Longborough

With a population of around 470 people, it's genuinely quiet and rural, yet surprisingly well-equipped for visitors.

The main draw for many people is Longborough Festival Opera, which stages a summer season in its own opera house on the village edge. It's a serious cultural attraction that brings opera enthusiasts from across the region, so if you're visiting in summer, check their schedule. The theatre stands in the grounds of a family home, so it is somewhere to go with a ticket for a performance, not a building to look round at other times.

Beyond the opera house, the village has real character in its everyday fabric. St James Church dates to the Norman period and is worth stepping inside if you're interested in local history. You'll find a village pub, the Coach & Horses, and a community-run shop, café and post office. The village won the Bledisloe Cup in 2001 as the best-kept village in its category, which tells you something about the community spirit here.

Location-wise, it works well too. You're positioned between the A424 and the Fosse Way, making it accessible for driving, while the Heart of England Way footpath runs through the parish for those wanting to walk. It's the kind of place where you can easily spend an afternoon exploring, or use it as a quieter alternative to staying in Stow-on-the-Wold itself.

The last major battle of the First English Civil War, the Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold, was fought on 21 March 1646 on the high ground a short distance north-east of the village, where the Royalist army was defeated and driven back into Stow.