Stow-on-the-Wold
Stow-on-the-Wold Gloucestershire
This classic town is one of the Cotswolds’ hubs, awash with places to eat – whether you're after a quick pub lunch, a sedate afternoon tea or posh evening dining – shops to browse (antiques are a speciality) and quaint architecture in marvellous mellow Cotswold stone. Unlike some of the other small towns in the area, it manages also to convey a real sense of being lived-in, not just visited. There’s a smallish out-of-town Tesco, for example, which also serves as the main carpark for visitors. Its situation at the convergence of a number of major local roads, including the Fosse Way, hints at its importance as a trading post for nearly 800 years. Watch out for the annual horse fair if you’re around in August. Access is difficult unless you’re in a car – there are stations at Kingham (five miles away) and Moreton-in-Marsh (four miles), which are both on the Cotswold Line from Hereford to Paddington, and there are local and regional buses at various times of the day.
