In this new, thoroughly updated third edition of Bradt’s The Cotswolds, part of Bradt’s distinctive ‘Slow Travel’ series of guides to UK regions, local resident and experienced travel writer Caroline Mills shares her favourite places in a region that remains as popular as ever. Drawing on more than 50 years’ living in the Cotswolds, and combining engaging first-person narrative with authoritative advice, Mills slows readers down and helps them delve deeply into a range of regions: the Cotswolds National Landscape Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB); the Cotswold escarpment, hills and valleys; the Wiltshire Cotswolds and the area known as the Four Shires; three Cotswold 'gateways' (Stratford-upon-Avon, Bath and Oxford); the lesser-known 'hidden' fringes of the Cotswolds, including the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, which follow much of the youthful Thames Valley, and the Cotswold Way National Trail. The Cotswolds’ rich manmade heritage includes Oxford University (the world’s oldest); many famous castles and country houses (including Blenheim Palace and Sudeley Castle), well-known abbeys such as Prinknash; and estates including Westonbirt Arboretum and Highgrove (the private home of King Charles III and the Queen Consort). Roman history is covered too, notably in Bath and Cirencester, together with the Fosse Way, one of the UK’s most important Roman roads. The guide adds colour through interviews with local residents who bring character to the region; activities to try with children; handpicked places to eat, drink and stay (from glamping and country-house hotels to B&Bs on working farms); coverage of the Arts & Crafts movement; numerous options for car-free travel; and quirky events such Gloucestershire’s annual cheese-rolling competition and Tetbury’s Woolsack Races. With a harmonious combination of quintessentially English villages, charming provincial market towns, appealing countryside and a wealth of local food-and-drink producers,the Cotswolds is an all-year-round destination, whether for a day trip, a quiet weekend away or a multi-week holiday. Whether your interests comprise formal gardens or crafts, historic buildings or horseriding, walking or gastronomy, Bradt’s Cotswolds (Slow Travel) is your perfect guide to facilitate in-depth exploration and intense enjoyment.

Yorkshire resident, outdoors enthusiast and travel writer Mike Bagshaw has thoroughly updated this new third edition of Bradt’s North York Moors & Yorkshire Wolds, part of Bradt’s award-winning series of Slow travel series of guides to UK regions. It remains the only standalone guide to this region of contrasts. Walkers, cyclists, wildlife-lovers, families, foodies and culture vultures will find everything they need to plan and enjoy time here. From magnificent cliffs and beaches along Yorkshire’s Heritage Coast and rolling hills in the North York Moors (one of the original nine National Parks of England and Wales) to the Wolds’ tranquil chalk grasslands, this region offers remarkable variety. Nestled at its heart is York, probably Britain’s best-preserved medieval city, with its stunning Minster, northern Europe’s largest Gothic cathedral. The region is increasingly popular for outdoors pursuits, which feature strongly in this guide. The Tour de Yorkshire cycle race has helped establish the region as a cycling Mecca. Walkers can explore along ten long-distance footpaths. Sandy beaches, rocky coves, stunning woodlands and heather-clad moors make the destination ideal for families keen to immerse children in nature. Whitby has become a nationally acclaimed centre for whale- and dolphin-watching tours, while wildlife-lovers can also delight in otters and adders, or gawp at ‘seabird skyscrapers’ at Bempton Cliffs, including England’s only breeding colony of gannets, Europe’s largest seabird). This culturally resonant region harbours treats as diverse as steam train journeys across remote moorland (as featured in the Harry Potter and Mission Impossible films), local food and drink (from seafood, meats and cheeses to independent breweries and gastropubs), the Georgian opulence of Castle Howard (of Brideshead Revisited fame), the Goth Weekend festival at Whitby (where Count Dracula made landfall in Bram Stoker’s novel), Britain’s oldest seaside resort (Scarborough), the country’s tallest standing stone (Rudston) and even the purported burial site of Beowulf (Boulby Cliffs). With coverage of places not featured in other guidebooks and extensive practical detail conveyed in an informative yet laidback style, plus an emphasis on car-free travel, Bradt’s North York Moors & Yorkshire Wolds is the optimal guide to this fascinating region.

Before New York Times bestselling author Bill Bryson wrote The Road to Little Dribbling, he took this delightfully irreverent jaunt around the unparalleled floating nation of Great Britain, which has produced zebra crossings, Shakespeare, Twiggie Winkie’s Farm, and places with names like Farleigh Wallop and Titsey.

Slow Travel Yorkshire Dales guide - expert local tips and holiday advice including the best restaurants and pubs, walking, cycling (including the Tour de Yorkshire), Fountains Abbey and Gaping Gill. Also covering the national park, Howgill Fells, Three Peaks Country, Craven, Wharfedale, Swaledale, Wensleydale, Nidderdale and Harrogate.

The book will help you to get the most out of walking the Cotswold Way - perhaps the best loved of the UK's sixteen designated national trails. It’s special for two reasons: it focuses on the Cotswold Way's natural environment and its archaeology and history; and it’s the work of people with great knowledge and experience of the trail: members of the Cotswold Way Association (CWA), the charity set up in 2016 to promote its conservation and protection, and Cotswold Voluntary Wardens who patrol the trail and lead walks on it. Proceeds from the book, available as paperback and eBook, will go towards the trail’s upkeep and improvement. Chapter 1 spells out the book’s aims and illustrates the types of trail improvement the Cotswold Way Association funds. Chapter 2 introduces you to the Cotswolds that are the trail's setting - in particular, their geology, grasslands and woodland, distinctive settlement pattern of small towns and villages, vernacular architecture and historical monuments - ranging from Neolithic barrows and Iron-age hill forts to Roman villas, medieval castles, manor houses and ‘wool’ churches, along with several notable towers and beacons. Chapters 3-12 deal with the typically ten mile or so long stages of the annual Cotswold Way walks that Cotswold Voluntary Wardens lead. Each one draws attention to the stage's main points of interest and beauty, highlighting a major theme such as outstanding flora and fauna or grand estates or impact of the wool trade and cloth making.

With its gentle hills and timeless villages, the Cotswold countryside is a vision of natural beauty and rural calm, but it is also a region rich in history. In this new addition to the Landscapes of the Imagination series, Jane Bingham offers an intriguing portrait of the Cotswolds over the centuries, ranging from ancient stone circles and ruined Roman villas to the Cotswolds today, a picturesque destination spot popular with country-weekenders, tourists, and celebrities. Readers will visit fine churches and manor houses that have survived from the Middle Ages, and tour a landscape still bearing the scars of the Civil War. The home of kings and nobles since Saxon times, the region is famous for its elegant estates, such as Blenheim Palace--England's grandest stately home--while signs of the early industrial age can be seen in its mills and factories. Artists, musicians, and writers were also drawn to this rural paradise, from William Shakespeare and William Morris to T.S. Eliot and Ralph Vaughn Williams. Bingham captures it all in her charming portrait of this glorious spot in the heart of southern England.

This new, thoroughly updated third edition of Yorkshire Dales (Slow Travel), part of Bradt’s series of distinctive ‘Slow’ travel guides to local UK regions, remains the most comprehensive guide to the area and covers the whole of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty plus nearby ‘Slow’ and historic towns and villages. The Yorkshire Dales could have been invented for modern travel. The region’s cinematic caves, valleys, waterfalls and limestone geology are famous round the world. Within a short walk are filmset-perfect traditional pubs and cafés where you are as likely to chat to shepherds as celebrities. The Dales have never been places to hurry. In the new travel world where ‘Slow’, ‘sustainable’ and ‘local’ are many people’s watchwords, this remarkable English region offers much to savour at leisure – like one of its renowned artisan cheeses or beers. Written and updated by two Yorkshire residents and outdoors enthusiasts, Bradt’s Yorkshire Dales complements well-known honeypots (Aysgarth Falls, Malham, Grassington) with off-piste gems that you’ll have to yourself, whether wild swimming spots, hidden caves, Dark Skies sites or traditional stone villages. With hundreds of square kilometres of open-access land to explore, the Dales are one of the UK’s premier hillwalking destinations, hosting much-loved routes such as the Pennine Way, Three Peaks, Dales Way and the recently upgraded Coast to Coast. The Dales have also become known as one of England’s finest places for cycling, whether for family trips, e-bikers or hardcore road racers, prompting hopes that the Tour de Yorkshire will return. Drop in to the Tan Hill Inn, Britain’s highest pub, where sheep regularly warm themselves by the roaring fire; journey into the depths of Gaping Gill, one of Britain’s largest underground chambers; visit book-loving Sedbergh, where even the bus stops have bookshelves; or take a scenic rail trip on the famous Settle–Carlisle line, crossing the country’s longest railway viaduct. History buffs will love medieval castles including Skipton and Richmond, while wildlife-watchers will enjoy the birds of sparkling rivers and limestone-pavement flora. Bradt’s Yorkshire Dales (Slow Travel) is the perfect companion for a successful trip.