Cotswolds tourists told to stay away and visit one underrated county instead (2024)

The Cotswolds are a popular holiday spot (Image: Getty)

Cotswolds tourists have been treated to a behind the scenes glimpse of what life is really like in the picturesque part of the country.

The region in southwest England sits across the boundaries of several counties; Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire.

It is incredibly popular for its quintessentially English bucolic villages with pretty tea rooms, cozy pubs and sprawling countryside.

Thousands flock to the Cotswolds year-round for a taste of the ‘finer things’, which the Spectator’s Adam Hay-Nicholls said has made it “awful”.

He blamed the King for buying Highgrove House in Tetbury in the 1980s, which led to “wannabe poshos” from London buying cottages nearby to rub shoulders with royalty.

Now, it is “an extension of Notting Hill” - Hay-Nicholls said every pub has a six-month waiting list, all the front gardens are coned off to prevent tourists walking on them, and everyone drives a Range Rover.

READ MORE The charming UK village so pretty it's regularly named England's best

Norfolk is a less-popular spot that's just as beautiful (Image: Getty)

He recommended another county to visit that’s less overwhelmed by visitors, saying that “real poshos” would rather visit Norfolk, on the other side of the country.

The top “posh” places to visit (outside of the city of Norwich) are frequently in North Norfolk - Georgian market town Holt, Burnham Market (nicknamed Chelsea-on-Sea) and the Royal estate of Sandringham.

Holidaymakers in the county often pass their time visiting the coast, sailing along the Broads, exploring independent shops, and wandering the expansive countryside.

But, like the Cotswolds, Norfolk is racked by calls to reduce rich out-of-towners being able to buy up all the property, with villages often littered by empty second homes and holiday lets.

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Residents in seaside towns and countryside villages have said that communities are “hollowed out” by the practice, with it “virtually impossible” for locals to buy homes in the areas they grew up in.

And it appears the sour taste of tourism remains in the mouths of locals, as one person who visited Caslte Combe village in the Cotswolds last autumn said in a TripAdvisor review.

She said: "This is a beautiful and picturesque hamlet. A photographer’s paradise. The only problem was the residents. There was one cloths shop and you had to ring the doorbell if you wanted to go in, she came to the door and asked me if I wanted to come in, quite tersely.

"I avoided a sarcastic answer. The shop was tiny and it was difficult to see the items for sale. When we wanted to leave she asked us to ring a bell and she would lock the door behind us which we did. I did asked it there was any public toilets nearby, she pointed to the left and said ‘down there’ and promptly shut the door.

"Apart from that it’s a lovely place to visit."