Are the Cotswolds overrated and what are your UK hidden gems?

[beardedirislover]

Is it me or are the Cotwolds a bit overrated.

Theyre too twe, too stylised, too much black estate fencing that's perfectly painted. It's like disney version of countryside.

Where are your hidden gems in the UK not the normal tourist hotspots?

I come from Gloucestershire so know the Cotswolds quite well. The villages are pretty but generally I think there's far nicer countryside to be found. My personal favourites are Carmarthenshire and the Wye Valley. Both absolutely hauntingly beautiful.

Ditto.
A favourite swimming spot of mine made it onto some 'wild swimming' list and every other bugger was down there for a couple of summers. Fortunately it seems to have fallen back into blissful obscurity - I went down there with a friend last summer and the two of us were the only people there.

We were on holiday once and had a very good look at the map, and decided to try for what looked like an isolated beach that could only be reached on foot. It was wonderful - and then some locals came down expecting to have it to themselves and I felt quite guilty.

Dunster is gorgeous, we discovered it by chance and keep meaning to return.

The Cotswolds is particularly good if you go to the quieter villages.

I love the Wye Valley. It’s beautiful, quirky, luscious and hilly.

Herefordshire is gonna be the new place Mark my words - it’s sublime

I also love Rutland Oundle and Stamford area. Beautiful friendly and good access to the capital without losing rural charm

I’m from Ireland and I dream of seeing the Cotswolds in real life- they look out of this world!

Soho Farmhouse is a poo-hole.

They are very special! But the Emerald Isle takes some beating - never been somewhere so lush before, it's incredible.

And I just never have a bad time whenever Im in Ireland - you're all a hoot!

Cotswolds are probably not for anyone anticipating an activity holiday. Good walking, some twee, nice restaurants.

beardedirislover

The countryside is amazing over there with you too, was very in awe when we went over! Glad you got a good welcome over here!

Cornwall as a holiday destination is, in my opinion, overrated. So many people and so much traffic. Sitting in a car in a traffic jam, trying to find a parking space, then waiting in a massive queue of people to go into a shop or attraction or even worse following a massive queue of people all trying to do the same walk just ruins the experience.
Its like going to see the Mona Lisa - amazing painting but so many people you cant see it or have the peace and quiet to appreciate it.
Best spots in the UK that I have been too and go back too
Northumberland - craster/alnmouth/alnwick/cragside. Eastern side of the Scottish border - melrose/gattonside. Lake district out of season and less popular areas - elterwater/coniston/haweswater

Drove around the Cotswolds for a week 30 years ago with an old friend in a Morris minor and loved it, all quiet tea shops and sheep and little B and Bs. went back a couple of weeks ago and he’s, too many tourists (including me).

Northumberland is so stunning, obviously not undiscovered but it’s breathtaking.

Isle of Man, steam trains, quiet, stunning beaches, castles, great scenery.

dorset, fab county for a pottery.

Pembrokeshire coast ♥️

I completely get where you’re coming from—the Cotswolds can feel a bit too "Theme Park England" with its perfectly manicured hedges and staged aesthetic. If you want something with more soul and less polish, you should head to the Shropshire Hills for that rugged, rolling landscape without the gift-shop crowds, or the Northumberland Coast if you want wild, windswept beaches and crumbling castles that feel genuinely ancient rather than curated. These spots offer that raw, atmospheric beauty of the British countryside where you can actually breathe without tripping over a tour group, giving you a much more authentic "hidden gem" experience.

I live just outside Broadway in the Cotswolds, it’s a beautiful place to live and I love it. Yes, Broadway itself gets heavily overrun with tourists, but that in turn is good for the local economy and jobs. I regularly walk through with DDogs and it’s lovely to see the tourists enjoying it, and in the most part being highly respectful of the surroundings.

There are other beautiful non-touristy villages around, and I’m only 25 mins from Cheltenham too, so not stuck in the middle of nowhere.

I’ve only been here a few months having moved from another part of the country, and wouldn’t change it for the world.

I lived in the Cotswolds but east Gloucestershire area. The Cotswolds is a huge area and quite varied but would i live in the areas people perceive in their mind as the Cotswolds, then no.
I was there 7 years and have never known such unfriendliness, unless you're about 8th generation.

It's too busy with tourists! I also didn't like the 'manicured' look of it including natural hedges. Give me the wilder looks of other counties.

Hertfordshire..lived there too. Hereford itself feels like miles to get anywhere and I think it's why people like the Cotswolds as it's a quick drive from London up M40 or M4. That being said I love the Wye Valley as others have said.

I like the Brecon Beacons as somewhere untouched. (Apologies that I've used English translation).

Another vote for Dunster!

Yes, I remember the thread last year when OP said they had been to the Cotswolds and thought it over-rated but it transpired they had actually been to Soho Farmhouse which of course is not even in the Cotswolds (near the edge but not in it).
Agree, SF is an over-rated dump.

When many people talk of the Cotswolds they are often referring to the tourist traps like Moreton In Marsh, Broadway, Stow On The Wold, Burford, Bourton On The Water, Clarksons Farm etc.
We live on the edge of the Cotswolds (OH was born there) and avoid all the tourist traps but instead go to the secret gems and enjoy the gorgeous walks.
The Cotswolds cover a huge area and several counties so sweeping statements can show a lack of knowledge.

Yes, I think this is what Im getting at.

While beautiful, the 1000s of metres of perfect estate fencing, perfectly painted, every barn renovated, hedges mown perfectly, and all hidden behind electric gates.

Idk, while beautiful, it feels like Disney English countryside, I prefer rickety old fencing, barns where a barn owl might actually nest.

It's beautiful, but doesn't give me that "realness" edge.

I don't think there's much difference from Box, to Tetbury, to Stow... Ive been to them all and it's all pretty manicured and clean... would love to know the hidden spots.

North Norfolk is lovely. I might be naive but I don’t get the feeling of resentment about tourism from local people that you sometimes feel in Wales and Cornwall.

Have you been to Stroud?

Yes... that is an outlier!! But I don't class that as cotswolds, just outside... maybe Im wrong

Over the last few years I've decided to see more of this country and dump the package deals, All Inclusive etc.
I've visited the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland and the New Forest for a week or so at a time. All were absolutely beautiful, and I couldn't choose a favourite from them.
Some people complain about the tourists, but many of these areas wouldn't survive without them. Just read the papers. I totally get it from the locals perspective, especially regarding second homes etc., but those staying in guest houses, pubs etc. are absolutely needed in these areas.
Just planning a trip for May/June and reading some of these responses, Herefordshire is steaming up the list of possibilities...