Today, after all-night fasting, we’ll replenish our energy stores with a hearty, highly calorific full English breakfast. Our circular ride will take us around some of the most beautiful parts of the Cotswolds. We’ll meander along some great biking roads surrounded by rolling green hills dotted with sheep towards our scheduled destinations. Please note – parking availability might affect where we stop for breaks, refreshments and lunch.
First, our ride will take us to the historic, charming and typically Cotswolds-ish village of Bibury. The pretty High Street and the river banks are lined with horse chestnut trees, including a mixture of period houses and picturesque honey-coloured Cotswold stone cottages. The cottages of Arlington Row are often referred to as the most photographed and beautiful in England, even more so when they are “photobombed” by a bunch of bikers with big bikes and even bigger appetites. If we are still feeling a bit peckish and not too early, the Swan Hotel has a lovely garden and serves a great range of mid-morning cakes and teas.
From Bibury, just up the little lane, hidden deep in the wilderness of the Cotswolds, is one of the most popular petrol-head hubs. The Classic Moto Hub is a car auction house open to the public and welcomes bikers. It always has a great collection of cars and motorcycles. The collection of rare vehicles and classic memorabilia will give us a nostalgic glimpse into life on the road the way it used to be. But the Hub also has a great cafe, making it a perfect place for our second stop.
Our next destination on this tour is Bourton-on-the-Water. The town is regularly voted one of the prettiest in England, often called the Little Venice of the Cotswolds. Here, we can take a stroll along the river, take some great photos, have a scone or two and a cup of tea or two, and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of this beautiful place.
From Bourton-on-the-Water, we’ll ride a section of the straight-as-an-arrow Roman road – Fosse Way, and some not so straight-as-an-arrow, perhaps Anglo-Saxon highways and byways towards our next port of call. Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town with more than 800 years of history, dating back to the times of Mercia, Viking invasions, Tudors and, of course, the man himself, Shakespeare – the Renaissance Man, the Comedy Man, the Tragedy Man.
As we start looping it around, our route will take us to the heart of the Cotswolds. In this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty peacefully lies the idyllic historic village of Broadway. The town is a stunning collage of centuries-old honey-coloured cottages, limestone period buildings, and chestnut trees lining the high street’s grass-fringed verges. Here, we should be able to park our bikes without much hassle and have lunch at one of many traditional eateries.
Continuing our guided motorcycle tour, we’ll pass through Burford. It is often called the ‘Gateway to the Cotswolds’ and yet another town justifiably regarded as one of the most picturesque towns in the Cotswolds. With its medieval bridge, old stone houses and attractive Tudor and Georgian frontages, it is a great place to stroll along the high street and take some great photos. As beautiful as it might be, parking in Burford is often challenging. So we’ll play it by air and see how we get on.
From here, you’ll return to the hotel. We’ll pop quickly home to feed the cat, meet you at the hotel, and join you for an evening meal.
“The Cotswolds stretch across 5 English counties: Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire”