Go Here: the British Countryside

High and Low - from adults only to full on family

Time in the British countryside moves at a languid pace that go-getters might find challenging, but it suits me just fine. I return because the sweet, simple comforts it offers — bird song, rolling hills, scattered villages, dense foliage, wildflowers, grazing sheep, and country pubs — deliver relaxation I’m hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

Over the summer we rented Fairgreen Farm Guesthouse, where we practiced our best country living. It was ten glorious days of reading books, taking long baths, exploring local attractions, cooking, quaffing cold lager, and tucking in for Sunday roast at the pub. We rented a car and maneuvered the one-track roads that connect the small villages of the Cotswolds as best we could. We went to a proper British circus. On the way out we had a three-night stay at the newly opened Estelle Manor.

In previous years we’ve stayed at various country hotels. We’ve gone high-end and luxe (usually grand manor houses converted to hotels) and enjoyed laid back and simple (often a great pub in the country with rooms upstairs.) Having grown up on a large farm in Kentucky, I’m inclined to enjoy these rural British boltholes just as much as a seaside perch in Italy.

Here are a two options (at different ends of the spectrum) if the same kind of stay appeals to you: