Stow on the Wold is a pretty market town, a lovely place to have a wander, with interesting antique shops and great spots to go grab a coffee or stop for lunch.
The truth of it is, many places in the sleepy Cotswolds are more suited to retirees than small children; but that doesn’t mean that you have to avoid this beautiful part of the world until the little ones fly the nest.
Stow is somewhere that is well worth a visit, especially if you are from overseas, but there isn’t much there for children it has to be said. There isn’t even a playground!
We find combining a short trip to the town and then onwards to nearby Cotswold Farm Park is just the ticket to make it more family friendly for a day out.
Visiting
Stow-on-the-Wold
with kids
Where is Stow-on-the-Wold?
Stow-on-the-Wold is a small market town in the north of the Cotswolds, located on the ancient roman road, The Fosse Way (B4455)
The best way to access Stow-on-the-Wold is by car – when travelling with kids the ease of following your own itinerary and time scale is preferred as Stow is very rural. However, Stow-on-the-Wold (Stow) is on a bus route – The nearest towns with connections to Stow are Moreton-in-Marsh and Cheltenham ( bear in mind bus services, especially on Sundays, can be infrequent).
How to access Stow by rail?
Stow does not have its own station. The nearest station would be Moreton-in-Marsh, then Cheltenham, where a taxi or bus could be taken to get to Stow. We do have Uber, but it is still unreliable in these rural parts of the Cotswolds!
Best things to do in Stow-on-the-Wold with kids
Go to Huffkins
The best things to do with kids in Stow is to go to the cafe! As previously mentioned, there is nothing in the town that the average child would find that interesting but ours are always happy with a treat from the cafe – and Huffkins fits the bill! We had a very nice coffee and the amazing breakfast sandwich (pictured) yum!
There are several nice cafes in Stow, another great one being the New England Coffee house, which we have also visited on previous trips (lovely coffee and cakes!)
Go to the pub
This is more for the parents, but it’s one of the top things to do in Stow so I’m adding it anyway – the country pubs in Britain are homely, unique and historic- a must try experience if you are visiting from overseas. In the day time, children are more than welcome in pubs in the UK and are somewhere you can get a drink and some lovely food. The Porch House in Stow is famous for being the oldest Inn in England – dating back to 947 AD! The Porch House has a kids menu and is somewhere nice to get some lunch or dinner when exploring.
The Porch House is our favourite but there are several pubs and restuarants in Stow, including The Stag, The Sheep, The Talbot and The Bell.
Go for a walk around Market Square
I’m going to level with you here – absolutely of no interest to children but the pretty market square is a fine place to window shop, admire the historic buildings and take some lovely photos of the Cotswolds. I really love walking around towns like this, they are so pretty and I enjoy just taking in the quirky shops and Cotswold scenes.
Stow is pretty small so after the cafe visit, a quick stretch of the legs will allow parents to have a quick look at pretty Stow-on-the-Wold, perhaps with a stop at the church (read below) before heading off to what the kids will really be happy to see – the fabulous Cotswold Farm Park.
Visit the Door of Durin (St Edwards Church)
This enchanting looking doorway, found round the back of St Edwards Church in the centre of the village, is said to have inspired Tolkien in the Lord of the Rings – This door is said to resemble the dwarves ‘Door of Durin’.
It’s a pretty picture and worth the quick loop around the church to see one of the Cotswolds’ most instagrammed doors!
Cotswold Farm Park
The farm park is only a 10 minute drive from Stow on the Wold and is a wonderful place to visit with kids, there are of course, lots of farm animals to feed in the feilds- goats, cows, and rare breeds sheep. Our favourites are the Highland cows!
There are three huge barns where you can see small mammals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, and chicks. There is normally a member of staff in here to assist children to safely have a stroke or hold of the animals.
One of the barns is a covered soft play, sand pit and peddle car track, and the third barn houses pigs, sheep and goats – we have played with piglets here in the hay bayles in spring time, which was adorable! This is also where ‘live lambing’ and bottle feeding of the lambs takes place during February, March and April.
There are several play zones around the farm, from the traditional playground favorites of climbing frames, swings and big slides, to huge bouncing pillows, mud kitchens and den building in the forest area, and ride on tractors that you can drive round a track.
There are also normally seasonal events going on, from flower fields, potatoes picking and pumpkin patches – and lots of Christmas activities (the Christmas events are usually extra £)
Top tip: Make sure to wrap up warm! The farm park is on top of a hill and it can get chilly and windy up there.
Cotswold Little Explorers 
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