For the first time ever my partner and I decided to travel with his dog to the Cotswolds, South West England. It was Benji (the beautiful Japanese Akita’s) first holiday so we wanted to make it extra special. We chose to visit the Cotswolds because we were blown away by its picturesque villages when we drove though it a few years before to attend an event.
Planning The Trip:
Planning our trip to the Cotwolds was slightly more labour intensive as we had to cater to Benji’s needs.
Benji’s criteria included:
Searching for hotels that allowed dogs to stay, and how much their price per night was for dogs.
We had to triple check that they catered for large breed dogs – we came across one or two hotels that said their rooms would not be suitable for us.
The hotel needed to be on a quiet road in case Benji managed to escape and run out.
Knowing what the hotel policies were surrounding having a dog.
Finding out if there was an eating area we could bring him. With it being his first time away we didn’t want to leave him on his own at any point.
We narrowed the hotels down to around 3 suitable for our needs. In the end, we decided to go for a converted Georgian house on the outskirts of Upton St Leonards.
Where we visited:
Upton St Leonards: This village is very small and quiet, which was perfect for us! It is more a residential area than a tourist area as there is not much to see or do apart from finding a lovely spot and enjoying the rolling hills.
Exploring the Cotswolds on foot:
We decided to spend one of our days exploring the footpaths, our hotel gave us a “recommended” route we should take. Up to this point I still don’t know who would have recommended that route, it was terrible! Well maybe terrible is a bit dramatic but it was not clear at all! The route should have taken us around 2 hours max… 5 hours later we found our way back to the hotel thanks to google maps and a few helpful locals.
The hotel also forgot to mention that the walk would not be suitable for a large dog as there were SO many gates and fences we had to maneuver past.
Once we were back and our aching feet were up, we started to find the humor in our failed attempts at walking through the countryside (can you tell we are both city slickers yet?). From falling over, getting lost, running from horses, and getting shocked by an electric fence, it’s easy to say we have a lot to learn about country walks. We did find a lovely woodland which was a lot easier for us to keep our bearings whilst walking Benji.
Bourton-on-the-Water: I cannot find the words to describe how beautiful this village is! It is clear to see why it is regularly voted one of the prettiest villages in England. The river Windrush slowly flows through the centre of the village surrounded by super cute bridges, restaurants, and tea rooms. Most of the food establishments allowed dogs in – this is practically unheard of in London! It did get quite busy whilst we were there so I would recommend heading there early if you are looking to take that postcard shot. We completely and utterly fell in love with this village and are even considering moving there in the next few years.
Bibury – We heard a lot about Bibury so it was top on our list for villages to visit. Bibury has less to do for tourists compared to Bourton-on-the-Water.. There is only a handful of places available to eat or drink. The buildings and landscape in Bibury are truly beautiful. The quaint cottages line up against the river bank and up narrow pathways. The village looks like a picture taken from a fudge box.
Painswick: We were pleasantly impressed with Painswick , we decided to go visit because it was close to our hotel. After all of our exploring we were super hungry and in desperate need of food! Unfortunately, it was Easter Sunday evening when we visited so everything was closed when we got there. On the positive side, because everything was closed it meant the village was quiet. It gave us the opportunity to wonder around without being bumped and rushed. My favorite thing about Painswick is every so often you will find a board explaining what that particular area used to look like. My partner is a history buff and we ended up searching for these boards to find out more.
For more on my travels, check out www.theworkingbackpacker.com