Travelling through the South of England (part II)

It's time to continue our journey through the South of England and now we're heading to the charming Cotswolds. Last year I already had the chance to enjoy one of their most lovely villages, Castle Combe. And I was utterly charmed by its rustic and cozy cottages with thatched roofs and blooming flowers.

This time I was together with my husband and we visited many other villages and drove through narrow green lanes and roads to get from one to the next in this rolling landscape. Do you know what ‘Cotswolds’ mean? It’s likely that it’s a combination of two very old English words. Wolds – gentle hills. ‘Cots’ – sheep enclosures. o ‘Cotswolds’ probably just means an area of gentle hills with plenty of sheep around.

Our first stop is Great Tew which was just so calm and peaceful on this sunny spring day. It was a village that wasn't yet rushed by tourists and therefore one of my favourites.

We also visited Broadway, Bourton-on-the-water and Chipping Campden. This last village was so overcrowded by tourists that we even didn't stop and continued our travel to the next village.

The distinctive honey-coloured stone used in buildings across in the Cotswolds is limestone and gives these villages their unique and warm character.

Around dinner time we arrived at Bibury-Arlington where we almost had the famous Arlington Row for ourselves. It really looked like an old postcard as if time has stood still. I really love to wander around in these kind of picturesque villages that still breathe so much history and nostalgia and are embedded in a green and natural environment.

This little village was built in the late 14th century as a monastic wool store. In the late 17th century they were converted into a row of weavers cottages which are now owned by the National Trust.

The next day we drove to Burford where we visited the Cotswold Woollen Weavers, a wonderful place where we discovered about the rich wool history of this region. There was a most enchanting museum and they sell really beautiful woollen clothing.

Our last destination was Bampton, also known as the filming location for Downton Abbey.

We made a little walk in the village along the houses and church were has been used for this well-known serie.

Slowly we drove towards the east of South-England…

… towards Beachy Head where we walked on the Cliffs of Seven Sisters and finally enjoyed some time on the pebble beach. Just sitting in the sun, watching the waves and collecting some beautiful stones. I was really impressed by the natural beauty of these huge white cliffs.

The final place I really wanted to visit (to celebrate my birthday) was Sissinghurst Castle Garden. It's one of the most famous and influential English gardens of the 19th century.

And really, I hugely enjoyed it so much!

It's definitely a refuge dedicated to beauty. Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson fell in love with Sissinghurst Castle and created a world-renowned garden. Here you can discover a serie of garden rooms, each filled with different planting and colour schemes and unique designs. And it all felt so harmonious.

On the rooftop of the tower one had a wonderful view on this huge estate, surrounded by the green landscape.

This was a one of the places in the garden where Vita Sackville-West wrote and had this amazing view. It would definitely be a place of inspiration for me too!

There's so much to discover in this garden and it would take me too long to write everything about it, even I could find the right words. So if you love gardens, I really hope you can go there one time. One just has to be there to really feel and experience its unique atmosphere. A picture never shows the whole story and feeling, can it?!

It was such a beautiful and inspiring holiday and I wished we could have stayed a little longer. I always feel enriched when travelling and visiting historical and natural places.

But now it's time to prepare for my next travel… my artist in residence in the Celtic wilds of Cornwall!