I would love some guidance for Cotswolds

I figured that on the way home from Blenheim we could stop off and see the small churches and villages of Bampton, Minster Lovell, Asthall, Swinbrook, Widford and stop in Burford for dinner. They are all on the way and close together. Then, if we are tired we will just stop where we want.

You won't find many thatched cottages in the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds are composed of limestone & as a result, in olden days, they simply made the buildings out of the local stone. Even the roofs are made of thin slabs of limestone. However, you will find some of the cottages are thatched in Great Tew.

Near to Stanton is Stanway Manor which I think you should like. Check the opening times as they are rather restricted. They also have a gravity fed fountain that they 'fire' at certain times. http://www.stanwayfountain.co.uk

You might also wish to add Snowshill to the list. This is a small village on a back road SW of Broadway. It also has a Manor:>
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/snowshill-manor/

Painswick is a bit out of the way from the main cluster of scenic villages and has a main road running through it. You may therefore wish to give it a miss if pushed for time.

You might also like to consider driving NE to Stratford-upon-Avon.http://www.visitstratforduponavon.co.uk

If you take the road from Chipping Campden to Broad Campden to Blockley you will see some very picturesque thatched cottages. It is only a few miles but very nice.

OK, thank you for the help. I definitely want to see those cute houses as part of our Cotswold experience.

You will likely see plenty of thatched houses as they crop up here and there. A note on Bibury...it is on the southern edge of the Cotswolds and a bit out of the way. We saw it on our way to Bath. It is basically one street and the tour buses will be there. I would spend more time in Bourton-on-the-Water or the Slaughters. Chipping Campden wasn't our favorite town, probably because of taller stone buildings that seemed to loom. We stayed near Stow and it was a nice little town. I'm glad you're going to Blenheim Palace as it is very special. We also enjoyed Hidcote Gardens (although had a hard time finding it via GPS) very much and Snowshill House. We based all of our sights in England by whether they were National Trust or Historic Houses admission (hha.org). Both of these were well worth the purchase price for us. A wonderful place to eat off the beaten path is the Horse and Groom Village Inn in Upper Oddington. Very picturesque/atmospheric inside and the food was wonderful. It falls into the genre of a gastropub.

Thank you Kay, that is very helpful! I need to narrow what we intend to see.