The Cotswolds boast magnificent gardens like that of Hidcote Manor & grand houses such as Blenheim Palace, home to the Duke of Marlborough. There are also attractions that have an educational element, these include the Oxford University Botanic Gardens, Slimbridge Wildfowl & Wetlands Centre and the many museums dedicated to the history of the Cotswolds. Whatever you decide to do you will be rewarded with a great day out.

The Cotswolds has a fascinating history. The first Neolithic visitors came to the Cotswolds at about 3500BC. There are great monuments to the way of life over the area and these consist mainly of the many long barrows, the burial tombs of which there is evidence of about seventy in Gloucestershire, and monuments left behind from the Iron ages can be seen from afar. The Iron Age people were the engineers of the impressive hill forts or camps such as those at Little Sodbury, Uleybury and at Crickley Hill. The Roman Legions arrived in AD43, and there is excellent remains at Cirencester including a section of the town wall and a large amphitheatre close to the hospital. The Saxons arrived from Germany in the fifth century, the name given to the Cotswolds is said to be of Saxon origins. A hill farmer with the name "Cod" was reputed to be the source of the Cotswold name, and wold being the high land on which he farmed, hence Cod's Wold. There have been many archeological discoveries throughout the area and some of the most important finds can be seen at Corinium Museum in Cirencester and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

More information: http://www.thecotswoldgateway.co.uk