Postcard from Castle Combe

As we drove through the tiny street of this picturesque village, we felt as if we were entering a world of the 80s. Something similar to what they show in the movies. It was dark, the vintage honey-colored houses were lit up and everything looked so magical. Today, we want to share our experiences with you and provide a complete Travel Guide to Castle Combe.

Castle Combe is one of the villages in Cotswold and is named the prettiest village in England. Some of the other famous and pretty Cotswold villages are Bibury, Burford, Broadway, and Lower Slaughter. Obviously, if you have just a couple of hours in hand and could visit only one of the Cotswold villages, it has to be Castle Combe!

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Keep in mind that the village itself is pretty small and the main street gets over in about 200 meters. So, if you enjoy being on your feet and have a list of to-do activities planned during your trip, Castle Combe will disappoint you. It’s a place where you should plan to spend hours enjoying your lunch, go on a short walk/hike around the area, take numerable coffee breaks and just do nothing. Lazy mornings and afternoons are the best in this part of the world! Alternatively, you can plan to combine Castle Combe with other parts of Cotswold and make a road trip out of it.

Travel Guide to Castle Combe

Reaching there & planning your trip

• Castle Combe is about 2 hours drive away from London. It is perfect for a weekend road trip if you are living there.
• For others, our advice would be to combine this village with your trip to London in such a way that you can spend a day exploring this beautiful village.
• Alternatively, you can fly to Bristol airport and drive down as it’s just an hour’s drive from the airport. You can plan to include Bath on your way back. It is only a 30 minutes drive from Castle Combe and a 45-minute drive to Bristol airport.
• Between Ireland and UK, the flight rates are extremely affordable. You can get tickets for as low as 20 euros per person, one way! In our dictionary, that’s a steal.
• Castle Combe is very touristy and visiting in peak season would mean loads of people around. Of course, if you want to get a photo of that famous view across the bridge you have to wake up early. We visited in autumn, which means fewer tourists and amazing fall colors all around. Of course, this also meant extremely cold weather (unfortunately for us, there was a cold wave in the UK that weekend and we were freezing).

Accommodation & food

• Since the village is very touristy, accommodation can be expensive (prices start at 100 euros during the off-season). We chose to stay in a cozy Airbnb in Grittleton, which is about 3 miles away from Castle Combe and paid 70 euros for the night.
• Castle Combe has a handful of pubs and small restaurants where you can spend hours enjoying your meal. However, Grittleton has just one pub. Since it was a Saturday night, we had to make a reservation for dinner. If you are a vegetarian, you will not find a lot of options.

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A day trip from London is best suited for this tiny village. Do read about our experiences and things to do in London. 

Planning a trip to UK Ireland region? Read about our posts on Scottish Highland, Edinburgh, 5 tips on travel to Ireland, 10 awesome things to do in Dublin, Cliffs of Moher, and many more.