As our first day in the Cotswolds was waning, Julia drove us to Chipping Campden to check into our Airbnb.  Just a few weeks earlier, Julia and I were on a FaceTime call, looking at potential places to stay during our trip.  She had sent me a few vacation rentals and National Trust properties, and I had done some browsing as well.  We hadn’t settled on anything, though.  We were looking for a place that was historic, which isn’t too hard to find in the Cotswolds, but beyond that, we had a few other things on our list.  It needed parking, at least two rooms, three beds, and stairs that were reasonable for my mom to climb.  We also wanted a washer & dryer, so mom and I could do laundry before leaving for Italy.  While the goal wasn’t to find the best bargain, we hoped to find something reasonable when split three ways.

I had no idea about the geography of the Cotswolds and which villages would be desirable places to stay, but I couldn’t help taking a closer look at an adorable thatched cottage with a blue door and dry-stacked stone wall.  It looked like it was right out of a storybook illustration.  Julia and I looked over the details together.  She gave her stamp of approval.  “I think you found a cracker.”

It was historic, charming, had two bedrooms and three beds, one flight of stairs, a washer, WIFI, and parking.  It was in a desirable location and came with a private parking spot.  It ticked all of our boxes, had great reviews, and was surprisingly affordable.  We wouldn’t have been able to stay in a hotel for the price we paid.  So, we rented Rose Cottage No. 2 in Chipping Campden.  You can find the listing HERE.

We entered the property from the back, through a gate into the back garden that housed a laundry line, a bistro table, and chairs.  The back walkway wound between a couple of small stone outbuildings, down a few narrow stairs, to a glass vestibule where Julia found the box that held the keys to get inside.

The cottage was true to the pictures and a perfect place to stay for a few days.  We felt we might need an Enigma machine to crack the Wi-Fi password, but we finally figured it out after several attempts.  There was a small fridge in the kitchen where we could keep water bottles, butter, jam, and the raspberries I bought earlier in the day, and there was a small ice tray in the freezer so I could make ice for my insulated water bottle.

The living room (or “lounge”) had a large hearth stocked with wood for a fire.  Books about the Cotswolds, along with a few novels, were leaning on a small shelf under the stairs.  The furniture was cozy and comfortable, but not too perfect.  Everything was just as a thatched cottage in the Cotswolds should be.

There was even an apple tree in the front yard.

The beds upstairs were comfortable, and we all slept well during our stay.  In the mornings, we would sit around the kitchen table and have fresh bread with butter, classic English cakes and pies Julia picked up for us to try, and raspberries from the market in Cirencester.   Julia would pull out her handwritten list of things to do, and we would make plans for our day.  During this morning ritual, we would wash the clothes we had worn the previous day and hang them on the radiators to dry while we toured the countryside.  We learned the day we left that the cottage did have a dryer, but it was in the garage and we couldn’t find it (and weren’t sure if we had access to it, anyway.)  It didn’t matter in the end because the radiators did their work and the clothes were dry by the end of each day.

Each night before bed, Julia brought out a bottle of port she received as a birthday gift, and I fetched the bag of dark chocolate chips I brought from home.  We would sit in the lounge with the lights low, drink a small glass of port, and snack on a handful of dark chocolate while we chatted about the day and life.

We didn’t spend a ton of time at the cottage since we had so many places to see and things to do, but it was nice to have a home base that was so charming and beautifully situated.  This was the view from the front door…

I’ll tell you what, the Cotswolds are serious about their hedges.

The cottage was a great home away from home, and I would definitely recommend it to others staying in the area.

For our first dinner, we ate at a local pub in Chipping Campden.  There isn’t much to write about because it was a very average meal.  We struck out when it came to finding really delicious, authentic English food.  The good news is we hit it out of the park with our other meals in the Cotswolds, and I will share about beef pie perfection and the most amazing scones, jam, and clotted cream.  That’s all for another post.

I’ve known Julia for over six years, but we’ve never met in person.  We met online and grew our friendship through phone and video calls, mostly over our mutual love of antiques, art supplies, history, and creative endeavors.  It’s always a little risky to commit to spending several days and nights with someone whom you’ve never met in real life. Even though we’ve been an ocean apart, we easily fell into a comfortable routine as roommates in the cottage and travel companions.  I didn’t expect anything else, but it was still nice how familiar it all felt.

If you don’t already follow Julia on Instagram, you can find her HERE.

As we sat around the kitchen table for a late breakfast on day two, we decided to start with a tour of Hidcote Manor, a local National Trust property.

You can read about that trip HERE.

You can find my other posts about our trip in the Cotswolds below –

Arrival & Burford | “gateway to the Cotswolds”

Bibury, Barnsley, & The Pig

Cirencester, Seasalt Cornwall, and Bourton-on-the-Water

Hidcote Manor | National Trust Home & Garden