West Oxfordshire

Burford is where most people's idea of West Oxfordshire begins: a steep high street of honey-coloured stone running down to the River Windrush, with independent shops and old coaching inns lining the way. It sets the tone for the wider district, which takes in the eastern fringe of the Cotswolds and stretches from Witney's old blanket-making streets out through a scatter of villages built from the same warm limestone. This is a part of Oxfordshire that rewards slow travel, whether you're heading for Burford's antique shops or simply following the lanes between one stone village and the next.

The Windrush Valley threads through much of the area, and walking is a natural pastime, with footpaths connecting villages across open farmland and along the river itself. Witney remains the largest town and a practical hub, with its Buttercross and Saturday market square giving it a working, everyday character rather than a purely picturesque one. Further out, the countryside opens into the kind of gently rolling farmland that has always defined this edge of the Cotswolds, good for cycling as much as walking.

West Oxfordshire works well as a base for both short breaks and longer stays, with the spread of cottages meaning you can choose between a village on the edge of the Cotswolds proper or somewhere closer to Witney and the more everyday parts of the district. Either way, the stone villages, the river, and the walking country around them are never far off.