Cassington

The village itself is modest and genuinely quiet—the kind of place where you'll see locals out walking rather than crowds of visitors.

The main draw is the landscape and rivers. The Thames Path runs through the village, giving you walking routes with views across water meadows where you might spot kingfishers and herons if you're patient. The Evenlode arrives here after flowing down from near Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswold Hills, and it's shaped this area for centuries. Interestingly, locals called it the River Blade until the late 1890s, which is why you see that name echoed in nearby places like Bladon.

For longer walks, you can follow the Evenlode Valley north-west through villages such as Charlbury and Shipton-under-Wychwood, tracing the river's 45-mile route through Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. The village's proximity to Oxford also means you can easily spend time here as part of a wider visit to the city.

This is genuinely a place to come if you want peace and the chance to spend time by the water, rather than somewhere geared towards tourism.