Top local ingredients coupled with creative rivalry among the region’s renowned chefs (five with Michelin stars) give the Cotswolds gourmet lustre. You can tune into the gastronomic excellence with aplomb by taking part in a cookery workshop at Daylesford, the famously stylish retail haven of organic produce, recherché deli fare and chic homeware near Stow-on-the-Wold. Learn to create sensational dishes with wow-factor looks in a Seasonal Dinner Party class or discover the art of fire-pit cooking, breadmaking and more. Classes include demonstrations, hands-on cooking, recipes and lunch.
How to do it: Daylesford (01608 731620, daylesford.com) offers full-day courses at £210 per person. Stay at sister enterprise, the epicurean Wild Rabbit (01608 692866, wildrabbit.co.uk) with doubles from £225 per night.
Make a brilliant bouquet
Bloomery, based in the village of Broadway, creates fabulous floral designs that showcase natural British garden flowers. This inspiring enterprise was set up in 2019 by the former fashion buyer Allyson Martin who now also runs floral workshops from the company’s studio. Here you can master the art of wreath-making or devising elegant hand-tied bouquets, chatting through the principles of floristry and learning about colour contrasts and scent as you do so. Workshops are in the morning or afternoon, leaving time to explore this especially glorious part of the Cotswolds.
How to do it: Bloomery (07905 272644, bloomery.co.uk) offers bouquet workshops at £83 per person. Stay at the chic Broadway Hotel (01386 852401, broadway-hotel.co.uk), with doubles from £180 per night.
Go exploring by bike
Pedal along the back roads of the northern Cotswolds, taking in some of the region’s most exquisite landscapes and villages – Ebrington, Chipping Campden and Snowshill among them. Cycle the Cotswolds has devised trips that can be car-free, arriving and leaving by train and bringing your own bike or renting one – hybrid (road-mountain bikes) or electric bikes will be delivered to your B&B. Its self-guided four-night Classic Cotswold break starts at Moreton-in-Marsh (complete with a mainline station) and provides options for gentler routes or more vertiginous exertion. Accommodation is in comfy inns or guesthouses.
How to do it: Cycle the Cotswolds (07468 412201, cyclethecotswolds.com) offers four-night trips from £545 per person (based on two sharing a room). Bike hire costs £120 (£165 for an electric bike).