Raise your Instagram reach this summer by seeking out some of the most picturesque spots in the Cotswolds. Here’s our guide to 10 of the best
The Gruffalo
Join the brave mouse through Dean Heritage Centre in Soudley and see how it escapes tricky situations before meeting the Gruffalo itself. Site manager Clayton Ryder has carved figures from trees with a chainsaw to illustrate the Julia Donaldson book, which has pictures by Axel Scheffler. deanheritagecentre.org/gruffalo-trail
The door said to have inspired Tolkien
Reported to be the most photographed door in the Cotswolds, the 300-year-old north porch of St Edward’s Church in Stow-on-the-Wold is flanked by two mature yew trees. This sight is said to have inspired The Doors of Durin, the west gate of Moria – the dwarves subterranean kingdom, in The Lord of the Rings.
Author JRR Tolkien, a professor of Old English at Merton College in Oxford, visited Stow several times.
Confetti fields
Head to the Wyke Manor Estate in Wick, near Pershore, to revel in the spectacular sight of fields of flowers grown for natural petal confetti.
Cornflowers, poppies and delphiniums are among the blooms that will contribute to a kaleidoscope of colour. The flowers are grown for products made by the Real Flower Petal Confetti Company.
The field is open from June 20-July 5. Admission with a ticket.
confettidirect.co.uk/confetti-fields-2026
The Painswick yews
Legend has it that only 99 yew trees grow around St Mary’s Church in Painswick – and that the devil either spits on or pulls up the 100th, all depending on which guidebook you’re reading. Opinions vary over the number of trees as some have grown together over time, but many agree that these shapely trees, which are growing around a collection of 17th- and 18th-century tombs, are a splendid sight.
The Cotswold hills
Shakespeare summed up the Cotswolds in Richard II with the line: ‘These high wild hills and rough uneven ways’. Nowadays the roads may be smoother but the landscape, with its sloping patchworks of fields, dry stone walls and trees and hedgerows, has retained its natural beauty and draws in people from across the world. Climb the highest hills to get a great panoramic shot.
Castle Combe
Stardust, The Wolfman, War Horse and Doctor Dolittle are all blockbuster films for which Castle Combe provides a backdrop.
Often called ‘the prettiest village in England, on account of its well-preserved Cotswold stone cottages, medieval market cross, 13th-century church and humpback stone bridge crossing the Bybrook river, it is the kind of location that film producers dream of, and there are a couple of pubs and a luxury hotel too..
Lower Slaughter
Its name may come from the Old English slohtre, meaning ‘muddy place’, but idyllic Lower Slaughter is a picture-perfect slice of old England.
Its 19th-century water mill and honey-coloured cottages are among the most photographed buildings in the Cotswolds.
Lower Slaughter has limited parking but is easily reached on foot from Bourton-on-the-Water – the villages of Upper and Lower Slaughter are linked by the tiny River Eye, a tributary to the River Windrush.
Lavender field
Lavender is a delight for the nose as well as the eyes.
Be immersed in 45 acres of this fragrant plant at Cotswold Lavender’s Hill Barn Farm in Snowshill and expect to share the space with butterflies on sunny days.
The stunning views over Broadway and the Vale of Evesham make for an added bonus.
Cotswold Lavender also has meadows devoted to colourful wildflowers. Visit the lavender fields from June 17-August 5.
cotswoldlavender.co.uk
The Cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral
Some see it as a 14th-century medieval masterpiece, others recognise it as the corridors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter films.
Either way they’re the earliest known example of fan vaulting in the world, having been completed in 1412.
Their original use was for monks to live, work and meditate, with the South Walk containing a row of 20 niche-like spaces known as carrels that once housed desks.
Sunflower field
Several farmers across the Cotswolds grow radiant sunflowers to sell as cut flowers or provide bird food in the winter. Among them are Adam Henson and his team at Cotswold Farm Park, near Guiting Power, who open their flower fields to the public from July 18-August 31. Head down to capture some memorable images.
cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk/seasonal-events/flower-fields
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