Bibury

Bibury is a tiny Cotswolds village that William Morris called 'the most beautiful village in England' — and while the Cotswolds has fierce competition for that title, Bibury's combination of honey-coloured stone cottages, a crystal-clear river, and a setting of pure pastoral Englishness is hard to beat. Arlington Row — a terrace of 14th-century weavers' cottages overlooking a water meadow — is one of the most photographed scenes in England. The River Coln runs through the village in a series of shallow, clear pools where brown trout are visible from the banks. The trout farm (one of the oldest in England, established 1902) lets you catch your own. The Church of St Mary is a beautiful Norman church with Saxon origins. Rack Isle, the water meadow opposite Arlington Row, was originally used for drying ('racking') cloth from the weavers' cottages. Bibury is small — you can see everything in an hour — but the beauty of the setting rewards lingering. The surrounding lanes are perfect for gentle walks, and the Cotswold countryside is at its most unspoilt here. Combine with visits to nearby Cotswold villages like Bourton-on-the-Water, the Slaughters, and Burford for a perfect day of stone villages and rolling hills.