England

England/Scotland in early June was our 22nd VBT Tour. We had five days of riding in some rain. The tour before us and the one after had much better weather. When the skies cleared the scenery was quite nice and the small villages charming. All the hotels were in good locations. Due to the long hill climbs, this tour deserves the Moderate rating. If you are not a strong rider, get an e-bike. This is a new tour and there are some minor kinks that need to be worked out. The pre and post trips are very good.

Even though the weather was not ideal, it rained a couple days, the scenery was beautiful with lakes, mountains, rivers, stones fences and lots of sheep. Our guides were fantastic, upbeat and encouraging. Our accommodations were mostly top notch, especially the country inn in Keswick. I especially enjoyed the Roman ruins.

Splendid vacation, beautiful country, wonderful guides

We enjoyed a wonderful week of cycling through the Cotswolds across rolling countryside, past beautiful farmlands and pastures filled with grazing sheep, through charming villages and past stately manor houses. This was my first ebike experience and the hills warranted the pedal assist. I would rate this route as moderate as many on the climbs were quite challenging for those on a road bike. Queen Elizabeth had just passed, and our excellent and resourceful guides, Kate Edmond and Conor Murphy, rearranged our itinerary for the Queen’s national day of mourning, providing a delicious picnic on the banks of Bourton-on-the-Water. For afternoon tea break, we enjoyed the Queen’s favorite, Victoria sponge! Stops included Blenheim Palace, Hidcote Gardens, Bath Roman Baths, and sites of the filming of Downton Abbey and Harry Potter. Bookending the cycling trip with the pre-and post-trip option of Oxford and Bath is recommended.

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.

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.