Cotswold Antiques Tour: A Private Winter Experience

Tour Overview

Full Day (8 hours)

Our Cotswolds antiques tour is a private, driver-guided day for anyone who can’t pass an antiques shop without stepping inside. You’ll spend the morning browsing two of the Cotswolds’ best-known antiques towns, Stow-on-the-Wold and Broadway. The afternoon is spent at Heritage House in Prestbury, a private period home where you’ll handle antiques with an expert and sit down to a Champagne afternoon tea by the fire.

It’s a day we’ve shaped for collectors, keen browsers and anyone fascinated by the craftsmanship and history behind fine antiques.

At a glance

• Duration: full day
• Group size: private tour for 2–7 guests, with your own driver-guide
• Available: Monday to Friday, October 2026 to mid-January 2027
• Includes: morning touring, a hosted afternoon at Heritage House, a Champagne afternoon tea and a Heritage House gift bag for each guest
• Optional extras: a personal antiques shopper for the morning, and a Whisky Library tasting

Morning: antique shopping in Stow-on-the-Wold and Broadway

Your day begins in Stow-on-the-Wold, the old market town whose streets are lined with antiques dealers, galleries and independent shops. There’s time to browse at your own pace, with your guide on hand to share the town’s story.

From there, it’s on to Broadway, the honey-stone village known as the “Jewel of the Cotswolds”. Its High Street is one of the best in the region for art and antiques, with fine art galleries, antiques dealers and independent boutiques. Among them is the showroom of Lennox Cato, furniture specialist on BBC One’s Antiques Roadshow, filled with fine 18th and 19th-century English furniture and decorative works of art. Subject to availability, and by prior arrangement, there may even be the chance to meet Lennox himself.

Staying further south?
We can shape the morning around Tetbury instead, another of England’s great antiques towns.

Afternoon: a private winter afternoon at Heritage House

In the afternoon we head to Heritage House in a historic village near Cheltenham. This is a private period home, opened especially for small groups. In winter the house comes into its own: you’ll arrive through a festively dressed entrance and be welcomed inside with a glass of Champagne, warming fires and candlelight. Then there’s time to discover the house and its history.

Your host, Zoe, has spent more than 35 years in the antiques world. She’ll introduce you to her World of Antiques, which is far from a formal lecture. It’s a relaxed, hands-on session where you can handle pieces, examine marks and craftsmanship, guess their age and purpose, and learn some of the secrets of recognising and buying antiques. Zoe can also tailor the session to your interests, whether that’s vintage costume jewellery, silver plate or crystal, talking you through the history of each piece.

Then it’s time for afternoon tea. The table is dressed with antique china, crystal, silver plate and seasonal decoration. Tea is served on tiered stands, with finger sandwiches, homemade cakes and freshly baked winter treats, and a little more Champagne.

The afternoon is deliberately unhurried, leaving time for conversation by the fire. Almost everything you’ll see at Heritage House is available to buy, from the paintings on the walls to the silver-plated kettle your tea is poured from. Packing and shipping can be arranged for anything you’d like to take home. Each guest leaves with a Heritage House Arabella tote, filled with local treats.

Area Covered

Northern or Southern Cotswolds

Example locations include;

• Chipping Campden
• Broadway Village
• Stow-on-the-Wold
• Tetbury

Lennox Cato of BBC One’s Antiques Roadshow, whose showroom sits on Broadway’s High Street

A Champagne afternoon tea, served on antique china at Heritage House

A festive welcome at Heritage House, with a gift bag for every guest to take home

Your host, Zoe Bawtree, founder of Heritage House, who brings more than 35 years in antiques