Holiday rentals in Bourton-on-the-Water

England is not short of pretty, historic villages full of ancient houses, but nowhere do they seem more prolific than the Cotswolds. The region has become a byword for quaintness, full of cute villages where no garden has a petal out of place, and bunting seems to flutter outside every little store.

Bourton-on-the-Water is one of the real darlings, whose low stone bridges crossing the River Windrush at its heart form one of the classic Cotswolds images, and have earned it the moniker of “Venice of the Cotswolds.” Certainly the thronging crowds can be comparable, but rather than cicchetti and Renaissance art you’ll find smart tea shops, dolled-up pubs, and artisan stores specialising in perfumery, pottery, or sheepskins amid streets of butterscotch-coloured stone cottages. Among the handful of attractions is a miniature village, a perfect replica of Bourton-on-the-Water (there’s even a tiny model village). You can almost believe the toy-sized version came first — an idyllic, idealised vision of England.

It’s true you might not want to linger long in the height of the summer, when queues at ice cream shops are somewhat ridiculous, but there’s no denying that sunshine makes the village even more delightful. Spring is an awesome time to book a cottage here, with explosions of flowers colouring gardens and meadows every shade of the paint chart, while in frosty, fairy-lit December, you’ll feel like you’ve leapt into the picture on a Christmas card. A festival of motoring in September is one of the village’s few annual events; most happenings of note are in nearby cities: Cheltenham’s April jazz festival, the demonstrations of traditional country pursuits at Cirencester’s Cotswold Show, and Cornbury Music Festival at Chipping Norton, both in July.

Cotswold Motoring Museum and Toy Collection

You don’t have to be a gearhead to enjoy this wonderful and nostalgia-inducing museum and its wide-ranging collection of rare vehicles and memorabilia. See everything from 1970s caravans to early motorised scooters, and a charming array of childhood toy vehicles.

Dragonfly Maze

Mazes are like the analogue version of modern-day escape rooms, and this one is just as enjoyably dumbfounding. Finding your way through half a mile of yew hedge passages to the centre is tricky enough, but then there are clues to solve along the way to complete a puzzle. Even unrolling a ball of string as you go to help you find your way out, like Theseus in the story of the Minotaur, won’t help with that.

Greystones Nature Reserve

Operated by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, the nature reserve of Greystones Farm is a lovely place to spend an afternoon outdoors, with wildflower meadows and Iron Age ramparts to explore. Flowing through the site is the River Eye, where you can listen for the distinctive “plop” of endangered water voles entering the water, and look for otters and kingfishers. Childrens’ play areas, a cafe, and a replica Iron Age roundhouse help make the most of the site.