Top Ten visitor attractions in England's Cotswolds include Kelmscott Manor, Burford, Bourton, Chipping Norton, Cirencester, Cheltenham, the Tews and Stow-on-the-Wold.

The Cotswolds is one of England's most beautiful areas, with its chocolate-box villages, picturesque cottages, golden-coloured local stone, and gentle limestone hills. It's only about 80 miles northwest of London, and about 20 miles from Oxford, which is easily reached by car, train or bus from London. It's better to allow two or three days than to try to do it in a daytrip, and some of the highlights to take in include (in alphabetical order):

Bourton-on-the-Water

Another picturesque Cotswolds village, where several attractive old stone bridges cross the River Windrush. Try and visit out of season, as it invariably attracts crowds.

Burford

A pretty village whose wide High Street slopes down to a narrow bridge that crosses over the River Windrush. It's beautiful but always busy.

Chastleton House

An early 17th-century country house, built for a rich wool merchant, and one of the finest of its kind in all England. Well worth visiting.

Cheltenham

Not typical of Cotswold towns, Cheltenham's history took a different course in 171 when a spring of medicinal water was discovered, that turned it into a prosperous spa town like Bath, which is about 50 miles south of here. Cheltenham is a busy place, much larger than most in the Cotswolds, with attractive architecture.

Chipping Campden

One of the "must see" little Cotswold towns, made wealthy from the wool trade, whose High Street hasn't changed much in the last few hundred years.

Chipping Norton

One of the larger Cotswold towns, and don't miss the Bliss Tweed Mill with its huge chimneystack – a sign of the wealthy wool trade that made the Cotswolds rich.

Cirencester

The unofficial "capital of the Cotswolds", this is one of the larger and more prosperous towns whose market still thrives – try and visit on Monday or Friday, the two market days.

The Cotswold Way

For long-distance walkers, this runs for 100 miles from Chipping Campden (see above) all the way to Bath.

Kelmscott Manor

The former summer home of designer and artist William Morris is now devoted to his work and tat of other Pre-Raphaelite artists.

Northleach

Another pretty Cotswold village on the River Windrush, but one that hasn't been quite as beseiged by tourists. Don't miss the 15th-century church of St Peter and St Paul, one of the finest in the area.

The Slaughters

Lower Slaughter and Upper Slaughter don't commemorate a gruesome past, but their name comes from an Old English word for a marshy place. They are both unbearably pretty.

Stow-on-the-Wold

Standing at 800ft this is the highest town in the Cotswolds and has long been an important market centre. Its old marketplace still stands, and leading into it are several narrow alleys which were built that way to direct herds of sheep into the market square.

The Tews

Great Tew and Little Tew are two more Cotswold villages that couldn't be prettier if someone tried to design them that way.