England #13 - Bibury, Most Photographed Village in England in The England Chronicles - September 2024

(Sunday September 15, 2024)

We watched a whole lot of YouTube videos before our England trip — mostly of the Lake District since that’s where we thought we were going, but the extra week after the cancelled flight drama and before we left for real was packed with Cotswolds videos. Bibury was always top of the list for must-see places. It’s quite close to Chedworth - 14 minutes according to the map, although it seemed a lot longer since it was teeny little narrow B roads so I was constantly pulling over every time I met another car. There are rules about who pulls over and who gets to go on those one-lane roads, but my rule was I pull over and everyone else gets to go because I was a nervous American driver! By then I was not that nervous at all and zipping around on the little narrow roads was lots of fun, but I still didn’t like figuring out who actually had the right of way. Much easier to just give way, and I became a pro at it!

Point being, Bibury was an obvious first-day destination. And it is a gorgeous and very historic little village which was listed in the Domesday Book in 1086, although it was called Becheberie then. It’s full of beautiful old gold-stone buildings and the River Coln winds through the town. It’s also home of Arlington Row, which is a street of buildings built in 1380 as a wool store for a monastery, then turned into cottages for weavers in the 1600s. Arlington Row is the highlight of Bibury and is usually what you see when you see picturesque photos of the town. 

The other thing Bibury is full of is….tourists! We were there in mid-September, which is not the height of tourist season, and it was really really crowded. The parking area was full as were the sides of the road going to it, but there was a big field with more parking a little further on that we snagged a spot in. The road through town and to the parking area was packed with cars and tour buses, and there were people everywhere. Which was NOT a big shock - we were totally expecting it to be crowded since it is the most photographed village in England!

We started out by walking up the street that doesn’t go to Arlington Row. This is an old mill house which is a private residence now. 

 And there were scads of gorgeous gold stone houses all along our route! 

The Catherine Wheel is a restaurant which we didn’t actually visit, but it’s very picturesque.    

Well I thought the object below is an actual Catherine Wheel, but in looking up the Catherine Wheel I have learned it’s an instrument of torture that does in fact look like a wagon wheel. So I don’t know what the instrument below actually is, or why the restaurant is called Catherine Wheel! We didn’t even eat there, just strolled by it, but it was very pretty. 

   Random attractive dining establishment: (**and a note much later to say…this isn’t in Bibury - it’s in Bourton-on-the-Water!! Oooops)

 The little area below is part of the Swan Hotel. When we first arrived there were a few people hanging out in the lounge chairs, which made them look like they were on display for all us tourists to ogle. I can’t imagine why they left! It is an odd spot for relaxing since the main thoroughfare is right where I took this picture from, and the busy road to the parking area is alongside that white van. 

You can either go to Arlington Row from the Main Street, or take a path through a wooded area beside a field that comes out at the top of the row. We took that option. You can see a whole bunch of parked cars along the Main Street here: 

Looking at these pictures I’m a little surprised that there aren’t !!!MORE TOURISTS!!! But there really were quite a lot. However, if you look at videos of Bibury during the height of tourist season you will see nothing but a sea of tourists taking pictures. So this is a pretty reasonable crowd!
 

The street (which is actually named The Street) that goes along the river and past the lower entrance to Arlington Row. With lots of swans!

 And finally, our lunch spot - I noted in my journal that I had a cappuccino and a Cheddar and Chutney roll, and I recall that it was delicious, but I managed to not note the restaurant. It was right by the Trout Farm. Maybe it was the Trout Farm’s cafe? It was right on the street and a very nice spot. There were a lot of diners but we were able to grab a table. It did take ages to get the cappuccinos -you had to order them separately from the food - but it was all delicious and a nice spot to relax for a bit.  

SO my assessment of Bibury is that it was WELL worth a visit, touristy or not. It did seem more like a model village than somewhere people actually live. Arlington Row has signs about not walking in people’s yards, but of course the tourists are trampling all over everyone’s yards to take pictures. I am glad we went and would love to go back again although I’d pick an even more off-season time to do it. 

After Bibury it was onwards to our first of more-than-we-expected visits to the lovely Bourton-on-the-Water!