Bourton-on-the-Water is one of the most famous villages in the Cotswolds, and understandably so. Its stone bridges, River Windrush and handsome buildings make it an obvious stop for a first visit, but it is also one of the places almost everybody knows before they arrive.
After years of touring throughout the Cotswolds, some of the villages we love most are the ones that receive a fraction of Bourton’s visitors. They may have no souvenir shops and sometimes very little to “do” in the traditional sightseeing sense, yet that is often precisely their appeal. These are places to wander through slowly, notice the architecture, walk beside a stream, visit an old church or simply appreciate what an everyday Cotswold village still feels like.
If you are planning a private Cotswolds tour, these are 20 places we think deserve far more attention.
Set around a small village green in the upper Windrush Valley, Guiting Power has everything we want from a quieter Cotswold village: beautiful stone buildings, countryside immediately beyond the houses and a strong sense that this is still a real community rather than somewhere created for visitors. It also has excellent walking country surrounding it.
Why we love it: Guiting Power has enough life to make it interesting without ever feeling overly commercial. It works particularly well as part of a route through the smaller villages between Stow-on-the-Wold, Winchcombe and the northern Cotswolds.
Naunton sits quietly in the Windrush Valley and is one of those villages many visitors pass close to without ever realising it is there. Its cottages climb gently around the valley, while the river and surrounding countryside give it a completely different feel from the busier market towns.
Why we love it: There is no pressure to “see” Naunton in a particular way. A short wander, a countryside view and the feeling of having discovered somewhere yourself are really the attraction.
Close to Burford yet worlds away from its busy High Street, Taynton is a small village of stone cottages, mature trees and narrow lanes surrounded by countryside.
Why we love it: Taynton is the sort of place we can introduce during a tour when guests tell us they want to see the Cotswolds beyond the guidebooks. It may only be a short stop or scenic drive-through, but it adds a sense of rural Cotswold life that a day made entirely from famous villages can miss.
Asthall lies close to the River Windrush near Burford, with a wonderful collection of historic stone buildings and a peaceful rural setting. It is small enough that you do not need a great deal of time, which makes it easy to combine with several nearby villages.
Why we love it: Asthall feels understated and beautifully settled into the landscape. It is particularly rewarding when combined with Swinbrook and Taynton rather than simply driving straight into Burford.
Swinbrook is one of our favourite villages in this part of the Cotswolds, with the River Windrush running through the valley and beautiful stone houses scattered around it.
Why we love it: The combination of water, countryside and traditional architecture gives Swinbrook an atmosphere that is difficult to manufacture. It is small, elegant and wonderfully positioned for a country drive through the Windrush Valley.
If someone asked us to show them a beautiful Cotswold village without the shops and crowds of the best-known destinations, Stanton would be very high on our list.
The village sits beneath the Cotswold escarpment and has an almost uninterrupted collection of traditional stone cottages, with views opening into the countryside beyond.
Why we love it: Stanton feels remarkably complete. There is no major attraction drawing people here, which means the village itself remains the reason to visit. We often think it is every bit as beautiful as places far more famous.
Snowshill occupies a wonderful position above the surrounding countryside and is especially memorable as you approach through the hills. The small centre around the church is quintessentially Cotswold, while nearby Snowshill Manor gives visitors another reason to explore this corner of the region.
Why we love it: The setting is as important as the village itself. Snowshill works beautifully as part of a route between Broadway and Chipping Campden, particularly when we take the slower country roads.
Blockley feels quite different from many North Cotswold villages because it tumbles down the sides of a wooded valley rather than sitting along a broad High Street. Its steep lanes, stone cottages and historic mill buildings give it a distinctive character, and its church and village have become familiar to viewers of Father Brown.
Why we love it: Blockley has layers. There are views, little lanes, a village green, a café and enough history to justify spending some time here, while it still feels far more residential and authentic than many of the Cotswolds’ headline destinations.
Lower Slaughter is hardly unknown, but we would still choose it over Bourton-on-the-Water for many visitors. The River Eye passes beside the cottages, small bridges cross the water and the old mill provides one of the area’s most recognisable views.
Why we love it: Visit at the right time and Lower Slaughter is exceptionally peaceful. Better still, it can be combined with a walk to Upper Slaughter rather than experienced only from a vehicle.
Batsford is less a conventional sightseeing village and more a tiny corner of the North Cotswolds that feels wrapped into the surrounding estate and countryside. Nearby Batsford Arboretum also makes this particularly worthwhile for guests who enjoy trees, gardens and seasonal colour.
Why we love it: This is the Cotswolds on a smaller scale. We like incorporating places such as Batsford because they provide contrast to the major villages and work naturally with Moreton-in-Marsh, Blockley and Bourton-on-the-Hill.
Just upstream from Lower Slaughter, Upper Slaughter is quieter and smaller, centred around the river, historic houses and church.
Why we love it: If Lower Slaughter is beautiful, Upper Slaughter feels even more removed from tourism. Walking between the two is one of the simplest ways to experience the Cotswold countryside without committing to a long hike, and it can easily form part of our Cotswolds walking and private touring.
Longborough sits above the Evenlode Valley between Moreton-in-Marsh and Stow-on-the-Wold. It remains largely residential, with a church, village shop and lovely views, while unusually for a village of its size it is also home to the Longborough Festival Opera.
Why we love it: Longborough is a perfect example of somewhere that does not need a major tourist attraction to merit a visit. It feels lived-in, attractive and genuinely local, while sitting conveniently between several much better-known destinations.
Only a short distance from Chipping Campden, Broad Campden is dramatically quieter. Thatched cottages sit alongside the familiar honey-coloured stone, and the village has interesting connections with the Arts and Crafts movement as well as a rare 17th-century Friends Meeting House.
Why we love it: Broad Campden demonstrates how quickly the Cotswolds can change. Within minutes of leaving one of its most celebrated towns, you can find yourself somewhere peaceful enough to hear little more than birds and footsteps.
The Coln Valley is not a single village, which is precisely why we have included it. The small settlements scattered along the River Coln offer some of the prettiest country driving in the Cotswolds, with stone cottages, water meadows, churches and narrow lanes following the valley.
Why we love it: This area encourages exploration rather than box-ticking. Instead of arriving at one famous landmark, we can move slowly through a succession of small villages and countryside, stopping when somewhere particularly appeals.
For guests who tell us they want to see the “real Cotswolds,” this is often much closer to what they have in mind.
Tucked beneath the hills not far from Broadway, Buckland is easily missed by visitors concentrating on the major northern villages. Its church, manor, stone cottages and surrounding countryside create a lovely little pocket of traditional Cotswold architecture.
Why we love it: Buckland makes sense geographically. You can include it without sacrificing half the day to reach it, and it adds another quieter layer to a route through Broadway, Stanton and the villages beneath the escarpment.
Broadwell sits just outside Stow-on-the-Wold but has an entirely different atmosphere. Its broad village green, stream, cottages and traditional village layout make it feel much more relaxed than its famous neighbour.
Why we love it: The contrast with Stow is part of Broadwell’s appeal. Within a few minutes you can move from a busy market town into a village that feels calm and distinctly local.
Upper and Lower Oddington sit close together east of Stow-on-the-Wold and are best experienced as part of the same countryside route.
These are not villages to visit because there is a long checklist of attractions. Their appeal lies in handsome houses, rural lanes, old churches and the surrounding landscape, together with the feeling of exploring a part of the Cotswolds that many day visitors never see.
Why we love them: The Oddingtons provide exactly the sort of experience private touring should make possible. Rather than continually driving from one famous landmark to another, we can use these smaller villages to connect the day and show guests what lies between the headline destinations.
Kingham is better known than some villages on this list, but it still retains a strong village identity. The broad green, handsome cottages and surrounding Oxfordshire countryside make it an appealing place to spend time rather than simply photograph and leave.
Why we love it: Kingham combines beauty with genuine village life. It is also an excellent area for food and countryside, making it especially useful when building a more leisurely Cotswolds itinerary around a good lunch rather than a long list of sightseeing stops.
Adlestrop is tiny, peaceful and forever associated with Edward Thomas’s famous poem of the same name. The railway station that inspired the poem has long since disappeared, but the village retains a wonderfully quiet, almost timeless quality.
Why we love it: Adlestrop proves that a memorable stop does not have to be grand. For guests who enjoy literature, history or simply beautiful English countryside, there is something particularly evocative about being here.
Not to be confused with Bourton-on-the-Water, Bourton-on-the-Hill climbs steeply above the countryside near Moreton-in-Marsh and offers superb views across the valley. The village has handsome Cotswold stone buildings and sits close to Bourton House Garden, Sezincote and Batsford Arboretum.
Why we love it: Bourton-on-the-Hill has character partly because of its topography. Rather than being flat and arranged for easy sightseeing, it rises through the landscape, revealing different views as you travel through it.
In many cases, yes, although that does not mean we think you should avoid Bourton-on-the-Water.
For a first visit, Bourton is worth seeing, particularly early in the morning or outside the busiest periods. However, the Cotswolds covers almost 800 square miles, and some of its greatest charm lies beyond the places that appear on every standard itinerary.
If you have only one day, we would much rather show you a thoughtful mixture of the famous and the less familiar than spend the entire tour pursuing the most photographed villages. Chipping Campden or Broadway might be followed by Stanton and Snowshill; Stow-on-the-Wold could lead into Broadwell, the Oddingtons and Adlestrop; Burford might be combined with Swinbrook, Asthall and Taynton.
That approach also reduces unnecessary driving and allows the day to respond to crowds, weather and what you are actually enjoying.
Our Famous Cotswolds Tour is private and adaptable for exactly this reason. The Cotswolds Tourism Partnership itself encourages visitors to look beyond famous northern destinations such as Broadway and Bourton-on-the-Water towards smaller places including Bourton-on-the-Hill and Naunton.
The best Cotswolds itinerary is rarely the one containing the most famous names. It is the one that allows you enough time to understand why these villages are so special in the first place.
Yes. Bourton-on-the-Water is attractive and absolutely worth seeing on a first trip, but it can also be one of the busiest villages in the Cotswolds. We often combine a short visit with quieter villages nearby rather than making it the focus of the entire day.
Stanton, Snowshill, Naunton, Guiting Power, Broadwell, Broad Campden and the Oddingtons are among our favourites for visitors looking for beautiful villages with fewer crowds. The best choices depend on where you are staying so that the route remains geographically sensible.
Many smaller villages without major attractions remain considerably quieter than Bourton-on-the-Water, Bibury or Stow-on-the-Wold. Taynton, Asthall, Swinbrook, Adlestrop, Broadwell and Longborough are good examples of places that still feel predominantly residential.
It is considerably harder. Many small villages have limited public transport and no railway station, so a car, private driver or walking route gives visitors much greater freedom to explore beyond the major towns.
Geography matters more than trying to choose the “best” villages. Stanton, Snowshill and Broadway work naturally together; Blockley, Broad Campden and Chipping Campden make another good combination; while Swinbrook, Asthall and Taynton can be explored together around the Windrush Valley.
Not necessarily; they simply offer a different experience. Famous places such as Broadway, Chipping Campden and Bourton-on-the-Water became popular for good reason, but smaller villages can provide more tranquillity, fewer crowds and a stronger sense of everyday rural life.
Yes, and this is often the approach we recommend. Our private Cotswolds tours can combine major sights with smaller villages according to your interests, starting point, season and the conditions on the day.