English Countryside Itinerary: The Cotswolds and Jane Austen’s House

After a few days in London, our next adventure on our recent trip was a journey out to the English countryside to try a taste of the charm I’ve always envisioned when thinking of the Cotswolds.  We had seen the smallest little glimpse of the Cotswolds on a day tour from London on past trips, which was easy and convenient to be chauffeured on a bus, but it was definitely next-level to rent a car and drive all through the cutest villages to see it all up close.

We started the route out of London with a stop at Jane Austen’s home and museum in Hampshire, a little less than two hours’ drive from the city.  I was impressed, once again, at Dave’s driving skills and how easily he adapts to driving in the UK!  It’s not for the faint of heart to drive in the countryside, I will say, with the narrow roads and flip-flopped orientation and surprise potholes, but it’s definitely worth it if you are up to the challenge.

So… to anyone who is a fan of Jane Austen, let me confirm that it is indeed a dream to visit her house and see the landscape where she walked and lived.   It is such a charmingly preserved experience that’s a must-see in my opinion.

 

We had purchased our tickets in advance, which you will need to do to reserve your time as space inside is limited.  Visit their site here to get your tickets and time and a wealth of other information.  (There’s even a virtual tour.)

There are plenty of interesting pieces of Jane Austen history to see from the moment you arrive.

 

The flowers around the house and in the garden are the first welcome.

 

 

 

 

Inside, you see where she lived for the last 8 years of her life, and where she wrote or refined her novels.  Imagine sitting in this drawing room after dinners and neighbors gathering here to hear readings of what would become some of the most loved literary works of all time.

 

Imagine Jane, completing her morning piano practice, doing her morning chores, and then settling by the window in this dining room to write her masterpieces.

 

This is the tiny table on which she wrote those stories.  They say she preferred this small little surface over a desk so that she could move it around to catch the best sunlight to write by,

 

In the bedroom Jane shared with her sister Cassandra, there is an exact replica of the bed they had growing up as well as a few personal effects.

 

One of my favorites in the house was this prayer written by Jane…

 

There is plenty of family history to learn in the house, and some of that is about Jane’s brother, Edward, who lived a short walk down the road in Chawton House.  You can drive down and park, or you can take the walk and enjoy views like this along the way…

 

And when you arrive at Chawton, you’ll know.  It’s just anther piece of perfection in an already amazing landscape.

 

We didn’t tour the house because we had not allowed ourselves the time, but we did have a great lunch here in the old kitchen that is now an adorable tea room.

 

 

We had sandwiches and jacket potatoes (baked potatoes) and the most delicious Elderflower sparkling water.

The gardens and grounds here, including a rectory on the property, are just enchanting,  And the sheep!

 

From here, we had to get on the road because we had so much to see in the Cotwolds.  Between the house tour and lunch, we had spent around 2 hours in Hampshire, and then we began our drives.  We knew we did not have enough time to visit every village on the scenic loop drives, but we really did short ourselves with only allowing a day and a half or so.  The recommended time is 2 days to do the Romantic Road itinerary (click here for a detailed look at this.) Honestly, you could take your time and not feel rushed by allowing 3 or even 4 days!  Here is just a sample of a few of our stops and drives through the villages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may notice how the sky is bright blue in some of the photos and dark and gray in others.  The weather was changing so quickly on us!  It is definitely recommended to bring a rain jacket or umbrella along because you never know when a shower may pass through.  Never on the trip was it a terrible downpour, but we did have several quick pop-up showers.

On our second day in the Cotswolds, we squeezed in a visit to Blenheim Palace, which is also in the vicinity.  This is a beautiful property– the birthplace of Winston Churchill as well as the site of several filming locations. We found out after that parts of the live action Cinderella were filmed here!

 

We enjoyed this place, however, we did not realize that most of the front of the palace was under renovation and covered by scaffolding, and also the main gardens were closed off.  So, if you visit, you might want to research projects first!

This is so much info to cover in just one post!  Imagine what it’s like trying to cover all this and more in just a couple of days! We also took a short visit into Oxford because we were so close to it, but we didn’t; stay too long since we have done tours there before.  Just a note that this is very close by if you want to include Oxford in your itinerary.

Tomorrow I’m going to share where we stayed and why we loved it so much.  It’s so great it deserves its own post.  So stay tuned!  Have you visited the Cotswolds?