In the area around Lower Mill Estate, there are hundreds of local events to enjoy: festivals, markets, exhibitions, performances, country fairs and seasonal celebrations. Experiment with Cajun and Zydeco music at the biggest gathering of its kind in the UK; visit festivals of cricket, jazz, literature, music and science; or watch more eccentric entertainment, such as 6-a-side football – played in the river at Bourton-on-the-Water. And the perfect end to a memorable day? Knowing that the quiet and luxury of the estate awaits.

In addition to our onsite restaurant, Ballihoo, we are surrounded by wonderful, award-winning country pubs.

The source is marked by a solitary stone with the inscription:

THE CONSERVATORS OF THE RIVER THAMES
1857 -1974
THIS STONE WAS PLACED HERE TO MARK THE
SOURCE OF THE RIVER THAMES

Why not take a leisurely walk or bike ride with the family to the source of the river Thames, and stop off for lunch at a traditional English Cotswold pub.

The Cotswolds have always been looked upon as the Heart of England. It is one of the few regions with an architectural style all of its own, with its typical steeply pitched roofs, stone mullions and dormer windows. Built almost exclusively in warm yellow Cotswold stone, this delightful village has a unique appeal to visitors and residents alike.

Regularly voted one of the prettiest villages in England. Bourton-on-the-Water has more than its share of Cotswold houses and cottages, many of them three hundred years old, some dating back to Elizabethan times four hundred years ago.

Ballooning in the Cotswolds offers you the opportunity to fulfil ambitions or to share the experience of a lifetime. Drift slowly with the wind over the beauty of the Cotswold Landscape and enjoy the unique combination of exhilaration and serenity that you will discover aboard a hot air balloon flight.

A balloon ride from one of our launch sites at Cirencester, Stroud, Bourton-on-the-Water or Cotswold Water Park near Swindon will be a flight to remember. The experience will be celebrated with a glass of Champagne and Flight Certificate.

Cotswold Wildlife Park is set in 160 acres of parkland and gardens around a listed Victorian manor house and has been open to the public since 1970.

The Park is home to a fascinating and varied collection of mammals, birds, reptiles and invertebrates from all over the world, and aspires to show animals to people – so that they can come to understand and respect all forms of wildlife; to understand what is special about each species, and how the various species have evolved over very long periods of time, adjusting to survive in habitats from many parts of the earth.

Visitors of all ages to the Cotswold Farm Park will be in for a treat when they find themselves amongst an unrivalled group of British farm rare breeds including sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, horses, poultry and waterfowl.

Other attractions include farm safari rides, an indoor tractor school, a soft play area and adventure playground, a farm nature trail and seasonal demonstrations such as lambing in the spring. Facilities include toilets, a gift shop and a restaurant.

One of the most spectacular tree collections in the world. A place to relax and recharge, a place to learn, and a resource for science.

The diversity and vibrancy of leaf colours to be found at Westonbirt are unsurpassed in Britain creating a botanical experience like no other.

Visit a working trout farm –
Bibury Trout Farm is one of Britain’s oldest, and certainly most attractive, trout farms, spread across 15 acres in one of the most beautiful valleys in the Cotswolds, the Coln Valley.  The crystal-clear waters of the Bibury Spring provide the essential pure water required to run the hatchery which spawns up to six million trout ova every year.

Visit the Corinium Museum and step back in time. Learn what the Romans did for us, and how life wouldn’t be the same without them! Take a peek through a Roman townhouse, and enjoy the sights and smells of our Roman garden. Marvel at the stunning mosaics, and experience what it was like to be a Roman soldier.

The Corinium Museum has one of the finest and most extensive Roman collections in the country. Corinium, Roman Cirencester, was the second largest Roman town outside London and the major Roman administration centre for south-western Britain.