You might think of the seaside when you think of ice cream, but us landlubbers in the Cotswolds needn’t travel far for a 99. There’s fresh locally-made ice cream being made right across the region, so here’s our pick of the ten best places to grab a scoopful...
Rodborough Common nr. Stroud
Nestled on the edge of the green hills of the National Trust’s Rodborough Common in Gloucestershire is Winstones Cotswold Ice Cream Parlour. The shop serves more than 100,000 customers per year its award-winning ice creams and sorbets, made on site using fresh local produce. Flavours include tried and tested favourites, as well as indulgent combinations such as butterscotch chip, banana & toffee, chocolate fudge brownie, spiced plum, rum and raisin, among others. Ice cream can be bought by the scoop or by the litre, and the shop is open seven days a week from 10am-5pm!
Chedworth
Chedworth Ice Cream use the thickest yellow cream, the freshest whole milk and the finest flavours for their Italian-style gelato ice cream, all sourced from the cows on their farm. The ice cream parlour is in the café at Chedworth Farm Shop and is open seven days a week, offering knickerbockerglories, ice cream sundaes, banana splits, ice cream milkshakes and sodas, and much more. There’s even a beer ice cream developed with Cotswold Lion Brewery!
Cirencester / Cheltenham
Dolcetti is a family-run business in Cirencester, making artisan Italian gelato, sorbets and unique ice cream cakes. They run a parlour from their factory, pop-ups at various events and venues around Gloucestershire and have now branched out on to the highstreet with a dedicated café in Cheltenham. Every five litre batch of their handmade ice cream is produced using traditional methods with fresh creamy milk sourced from pedigree Holstein cows only four miles from the Dolcetti factory. Flavours of ice cream and sorbet on offer include honey and ginger, Cotswold cream, salted caramel, mint chocolate, pistachio and many more.
Chippenham
Marshfield Farm’s award-winning dairy ice creams and sorbets are all made on-site, with almost thirty flavours ranging from chocolate and fudge to refreshing fruit numbers. Their ice cream is made using real organic milk produced from their herd of two-hundred Friesian cows on their 1,000-acre farm. Marshfield Farm sell directly from their farm shop, as well as from farm shops across the country with many stockists in the Cotswolds. As well as farm shops, Marshfield supplies all sorts of outlets from cinemas, theatres and pubs, to delis, seaside resorts and tearooms. You’ll even find their ice creams and sorbets at tourist sites such as The Tower of London!
Frampton Mansell nr. Stroud
Harriet Wilson, founder of farm shop Jolly Nice, lends her name to the hand-made ice cream produced using milk and cream from the Shorthorn cows on her family’s farm. The ice creams are sold exclusively at the farm shop and pit stop café, and Jolly Nice offers six core flavours; vanilla, chocolate, salted caramel, gooseberry, rhubarb & crumble and raisin & sherry. These favourites are sold alongside an ever-changing range of special edition flavours including Guiness, cider brandy eggnog, peanut butter and milk chocolate, spiced pear, coffee with honey and almond brittle, among many other delicious combinations. The farm shop is open seven days a week, 8am-7pm.
Lower Slaughter
The Old Mill isn’t just a museum, gift shop and café - it’s also an ice cream parlour! Hand-made with all natural ingredients, the ice cream at Old Mill comes in flavours including vanilla, butter crunch, ground coffee, rum & raisin, wild strawberry and pistachio. And where better to enjoy a cone of tasty ice cream than in one of the most beautiful villages in the Cotswolds?
Evesham
Flavours in Evesham isn’t just an Italian restaurant, it’s an ice cream parlour too! Alongside freshly made pizza and hot coffee, hand-made ice cream is sold to those looking for a little treat, with flavours including banoffee, pannacotta, ginger, mint, chocolate and many more on offer. It’s traditional Italian ice cream, made by traditional Italians, in the heart of rural Worcestershire.
Cheltenham
Ice cream parlours seem to be springing up all over the spa town of Cheltenham, and the latest - Gelateria Amelia - opened just in time for summer and is proving popular. Run by a husband and wife team, Gelateria Amelia offers organic ice cream and sorbet, hand-made every day and sold by the scoopful. You could even try a little dolloped on one of their freshly made hot waffles. They also make doppiozero, ice cream and sorbets with little sugar or fat, utilising plant sweetener instead of the usual high-sugar content for a guilt-free treat!
Cheltenham
Another Cheltenham-based parlour, Milkbar serves hand-made gelato ice cream and sorbet by the scoop or by the tub. The fresh, rich and creamy gelato is made in small batches using organic milk from a local dairy, and there are sixteen flavours on offer including white chocolate, salted caramel, pecan & maple, organic yoghurt, peanut, Oreo, Baileys, and pistachio, among others, with the line-up changing constantly. The staff at Milkbar also serve up sundaes, milkshakes, warm crepes and waffles to indulge your sweet tooth.
![Great British Life: Ice cream tastes better when it comes from a van / Image: Chris Jenner [shutterstock]](/resources/images/15767202.jpg?type=mds-article-620 "Great British Life: Ice cream tastes better when it comes from a van / Image: Chris Jenner [shutterstock]")
Cotswolds
Lest we forget the humble ice cream van! An increasingly rare sight (and sound) in modern times, ice cream vans can still be seen rolling along the roads around this region on occasion, with various companies and individuals maintaining the tradition. Tartaglia has been serving the neighbourhoods of Gloucestershire with its vans for decades, having been founded in 1920 by Ralph Tartaglia in Gloucester. The aforementioned Winstones also runs a fleet of five vintage ice cream vans that take to the streets when not busy at events. So for a nostalgia-inducing experience, rush out with your pennies when you hear the chimes, and grab a 99!
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