A First Visit To Bourton On The Water

 I love a road trip in the UK so recently we had a few days in Oxford, somewhere I've blogged about a few times before. I've even shared a travel guide so if you want any tips or recommendations for the beautiful city of Oxford make sure you check that out. Whilst we were there we decided to venture to Bourton-on-the-Water early one morning for the first time and I absolutely loved it. Bourton-on-the-Water is known as the Venice of the Cotswolds & it's become one of the most famous places in this beautiful area and I can totally see why. It's such a picturesque village full of charming stone bridges, a light flowing river and an abundance of cosy cottages, shops and cafes. It of course gets very busy so we got there for around 10am which I'm very glad about as it meant we got to see it all when it was nice and quiet and we could really take it in.We started our morning with a visit to Bakery on the Water. This was already quite full by the time we arrived but luckily we managed to grab a seat so we could enjoy some breakfast and coffee. The coffee was lovely and the pastries were delicious! I had a rough idea of some places I wanted to go to while we were there but it was actually really nice to just walk around and see what we found on the way. There are some lovely homeware shops full of trinkets and quirky items and you'll also find some old fashioned sweet shops which are always a must if you have a sweet tooth. After some time shopping and exploring we headed to Smith's for lunch. I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen this restaurant recommended online so it was one of our priorities this trip. They don't open until 12pm so we got there just after opening and it was already filling up so be prepared to queue for a seat if you visit. It's so so worth it though. They're known for their burgers and it was genuinely the best burger I've ever had in my life! We decided to get a few things to share this time so we went for the Bearnaise Bad Boy which was a smashed burger topped with Bearnaise Mayo, pickled shallots, parmesan, truffle shoestring fries, smoked cheddar and bacon. I'm desperate to recreate it at home but I already know it just won't compare. We also shared their classic fries and mac & cheese which were both delicious too. This will 100% be the first place we visit next time!By the afternoon Bourton-on-the-Water was really filling up so I'm glad we ticked most things off our list that morning. We had spotted the Motor Museum and Model Village that morning but we've held off on those until next time. After grabbing another coffee for the journey back to Oxford, we took a small detour to Daylesford Farm Shop which was by far the fanciest farm shop I've ever been too. Definitely the most expensive too. All of the homeware bits were gorgeous and there's just so much to see as you walk round, it's all set out really well. We grabbed a few cinnamon buns (which were amazing) for the next day and some fancy dog treats for Bear & Paddington before driving back to Oxford through some of the other Cotswold villages like Stow-on-the-Wold.I absolutely loved our first visit to Bourton-on-the-Water and can't wait to return one day. There were so many other cafes, restaurants and shops still left for us to explore and I'd love to stay in the village next time as a base point and travel out to some of the other Cotswolds areas. Let me know if you have any recommendations for anything Cotswolds related, I'm already starting to plan the next trip!

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