Where to live in the Cotswolds?

[Jabbythehutt]

I have a new job in Swindon but I only have to commute in one week out of every three so we can live a little further afield. Seems a good time to fulfill our rural living dream and live in the Cotswolds. We have checked out places from Lechlade/Cricklade/Fairford over to Burford/Bibury, Cirencester, down to Malmesbury/Tetbury. We are a bit overwhelmed! I don’t want to be too cut off so would like to be able to get to a high street with a coffee shop, general store within a few minutes drive, somewhere with enough young families that DD doesn’t feel too isolated. And obviously beautiful countryside nearby for dog walking and riding! Not too much to ask, is it??? Tetbury being a bit further south is looking like a good option, Bibury is lovely but very expensive/touristy. Any suggestions/personal experience would be gratefully received, thank you.

Also, people who have moved somewhere a bit more rural with little ones - anything you didn’t check out before you moved that you wish you had?

We’re about 10 mins from Burford & love it, in Oxfordshire. Rural, small towns & villages, great schools. Love it!

I live in Lechlade and love it. I’ve lived in one other of the other places you mentioned but prefer Lechlade. We have a wide variety of shops you can buy all your day to day stuff easily, and we have cafes hotels a Chinese an Indian a specialist wine shop a take away Pizza shop hairdressers antique shops two dentists a brilliant butcher an excellent GP and there are a surprising number of <a class="break-all" href="//lulechladeonthames.co.uk/living-in-lechlade/clubs-and-societies/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">clubs
etc to suit all ages here. When we first moved to the Cotswolds we were coming from a very rural location nearest shops 7 miles away and my DH wanted to be able to buy a newspaper bottle of wine and an Indian without getting in his car Lechlade fits the bill.
It’s a friendly community but not interfering and there’s lots of dogs it’s very much a dog friendly town. The major draw is the river providing unlimited dog walks you can go as far as you like and best of all no getting in your car to walk the dog, the river is simply beautiful all the year round and there are lots of other walks as well. If you do get in the car then there are numerous stunning walks including Uffington White Horse. I’m told the local primary is excellent and Farmers at Fairford has outstanding results.
I work in Swindon and it’s a 20-25 min journey 35 -40 to the station but I shop in Cirencester 20ish mins away which is a great town the very famous town of Burford is in the other direction approx 20 mins if you have visitors especially from overseas they love it there and it is very pretty and if you like shopping (I don’t) Oxford is about 45-50 mins away parking is a nightmare but there is a very good bus from Faringdon running all day 7 days a week and it stops at the station and Cheltenham is a similar distance. Witney is another largish town with parking closer than Oxford with excellent shops.
There are a variety of houses from the very old to the newly built so something for everyone.
The town due to its location on the Thames is popular with tourists especially at the weekends in the summer and some people don’t like this but it’s the tourists that keep our town alive it’s the reason why we have more shops cafes etc than many bigger villages/town nearby our population is just over 2000 on the last census.
The only downside we used to live close to the sea and you’re a very long way from it here.

I lived in Tetbury for 15 years. The town has changed so much in the last 30 years - there is so much building going on. I have been told that because of the massive increase in residents, the schools and the doctor's surgery are creaking under the strain, so if you pick there you might want to check this out.
My in laws used to live in Lechlade. Lovely place. Far handier for Swindon than Tetbury tbh. None of these places are cheap though. Check out flood prone areas if you pick Lechlade.
I like Malmesbury, but again, the amount of housing built in the last 20 years or so is stunning, so may have the same problem as Tetbury.
Do you definitely want the Cotswolds? Your money may go further on the south side of Swindon. Marlborough and surrounding areas are lovely, and fairly handy for the M4.