Extinguishing the arc along the outskirts of London, the M-25 ring route passes, behind which, forming the outskirts of the English capital, there are internal counties that are the heart of old, good England. Behind the web suburbs, however, there is something to see. Northwestern internal counties such as Berkshire (Burkshire), Buckinghamshire (Hertfordshire) and Hartfordshire (Hertfordshire) are the most attractive, located in the midst of the picturesque Chiltern Hills (Chiltern Hills), which are a lane of chalk hills, whose forest crop swarming rises above the town of Luton Next to the route M-1, and, extending further to the southwest, disappear by the River Thames near the edge of the fin.
The hills are an excellent frame for houses of metropolitan rich houses located here, however, for a regular visitor, the most obvious goal of the visit is Henley-On-Thames (Henley-On-Thames) - Charming old CityoK, famous for his regatta and offering a traveler a wide selection of hotels for accommodation. Henley is also an excellent base for further surroundings. Linders among the surrounding settlements of the village of Kukham (Cookham) with its famous Gallery Stanley Spencer, however, the town of Reading (Reading) is also of a certain interest as a place of two most prestigious music festivals in Europe.
Chiltern hills crosses Ridgeway (Ridgeway) - an old tract that exists with prehistoric times. He turned into our time in tourist trail national scale that provides an excellent opportunity for long-term hiking walksAlthough its most interesting part stretches further to the West on the bridge through the Thames on the chalk hills (the downs), cutting from two sides the border between Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Here Rijuway passes through the whole chain of prehistoric, most unusual of which is a giant chalk horse, which gave the name of the White Horse Valley (The Vale of White Horse).
The valley is littered with charming small villages, and you can stay in Woolstone, and in a more plain affington (Uffington), but both of these villages are unable to argue with the university city of Oxford (OXFORD) with his wonderful architecture, museums and energetic student population. Acquaintance with the city can delay for several days. In this area, it is considered a "nail" of the program and is also located near Woodstock (Woodstock) - a small attractive town adjacent to one of the most famous country palace complexes (Blenheim Palace).
Northeast Oxford at a considerable distance from Chiltern Hills stretch the plain landscapes of Northern Buckinghamshire. Although the modest Buckingham (Buckingham) is a fairly pleasant place, which is also close enough to (Stowe Gardens), in which there is a remarkable collection of sculptures, monuments and other "artistic" victims. If you go east of Buckingham, then soon you will get to Woburn (Woburn) - Rinsers of another unsurpassed majestic architectural masterpiece of the Wobern Abbey, as well as the Safari Park (Safari Park).
Another small throw from here in Bedfordshire is a flat place, which is almost completely occupied by agricultural land. Of course, this is not the county, for the sake of visiting which it is worth crossing England, but Bedford (bedford) is of some interest, as these places are connected with John Banyan and may be useful in terms of availability of hotels and restaurants.
Reaching Bedfordshire, you find yourself on the eastern border of central counties, but if you go back to the side of London, you cross the Hartfordshire. Here the main goal For visiting, Saint-Olbans (Saint Albans) is an ancient and notable town, who retained the traces of the culture of the Roman Empire, which was lost among numerous transport junctions and highways and cut off from the "external" world with new satellite cities that grew up in the suburbs of London.
Among these new towns can be noted Wallen Garden City and Hemel Hempsteed, who at first glance are not remarkable, but where there are actually a few "surprises" for tourists, the main of which is one of the most wonderful old tribal places - Hatfield -House (Hatfield House).
In the area called Kotswolds (COTSWOLDS), which is located in the eastern part of the Gloucestershire County (Gloucestershire), have preserved numerous evidence of its former prosperity, and these are not only beautiful homes, mansions and churches that have built in these places in the Middle Ages for Huge Money, derived from the trade of sheep wool, but also stunning local villages, the same picturesque as the majority english villages, comfortable around cities, their buildings and structures are a kind of continuation of urban architecture.
However, some of them in the midst of the tourist season due to the large influx of visitors turn into a real bee swarm. The situation associated with the influx of tourists, in the south of the region in the villages, stretching around shopping city - Kirenster (Cirencester), who was at the time of conquest by the Romans, one of their reference points, much more relaxed. The city itself continues to remain an important transport hub.
In the West, the terrain is slightly crossed - from a small hill to a more relaxed, flat landscape, which stretches to the town of Cheltenham - the elegant resort town of Regency times (1810-1820), which today is more famous here with horse racing. The reputation of the town as a bastion of conservative women who ended with various prestigious higher educational institutions and nicknamed with "blue stockings" remained in the past. Nowadays, reputation was entrenched entertainment center With numerous, one of the best restaurants in this region, various nightclubs and other entertainment facilities.
However, it is just a "external gloss", designed to attract the idle public, ready to easily part with their money for all sorts of pleasures. "A great place where you can stay for inspection (Gloucester), in which there is a beautiful cathedral and a superbly renovated harbor, as well as the town of Stud (Stroud), in which, judging by the reviews, is the beautiful Museum Park.
The valley in which Gloucester is cozy, stretches along the shores of the North River (Severn River) in the northeast direction towards Worcestershira. Wonderful stone and brick houses of Kotsward are gradually inferior to the old, built half of the wood and half of the red brick houses with the straw roofs, which together with the wonderful serve business card Absolutely provincial town of Tewksbury (Tewkesbury).
Through Oxfordshire, five highways are held: M-25, M-4, M-40, M-1 and A-1 (M), due to which it is possible to quickly reach any directions here, however, a more detailed map of the surroundings will be required to explore the rural depths . Intercity bus routeslaid mainly on highways, reliably bind all big cities, but the local bus service between the small settlements either completely absent or is very irregular.
FROM railway Station Paddington in London on the main branch can be reached by Oxford, Henley-On-Tears and Round, and from Stan Pancras station in London, it runs the composition of Saint-Olbans and Bedford, these main railways are complemented by a number of local branches, of which the most significant for Tourists are the line between Henley-on-Tears and Kukham.
To get to Kotsward, you can use the SFORD railway line, which passes through the city of Morton-In-March, located in the heart of Kotsward. There are straight branches to the cottage and glossa, which are also important transport hubs. From these cities, there are buses in almost all places.
However, it should be not forgotten that the bus service in Kotswold and the County is not very regular character, especially on Sundays. Traveling by car would be an ideal option for studying these places, and for traveling to more distant you can use the M-5 motorway passing here.
The main attractions of Oxfordshire and Kotswold
1). Chiltern hills (Chiltern Hills) - extend to the southwest of Luton (Luton) to the River Thames flowing near the Rading town (Reading). They are covered with forests and open an excellent forest landscape. The town of Henley-on-Thames (Henley-on-Thames), which is a venue for the famous regatta, is the most convenient stop location for further inspection and study of the surrounding area;
2). (The Vale of White Horse) - takes its name from the figure of a huge prehistoric horse carved in chalk rocks, on the slopes of Berkshire Hills (Berkshire Downs);
3). Radcliffe arch (Radcliffe Camera) - Monumental vaulted construction with a dome-shaped roof located in Oxford (Oxford), which is famous for beautiful old buildings, but the most impressive of them is the Rotunda built in Italian style;
4). Restaurant Le Petit Blanc - in Oxford there are several magnificent restaurants, but the top of the culinary art is crowned with a restaurant kitchen Le Petit Blanc - the creation of the French chef Raymond Blanca;
five). (Saint Albans) - A very attractive town located on the northern tip of London, in which there are well-preserved mosaics of the time of the Roman Empire and a wonderful cathedral;
6). Falkland Arms, Great (Great Tew) - an excellent pub in a charming village in the heart of Kotswolds (COTSWOLDS);
7). Chipping Campden CHIPPING CAMPDEN - in Gloucestershire (Gloucestershire). Perhaps the most attractive town in Kotswold with its stone houses of gentle honeycomb, which surround the wonderful Church of St. Jacob.
In contact with
This time I wanted to come to England and visit not only in London, but to go somewhere else. We started choosing and watch where you can go to have something to look and to be interested and not tired little child. And suddenly they came to the description and photograph of Cotswolds - "the largest of the 36 recognized zones of outstanding natural beauty in England." But besides, it turned out that Cotswolds is very popular area world tourism.
Traveling in Cotswolds All advise on the car. Naturally, the bus message is also developed there, but it is not so convenient, especially with the child. And still need to take into account English weather, which we felt in all our glory - in the morning of 13 grams, during the day 24 grams, then the rain, then the sun. With you constantly had to wear a bunch of different clothes for myself and the child.
So, we took the car right in the tricky, set up the navigator and drove. The navigator said that we ride us somewhere about one and a half hours. But he did not take into account what we went on Friday evening, and at least there were no such traffic jams, like on Friday evening on New Riga or Schelkovskaya Highway, but still cars were clearly more than at another time. In general, we arrived for 2.5 hours in the end. The road is very beautiful. While they were driving blue balloonwho flew over the hills.
We have chosen the hotel in the charming village of Broadway in the heart of Cotswolds.
We arrived late in the evening, immediately put a baby to sleep. In the morning local time the child woke up at 5.30, barely drew to 6.30. Of course, the difference is 3h - it is already a lot for us. 2 hours, as it turned out, normally, and 3 - already a lot.
We have breakfast with a very tasty breakfast from the products of local farmers: natural yogurt, honey, home Made jam, local berries and other tasty!
Then they went out to take a walk until the dad set up the navigator and disassembled, where we went, found a superior playground, on which in such an early early, there was no one.
The playground is huge and for all ages. Next stables and fields where horses graze. Silence, beauty, fresh air! But not hot. The jacket was very by the way. And the playground was opposite the Horse & Hound pub. It seems that in the journal with this name allegedly worked the hero Hugh Grant in "Notting Hill" :).
Got into the car and went to see and can ride on the old railway http://www.gwsr.com/.
We arrived at one station, where a very kind uncle asked how to help and explained to us that he had an ordinary diesel train, which he drove around the district for 45min
and in Winchcombe there are locomotives. Explained that it was necessary to drive 3 miles. We arrived there, and the next train is only through 1CH15min.
At the checkout, we were offered to wait to Tea Room, but, unfortunately, we are still limited in time that we could not allow to sit on the camps. The child was upset, but nothing can be done. And just next to this town of Winchcombe one of the most famous and beautiful castles with the Sudley Castle park http://www.sudeleycastle.co.uk/.
We thought to be parked in the city and walk to it, but it turned out that you need to go about 1km, so our dad returned for the car, and we still went slowly,
we looked at the age-old trees with immense trunks:
they were fed with the rams with ducks brought from Moscow (they are very hungry)), not what we have in the park in Moscow).
Near the entrance to the park a huge playground in the form of a castle. We did not have time to go to her.
Park with a castle - something stunning! It is immediately clear that the British succeeded in gardening arts. Just admire yourself!
And it is interesting that there is almost no one in the park.
Modern Art
garden with healing herbs
Then came to the town of Bourton on The Water. Drew attention to English children in 18 degrees
After a deserted park, crowds of tourists in this small town struck us.) We walked around the city and went to the museum of cars.
It is impossible to touch anything, everything is boring and hanging on the walls. We saw the same vintage cars in large quantities just on the streets. This is really unusual and great! In general, of course, in England there are no problems with kind for the shields of Jane Austin's novels or filming TV series Downton Abbey.
In addition, Bourtland birds also also have Birdland's zoosad, but we did not go there.
Again, the black cloud came, and in the meantime, we already got into the car and went towards the hotel. But then the sun was already looking out (this is England), and we drove to see lavender fields Snowhill Lavender.
Our dream - to go to the lavender fields of Provence is not yet fully implemented, and, of course, we did not miss the opportunity to see Lavender here. But whether she was not yet blossomed, whether it was already collected, but we did not see blue-lilac fields. But still, this is amazingly beautiful, not to mention the aroma!
The next day we arrived at the opening of Wild Life Parc.
As always, European zoos is surprised by purity and thoughtfulness. Although, of course, this is not in the center of the metropolis, but in the present forest park, and for animals, all conditions close to natural are made. But why is there no unpleasant smell from animal cells!? The park drives the park, which, of course, the attraction itself.
Plus there is a playground and a carousel that spins for some reason without music.
And of course all sorts of animals and birds. Penguins, bats, 5-7 types of owlsvitz, lions, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, kangaroo, etc. and TP.
You can also eat either in a cafe, or bring with you and eat on a specially equipped area for picnics.
We went to dine in the typical town of Kotswolds - Burford. Towns are similar to another. Houses in the region are built from the local limestone colors of honey - Limestone.
And after lunch, they went to Bibury, as they write in guidebooks, the most photographed village of Cotswolds.
Very picturesque, of course. In the village, just one street with tiny houses, even surprisingly, people live there. And you can go to the trout farm and polit trout.
The evening we finished in Broadway Tower, looked at the surroundings from above.
The deer, sheep graze, but the next cloud came up here, and we went to Broadway.
The third day we had the last in Cotswolds, and then we need to go to London. And since we were fascinated by Sudley Castle Park, then I wanted to walk in some kind of park or castle. Not far from us was Arboretum http://www.batsarb.co.uk/, i.e. Nursery / Botanical Garden.
The park is huge, very beautiful. We were given the map, and we went on the route specified in the map. The park is beautiful at any time of the year, in August there is already little blooms, but so much greens! And apparently in the fall, when the foliage is painted in yellow-red, there is still more beautiful. On the territory of the park there are private possessions here with such a castle:
We are lucky with the weather. It was dry, sunny, but cool. As we have warm autumn.
For children invented entertainment Bug Hunt (hunting for beetles). Park staff lay out every day of huge plastic beetles in different places in the park. Total 25 pieces. It is necessary to find for each found beetle, you get 1 pound. We found only one beetle. True, we have not specifically searched for them. And this just lay on a bench. ☺
Received one pound. It was necessary to sign up. A man at the checkout barely recorded our ordinary Russian surname and was generally very surprised that we were from Russia.
Some more photos Kotswolds:
The next day we went to London. It was necessary to pass the car in Oxford and take the train to London.
Summary:
Traveling in England with a child very comfortable and great!
All restaurants have a children's menu, there are a lot of entertainment for children - beautiful playgrounds, parks, zoos, children's shops, museums and just unusual towns for our eyes, all this certainly contributes to the development of a horizon of the child.
Of course, I must say that the pleasure is not cheap. If in London all museums are free, then all museums and parks cost money and a lot - somewhere 10-15 pounds per one. Children of course free.
We must take into account typical English weather. Maybe, of course, it was not so lucky to us, but because of such a changeable weather, he had to carry a bunch of clothes, including rubber boots and jackets, so as not to return to the hotel.
Briefly about London:
We were in the museum of transport, at the most interesting London Science Museum, about the campaign in which we wrote in our Spacegiraffe blog, in Hyde Park on two playgrounds, rode on London Eye (the child of 3 years is still early, in my opinion), rode a lot on The 2nd floor of the bus (it became a separate and very beloved attraction), were in Hamleys, having lunch at the delicious Italian restaurant Jamie Oliver, in which our applied in a meal slope the whole plate ☺, walked to Kew Gardens (also a great playground and a train that carries throughout the territory Kew). Well, then the holidays ended with the last stroke on a trip to England with a child were pencils and a book with labyrinths, crossword puzzles and coloring, which are distributed free to all families with children in Heathrow, so that the child is what to do in anticipation of the aircraft and in flight. It also made an impression on me. In general, the trip succeeded!
Kotswold ( Cotswolds.) is considered one of amone picturesque corners of rural england. "Old Good England," as Kuznetsov said. That is how I remembered it. It is relatively close to London so that you can get by train, but here to see all the small authentic trees from a specific yellow stone (sequent) - you will need a car. Kotswold is also the name of the type of local sheep, which peacefully enjoy life on endless to the horizon of pastures. All the masses of the sheep are degraded into blue or pink stains - you marked how much kids will bring a woolen milk.
In Kotsward, we spent two days and, probably, it was here that London is not just "The Capital of Great Britain", London is a separate world. And England, the one we read in the books about Robin Hood, is not at all London.
My brightest impression of Kotsward was three gastronomic moments - in the morning " egg and Soldiers.», « afternoon Tea."After lunch and el. "E. gG and Soldiers."This is a type of breakfast when the egg is cooked to a special" soft»Status (" bag "), and the morning toast is cut by straw - soldier. The soldier bathes in the egg and eats. It is said that in English parents, this is like a "airplane asks landing" - a way to feed the child. In general, breakfasts in England came to taste - dense and with me adored with me. The second discovery is traditional " afternoon Te.a ". "You have not tried afternoon tea?", Asked us in Kotswold. "Then be sure to try." Afternoon Tea is tea that serves traditional English scoopes (bun-cookie), fuel cream and jam.
Tea porcelain couple, dessert plate, cutlery, milkman with warm milk, tea-site and sugar bowl are required of the dishes. Frankly, I was not even tormented by me, as it was delicious and traditionally - well, for sure if you suddenly became a second of the subjects of Her Majesty. El in the pub - this is another tradition of England - became another my whim, because the explanation that "El is a beer" did not suit me.
In the pub there was an ale, and beer (as well as on store shelves). In general, El is also beer. My was less span and very dense. Kuznetsov managed to immediately attack beer and El from the top of the best in England - Wychwood Hobgoblin. My curiosity was satisfied, and I began to perceive the surrounding landscapes.
Our first stop was the small and very famous village among tourists Burton-on the Water (Bourton on the Water). In addition to this region of landscapes - yellow houses and a special text of the fences - there is a car museum and miniature in the city.
Walk along the rchushus Wyndrash with beautiful bridges will take quite a bit of time, but the shops with souvenirs are tightened for a long time. Especially popular and high quality, and therefore expensive, are products from wool of local sheep. The village is really very small and there in the go interesting to me the principle " neighborhoodp ", this is when the local marks all the strangers, so that it is impossible to remain unnoticed. Our hospitable host nuts us in one minute - he immediately pointed out where "people who speak Russian" went.
Other villages, not less picturesque, but typical of this region are Louer Sloter ( Lower Slaughter.) and a heloter aper ( Upper Slaughter). Loweer Sloter is a definitely pearl of Kotswold, for me for sure. Picturesque so much that every corner is a separate postcard for memory.
Ratchmaking, bridge, little mill. Life slows here, and the work - the task becomes some kind of secondary in life. In Louer Sloter is easy Hellb Out of time. In one of the soloters, we saw two typical roof coverings - straw and shale roofs. Straw roofs ( thatch Roof.) Very authentic and give houses a very fabulous look. In old days, the straw roofs were most common in England. Now ecological straw roofs are very expensive pleasure, but in the older times, when the stone roofs were overwhelmed, it was a sign of poverty. Another roof type is shale. Interestingly, new shale roofs are already "replicas", but real shale roofs have been preserved in the sloters.
Another of our stop in Kotswold is Broadway Tower (Broadway Tower) in Worcestershire. The tower has become a whim of one English lady who wanted to have his own lighthouse. The tower really stands on a high hill and even having huge sizes (the height of it is only 20 meters) provides a height of 312 meters above sea level. In the human language it means that the horizon to consider from the hill is almost impossible - so far he runs away. And in clear weather from the tower you can contemplate 13 counties.
Another village of Stow-He-Ze-Vold ( Stow-On-The-Wold) It is famous for its fairs for the sale of sheep and sheep wool. On the day of the fairs twice a year (May and October), all the entrances to Stone are blocked for several hours due to the stream of cars.
This city is one of the oldest cities of England, which was founded as Norman shopping centerIn the heart of which was a trading area and a narrow street, through which sheep chasted - which was very convenient to keep the sale of these nothesive heads under the control.
It was here that we finally enjoyed real "Afternoon Tea" in one of the cozy cafes on the small central street of the city.
In conclusion to Kotsward, I will note myself in my memory that our night was in Vic Ricington, another picturesque village, for which special thanks to our guide and the hospitable owner, without whom these traditional English landscapes would have stayed behind the scene ...
Sights of England
Kotswold or Kotswold Hills (eng. Cotswold Hills, Cotswolds) - Mountain ridge in the Western Central Part of England, which is mainly on the County Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. Kotswold extended non-smoke, 25 km, a strip along the left bank of the norn river approximately a hundred kilometers. On his oriental slopes originates the most famous river England - Thames. Cotswold is an officially recognized "area of \u200b\u200boutstanding natural beauty" (Area of \u200b\u200bOutstanding Natural Beauty).
Rural Kotsward surrounds such major cities like: Stratford, Oxford, Bat, Clauthenes, the old town of Gloucester. Small cities "Kirenster and Tüxbury and very small, but because no less interesting, villages: Burton-on-Ze-Veter, Borford, Chipping Campden, Stow-Os-Ze-Vold, Arlington and Buries.
Kotswolds (Cotswolds) - one of the most picturesque corners And a bright symbol of rural England: small villages with houses, drowning in greenery, beautiful gardens and meadows - makes it possible to look into the old Good England. In the Kotsward villages, many antique shops and hotels located right in the old mansions with historical architectureSo the collectors of vintage little things will be wondering.
Why go to Kotswold?
1. Visit an amazing place called biburi village (Bibury) - which is located a few miles from the city of Cirensester. Somehow William Morris, the English poet and the artist who lived in the Victorian era, called Biburi " beautiful countryside In Kotsworth. " Each house in Buries is truly unique. Here, all houses from the old days are built from the local seven, oolita, with a buggy porous surface. In the local stone career still cut off the stone manually - the outter is very soft and does not withstand mechanical cutting. By the way, several films were filmed in Burgey: "Bridget Jones Diary" and a series of films about Miss Marple on the stories of Agatha Christie.
2. Walk and enjoy the rural landscapes and valleys of rivers, meadows and beech forests, antique villages on limestone rocks and historical small settlements. It is here that you can see the typical English stopped in time, what it was about 300 years ago.
3. come to town Tetbery County GlousthershireWhere the heir to the British Crown Prince Charles opened the bench of organic products and products for home and garden. The store was named Highgrove 2 (10 Long Street, Tetbury, Gloucestershire GL8 8AQ) - just like the agricultural land owned by the royal family, where almost thirty years are grown by environmentally friendly vegetables and fruits, herbs, cereals and spices.
4. Ploy in the village Borton He Water (Bourton On The Water)and visit the car museum and bird park. Interesting local attraction: Model Village - an exact copy of the Bourton-onthe-Water itself, only reduced to nine times.
5. In the shopping town Stow-On-The-Wold Through antique benchmarks and art galleries: in those that are scattered in the alleys around the market square, you can find real treasures.
Kotswold is a mountain range in the Western central part of England. These places are not just called the heart of England, since the old traditions and traditional architecture are preserved here. This area, 25 miles width and 90 miles long, is the Kotswold Trial Zone
I will continue to please you with stories about the sights of England 
Kotswold is famous among the British and tourists from other countries with their beautiful plains and hills, outstanding rural landscapes and river valleys, meadows and beech forests, antique villages on limestone rocks and historical small settlements. Here you can see the typical English stopped in time, what it was about 300 years ago 
Visitors come from all over the world to see the Kotswold and his unusual villages 
Now it is mainly tourist areaBut once life flourished here, trade of wool has developed, then weaving industry. It was she who made Kotswold famous. Stone houses were built hundreds of years ago, they provide a unique opportunity to look at what England was in the 17-18 century 
Most stone buildings were built from limestone mined at nearby hills. This limestone is still mined here. Let's just admire the landscapes of classical England: 
Rules for visiting concerts in the Cathedral
Culinary City Day on Red Presnya
Catania Beaches Canara - La Gomera
Independent training flights
Tracking. What is it? What is trekking? All products, tags