Best Route for a 3-Day Cotswolds Road Trip in 2026

Want to do a Cotswolds road trip this year? Here’s my route, my highlights and my top tips for your trip planning.

Last weekend my boyfriend and I went on a 3-day Cotswolds road trip, which you could totally narrow down to 2 days in the Cotswolds, or a Cotswolds day trip. Doing a road trip in the Cotswolds had been a dream for a while now, but for some reason, with all my travels, I’d never actually got round to it. 

This did mean I’ve had a long time to plan though, so with this Cotswolds road trip itinerary, you can be sure I’ve sought out the best places. I studied blogs and sites to make sure we weren’t missing out. You can do this road trip in the Cotswolds in three days, but there’s always much more to see, so use it as your guide! 

– Read on for the best Cotswolds driving itinerary, to see as much as possible

I’d been loaned the Citroën C3 Aircross from Citroën and so we wanted to put it through its paces. It’s a compact SUV, so the Cotswolds seemed like the perfect opportunity to test out the stability and durability, and the sound system. 

After Ben’s work finished on the Friday I picked him up in Southampton ready to head off onto our Cotswolds road trip. We drove up to the Mercure Bowden Hall in Gloucestershire. We were actually meant to share the driving but I was enjoying it so much, I hogged the wheel.

We had two nights in two different hotels on our 3-day Cotswolds road trip, two nights that I’d spent way too long researching for the best deal. Very happy with both though, and would totally recommend. More info below. 

Map for 3 days in the Cotswolds