Where?
In red trouser-black labrador country, it’s the “capital of the Cotswolds”, 15 miles south of Cheltenham, 36 miles west of Oxford and 90 miles west of London.
Why?
It’s extremely pretty — a honey-coloured-stone town with a handsome, wide market square and narrow medieval streets with lots of half-hidden passageways and courtyards, each revealing quirky shops and cafés. It’s in a jewel of a setting and, being smaller than Cheltenham, is compact enough to walk around. In fact, everywhere you go you can be pretty sure that under your feet are the mosaics of villas from its days as Corinium, the second largest town in Roman Britain.
Market Place in the heart of Cirencester
ALAMY
Is it well connected?
Not bad road-wise; less good for trains. The M4 is 20 minutes’ drive
