Think in areas rather than one giant loop
The Cotswolds stretches across several counties and contains distinct clusters of towns and villages. A text-based area guide remains useful even when an interactive map fails to load or is difficult to use on a small screen.
North Cotswolds
Chipping Campden, Broadway, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold and surrounding villages form one of the most popular visitor clusters.
Central Cotswolds
Bourton-on-the-Water, the Slaughters, Northleach and nearby attractions sit within a practical central touring area.
South and central-south Cotswolds
Cirencester, Bibury, Tetbury, Painswick, Stroud and the Cotswold Water Park offer a different mix of Roman history, market towns, valleys, gardens and lakes.
Gateway places
Oxford, Cheltenham, Bath, Gloucester and Stratford-upon-Avon are not interchangeable with the rural Cotswolds, but they can be useful transport, accommodation or wider-itinerary gateways.