I visited UK’s ‘prettiest village’ — one thing put me off as soon as I arrived | UK | Travel
I visited the ‘prettiest village in England’ but one thing put me off as soon as I arrived (Image: Steffan Rhys)
According to the poet and artist William Morris, I am standing in “the most beautiful village in England”. Morris founded the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain in the 19th century, so I can accept he knew what he was talking about when it comes to beauty. And he’s not wrong about Bibury, a tiny but stunningly beautiful village in the Cotswolds, a little north-east of Cirencester. I’d seen several pictures of the village before arriving and honestly suspected some camera trickery by a skilled photographer — surely it couldn’t be that pretty in real life?
It could. Try to picture the quintessential British village crossed with Harry Potter, or imagine what an American sees when they think of a rural British village, and you’d be thinking along the right lines — but still probably not getting close to just how pretty it is.
Arlington Row, a row of weavers’ cottages built of local stone next to the River Coln in Bibury (Image: Getty)
It is a charming, cute, fairytale and has a strong claim to be the crown jewel even of an area as beautiful as the Cotswolds. It’s even featured in UK passports.
The river Coln runs peacefully through the heart of the village, crossed by a couple of low stone bridges. Cows graze on grassland beside the road near the Swan Hotel, which dominates the village centre (and also has what might be the most beautiful beer garden in Britain) and the Bibury Trout Farm breeds fish that are sold and eaten in restaurants all over the Cotswolds (including Jeremy Clarkson‘s pub, The Farmer’s Dog — you can read about my visit here).
The beer garden of the Swan Hotel, surrounded by the gentle waters of the river Coln (Image: Steffan Rhys)
The Swan Hotel is the most imposing building in the centre of Bibury (Image: Getty)
But the real showstopper in Bibury is Arlington Row, a row of cottages originally built of local stone in 1380 next to the River Coln as a monastic wool store before being converted to weavers’ cottages in the 17th century. It is probably the most photographed street in the Cotswolds, possibly even the country.
Life’s stresses melt away as you walk the narrow road (also called Awkward Hill) beside the cottages, first crossing a narrow stone bridge over the river. I tried to tread the fine line between respecting the fact that these are people’s homes and staring open-mouthed at how gorgeous they are. Hopefully, the people lucky enough to live here enjoy the fact that, like Buckingham Palace, thousands of people take pictures of their homes every day.
Arlington Row is one of the most photographed streets in the country (Image: Getty)
And people are very keen to grab a photo of the scene for the memories (and social media channels) (Image: Getty)
And that brings me to the one thing about Bibury that is a bit off-putting: the number of tourists here is way out of proportion to the size of the village and its ability to cope with them. The 600 or so people who live here are sharing these narrow lanes and pretty fields with coaches, tour groups and day-trippers every day — thousands of them.
One resident, Lynn Edward, who has lived in Bibury for six years, told The Guardian earlier this year: “We have such a beautiful place that we want to share, but the level of tourism and the hordes of people that come has just made it entirely unpleasant, and the infrastructure doesn’t really cope with it.
“All they want to do is come and take a photograph. They don’t stay in the village. They don’t linger enough to really ingest the beauty and historic value of the place. It’s literally, I think, to take a selfie.”
There is heavy traffic along the narrow lanes of Bibury, despite how small the village is (Image: Steffan Rhys)
Cars are parked in long lines on the main road through Bibury, beside the river Coln (Image: Steffan Rhys)
I knew Bibury was a tourist attraction; it was the reason I was here as a tourist. But I didn’t appreciate just how many people there would be on a weekday afternoon. But the signs were there immediately, with groups of tourists strolling in the middle of the road, long lines of parked cars beside the river, several different languages from all over the world to be heard and people of all nationalities standing on Bibury’s pretty stone bridges to grab a selfie (some didn’t even bother moving when it was clear others wanted to get across, instead taking their time to get that perfect shot for Instagram).
In fact, some claim the rocketing number of visitors to Bibury is down to the boom in travel and tourism influencers on social media, especially TikTok, a relatively new platform.
A relentless stream of tourists walks beside the cottages on Arlington Row (Image: Steffan Rhys)
A sign describes how Arlington Row was bought and repaired by the Royal Society of Arts in 1929 (Image: Steffan Rhys)
There’s even a large car park on the outskirts of the village, where visitors are charged £5 to park before strolling into the heart of the village. There is enough space for 300 cars but business owners say this is not enough on some days. The narrow lane between the car park and the village is a tight squeeze when trying to cope with two-way traffic as well as all the tourists on foot.
While many people would be pleased at the economic benefit brought by so many tourists, many in the village don’t seem convinced that’s even happening. Victoria Summerley, a journalist and author who has lived in the village since 2012, says: “[The villagers] would say [the tourists] don’t put any money into the village.”
It is clearly a difficult balance. While tourism can bring benefits and people are often proud to share the beauty of where they live with visitors, it is understandable that villagers who call Bibury home are frustrated by the extent to which Bibury has now become a tourist attraction.
It is undoubtedly a staggeringly beautiful place, and lives up to its billing as “the most beautiful village in England”, even considering the amount of competition in the Cotswolds alone. So if you do visit, please try and be as respectful as possible of the people who live here.
Things to do in Bibury
Arlington Row
A row of cottages originally built of local stone in 1380, next to the River Coln, is probably the most photographed street in the Cotswolds, possibly even the country. A short circular route runs from the Swan Hotel to the cottages and back along a track to the hotel.
Bibury Trout Farm
Bibury Trout Farm is one of Britain’s oldest trout farms. Founded in 1902, you will find its trout on the menu in restaurants around the Cotswolds. It is open to the public while being a working trout farm producing hundreds of thousands of trout (brown, blue and rainbow) a year. It also has an on-site smokery. You can buy the trout on site and in the village shop. Entry to the farm costs £9 for adults.
Swan Hotel
The beautiful Swan Hotel is perhaps the most prominent building in Bibury, its walls covered in greenery. You can stay here or simply book a table for lunch or dinner. It also has arguably the most beautiful beer garden in Britain, with deckchairs set almost on an island surrounded by the tranquil River Coln.
Eleven Bibury
With interiors designed by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Eleven Bibury is a mixture of cafe, restaurant, art space and shared working space just across the main road from the river. Grab a brunch, a slice of cake or coffee and escape the crowds of tourists outside.
