Ye Olde Swan

TV addicts should make their first stop five minutes’ drive away in the market town of Bampton where they can roam the streets of Downton, then travel on to the spectacular Highclere Castle (50 minutes), which doubled as Downton Abbey in the TV series. Poldark fans are in the right spot too... they’ll recognise Chavenage House (a little under an hour away) as Trenwith. There are plenty of old piles nearby that never featured in a costume drama, but that are still well worth a visit: textile designer, poet and activist William Morris’s old house, Kelmscott Manor, is 10 minutes from base, Buscot Park is 15 minutes away, and Blenheim Palace, Broughton Castle, Chastleton House, Sezincote House and Sudeley Castle are all within an hour. For days out in the open, there’s loads to entice too: about an hour away, the national arboretum at Westonbirt and the Highgrove Royal Gardens at Charles’ and Camilla’s private country estate deserve a wander and, if camera fingers are itching, a trip to Castle Combe is a must for trad scenic Cotswold houses and winding streets. Budding zoologists should make the 15-minute trek to the Cotswold Wildlife Park and Garden – a must for exotic animals and for the UK’s largest reptile collection – and twitchers will be all aflutter at Birdland, half an hour away. Want something more high-octane? Get motors revving at the Gloucestershire Rally School, 30 minutes from base, or let things get a little ropey at Head for Heights.