lion which was the unofficial officers mess during the D-Day planning and somewhere where I also recommend the food, https://goldenlionsouthwick.co.uk.

Southwick House can be toured however only by appointment as the house and grounds now form the Defence School of Policing and Guarding. For more military stuff I can recommend the Royal Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson a short drive from Southwick. It's free to enter and has a wealth of military hardware on display as well as tunnels and ramparts to explore in the Victorian fort, https://royalarmouries.org/fort-nelson. Fort Nelson is located on Portsdown Hill which provides a fantastic view overlooking the city of Portsmouth. There are several Victorian forts along Portsdown Hill and they were termed Palmerston's Follies (full story here: https://www.hgs-familyhistory.com/2013/01/palmerstons-folly/) all of which played a part in the D-Day operations.

If you are going to Chartwell, the nearby Weald of Kent is quite attractive. Tenterden is a pretty, small town and from there a small, preservation steam railway chugs slowly to Bodiam where there are the ruins of a medieval castle that looks like something from a fairy tale (probably because it was built for show and not for defence).

If you go to the south Kent/East Sussex coast the most attractive town would be Rye and East Dean (east of Eastbourne) is an attractive village. Much of the coastal towns and villages aren't that attractive to my mind though.

I would look at Hampshire (for Winchester and Portsmouth) and then Dorset. Plenty of small villages in the latter, such as Milton Abbas, Cerne Abbas, Abbotsbury, Corfe Castle, Sydling St Nicholas, Burton Bradstock and many more. You also have wonderful coastline.

With your WW2 sites I would add Tyneham village. This was evacuated in 1943 so that the D-Day landings could be practiced. The villagers never returned. The school room and church still stand. Check opening times as the are is still used by the army. You will also need a car to get there.

In Dorchester there is an excellent military museum - called the Keep. However it is closed this year for repair work but should reopen next year. There is an entire floor devoted to WW2 including Hitler's desk from the Berlin bunker.

There are a lot of good suggestions here. I will just mention that Chartwell can actually be visited relatively easily as a day trip from London- in fact London buses run directly to the house on Sundays.

If you like vintage trains, in addition to the one in Tenterden mentioned above (which I personally really enjoyed) there is also the Watercress line, which goes close to Winchester.

I also love the New Forest, also suggested by a few others here- lots of quaint villages that are easy to get between. We had a very nice weekend in Lyndhurst a few years ago which is one of the main towns, and you can do quite a few walks from there. There's also the Beaulieu Motor Museum if you're interested in cars.