England

Exceptional beauty, charming hotels, great food, outstanding guides! What more is there?

The scenery and landscapes of the lake District are stunning. But it is a hilly ride and everyone in the group was very grateful to have E bikes. The accommodations were exemplary, the food was delicious and the guides did a wonderful job. I would recommend this trip in a heartbeat.

Cotswolds are a beautiful place to bike, guides facilitated a great trip. Wish there were interactions with locals as we’ve had on other VBT trips. Hotels are beautiful but a local chain and the food is similar throughout.

Thoroughly enjoyed the tour leaders Lucy, Dan and Jago. They did a wonderful job of herding us around, anticipating and working within and outside of our schedule. Our fellow travelers were the best group we've had the fortune to meet. Good lodgings with character and spectacular food everyplace we ate. Loved the scenery and historic sites I got to visit. My only reason for fewer than 5 stars is that I would not rate this ride Easy/Moderate. It had more than just rolling hills and lots of traffic on narrow roads. I really appreciated that the leaders did modify our routes on the fly to help mitigate the traffic, and kept our bikes tuned in tip top shape.

What a fantastic trip this was. This was my 6th time going to England, but my first for the Cotswold region and what an extraordinary time it was. The food was fantastic, everywhere you looked the views were spectacular. It was fantastic trip which I would do again in a heart beat.

My husband and I did this self-guided tour in early September and absolutely loved it. Country Walkers did an impeccable job taking care of every detail--booking hotels, moving our suitcases between hotels, and, best of all, the "route notes" book was so detailed and had everything we needed from step-by-step directions and restaurant suggestions to history and ideas for things to do. It felt like a wonderful adventure following the famous paths through sheep pastures and little forest thickets, past gardens and ancient churches, and climbing over or around all the different gates. It was often overcast and misty in the mornings, but the mid-day sun burned it all away. Our highlights are choosing to stop for an hour to check out the Hailes Abbey Museum and rubbing elbows with some locals at the only pub in a tiny village. So many great memories! We liked the intimate experience of doing a self-guided trip and the independence (without the planning!) that it provided. We spent some extra days in London at the end of our trip...that was just icing on the cake.