#OMGB Great Value Travel to London – Day 4

Cotswold, Moreton-in-Marsh, Tilly’s Tea House, Bourton-on-the-Water, Bath, Rajpoot Indian Restaurant, Edgar Townhouse Hotel

Day 4 Summary

• Breakfast in Bed at Marlborough House
• Take train to Cotswold to visit Moreton-in-Marsh
• Walk around Moreton-in-Marsh
• Lunch at Tilly’s Tea House
• Take bus to Bourton-on-the-Water
• Take train to Bath
• Dinner at Rajpoot Indian Restaurant
• Rest at Edgar Townhouse Hotel

Breakfast in Bed at Marlborough House

Woke up to the softest knock on the door that morning. The sunlight was already shining through the little gap between the curtains when I realized that it was 8am and someone was knocking gently on my door. Ah, breakfast came to mind…

At Marlborough House, one is served breakfast in bed! What a treat because I have never been served breakfast in bed. And I opened my door to a delicious aroma of an English breakfast set that looked so inviting.

Juicy thick Cumberland sausage, tender bacon, crispy hash brown, scrambled eggs, baked beans, mushroom and grilled tomatoes with toast, yoghurt and juice was definitely a full on breakfast guaranteed to charge one up for the day.

A quick showered, I packed up my luggage and lugged it to the front desk as they would store them for us as we were already checking out that day to head to Bath in the evening.

Moreton-in-Marsh, Cotswolds

Though the weather was grey and wet that morning, it didn’t deter our excitement as we couldn’t wait to explore Moreton-in-Marsh, a principal market town in northern Cotswolds. If you’re looking to explore Cotswolds on your own, it would be a great idea to buy the Cotswolds Discoverer Pass where you can travel all day on bus and train to all the towns in that area.

Adult fare cost £10 for 1-day pass.

We took the Great Railway Train from Oxford Station to Moreton-in-Marsh which was about 30 mins or so comfortably. Upon arrival, we went exploring in the quaint township that has a wide main street and many smaller lanes filled with lots of shops, pubs and inns.

Can’t resist peeking into this florist, Allium simply because the shop was filled with gorgeous blooms in every colors!

We made a quick stop at the Moreton Area Center to get more details of the town and even picked some memorabilia. More information available here.

Moreton Area Centre

High Street

Moreton-in-Marsh

Gloucestershire

Tel: 01608 650 881

Fax: 01608 651542

Email: moreton@cotswold.gov.uk

Website: www.cotswold.gov.uk

There were quite a few antique shops too along the main streets.

Redesdale Market Hall

Along the Redesdale Market Hall, there is a weekly Tuesday market with more than 200 stalls so do visit them if you happen to be there on Tuesday.

We headed over to a popular tea room that is simply a must-visit but before that, we passed a super cute Wellington boot shop! Available in vibrant colors and design, I almost couldn’t resist getting one…

There was also a lovely toy shop and a small grocery store filled with fresh vegetables and meat as well as delicatessen products.

Tilly’s Tea Room

Scones are such a British treat. I was never really a fan of scones although there are some nice tea shops in Malaysia that are renowned for their scones and tea. Most of the time I find the single-serving quick bread a tad too dry for my liking. Plus I have never had scones with clotted cream too since it is quite hard to find clotted cream back home.

Then I walked into Tilly’s Tea House and that day changed my mind about scones. Tilly’s Tea House is pretty much favorite hotspot tea house that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch for locals as well as tourists. The charming tea house is simply one of those places that one feels at ease the moment you walked in. It reminded me of someone’s family business where you know that the food is cooked from home cooks handed down from someone’s grandmother’s recipes.

The counter holds plenty of treats snacks and sweets and I was so excited that I literally wanted to try everything. Huge Pasties with various filling, large savory pies, gorgeous looking quiches, freshly baked bread on one side while the other side of the counter was filled with sweet desserts of Lemon Drizzle, large doughnuts, muffins, prettiest cupcakes, cakes and more.

They also sell lots of local made jams, fruit curds, fudge, tea and more. It was so tempting to buy them all…

We settled down and got ourselves a table by the window overlooking the main street. The menu was filled with lots of my favorite food so choosing two-course for lunch was harder that I thought because everything looked so tempting from the display counters earlier.

Had fun filming Alice as she was digging into her luscious warm fruit scones slathered with a generous amount of house made strawberry jam and thick creamy clotted cream… she also shared some with me and boy-oh-boy, the scone was superb!! Moist, fluffy and melt-in-the-mouth with a buttery finish, the scones with the rich clotted cream and not so sweet jam was indeed the Best scones that I have ever had.

I opted for Chicken Pie that comes with chef’s salad and coleslaw at £4.95 and dessert of Sticky Toffee Pudding with Clotted Cream at £3.95 while Alice had Tilly’s Cream Tea at £4.95.

Though my Chicken Pie was delicious with its buttery short pastry and cream chicken filling, I was secretly wishing for the scones. Luckily my Sticky Toffee Pudding was so delish too that I was really satisfied. The warm and beautifully moist pudding was sweet, sinful and dark that every spoonful of this dessert had me swooning at its lusciousness.

Must visit for gorgeous scones and sticky toffee puddings as well as lots of other savory and sweet treats!

Tilly’s Tea House

18 & 19 High St,

Moreton-in-Marsh GL56 0AF,

United Kingdom

Tel: +44 1608 650000

Business Hours:

Sunday – 10am to 5pm

Monday to Saturday – 9am to 5pm

After our lunch, we walked along the main street to head towards the bus stop to catch the bus to Bourton-on-the-Water. Before that, we also caught sight of The Cotswolds Cheese Company and decided to go in for a quick peek.

Oh my goodness, I fell in love immediately with what the store has to offer. Lots and lots of cheese from locals as well as some imported ones are on display for purchase. The store also carries wines, crackers, pasta, pickled and marinated vegetables and olives, sauces, jams, oils, vinegars, cold cuts and even a small selections of beautiful pottery. If only I had wasn’t travelling elsewhere as I would have love to buy some of the delicious cheeses.

Bourton-on-the-Water

Directly opposite the cheese shop we waited for Bus Number 22 to travel to Bourton-on-the-Water. The bus ride took about 20 minutes and before we know it, we were transferred to a sight that I can only relate to my early years of spending hours on Enid Blyton’s books. A sight of English beauty, Bourton-on-the-Water was just as how Enid would describe in her tales.

The village sight is priceless. Despite the grey weather, sights of stone buildings and shops are neatly built around the River Windrush that runs through the village. Though most of the trees were bare, I can only imagine how magnificent the village would look during spring blooms. The picturesque scene coupled with Nature’s sounds of water and birds chirping was such a soothing and inspiring experience.

As we all strolled through the village by the river banks across low arched stone bridges, we also did quick peeks at some of the shops. There is this really cool looking Cotswolds Motoring Museum that one should visit when you have the time. Then there was a Flea Market at the Building of the Victoria Hall where one can browsed through the many trinkets and pretty English dinner ware as well as old books and more.

I actually spent a considerable amount of time just admiring some of the local birds on the river simply because these birds were so colorful and beautiful to look at. The gentle chill wind was also really nice as I enjoy cold weather a lot. Despite the chill weather, there was actually shops selling ice cream too.

More tearooms and restaurants for the full English dining experience…

Adorable knick knacks that I also wish to buy… LOL…

I certainly wished that I could have spent more time in Bourton-on-the-Water but at last we needed to head back to Oxford to catch our next train to Bath. Nevertheless, the experience at Moreton-in-Marsh and Bourton-in-the-Water was simply special and priceless. If ever I were to come to London again, I would definitely want to visit both places again.

There are other places to visit besides these two so plan your trip ahead and you might want to include the birth place of Shakespeare, Strasford-upon-Avon or Stow-on-the-Wold if time is available as they are also on the bus route on the Cotswold Discovery Pass.

We headed back to Oxford, grabbed our luggage and took the train to Bath. Upon arrival, we checked into Edgar Townhouse in Bath and dropped off our luggage before we headed out to dinner. Since it was quite late in the evening, most of the shops were closed early.

Rajpoot Indian Restaurant

We found Rajpoot Indian Restaurant along our stroll and decided to dine there. Reading from the many reviews and notices, Rajpoot is an award-winning Indian restaurant that has been serving many since 1980. The restaurant is actually located in the basement and is elegantly decorated with a grandeur of an Indian theme. The restaurant is cleverly sectioned, offering privacy to its diners. We decided to go all out since it was Alice and my last night for the trip as we were leaving one day earlier.

Rajpoot serves Tandoori, Mughal and Bengali dishes and the menu offers plenty of choices for everyone. There were plenty of celebrities as well as many solid reviews as stated in their website.

From the fine array of curries with Tandoori chicken and prawns and soft warm Naan bread and fluffy Biryani rice, our feast of the evening was indeed delicious and very memorable.

Rajpoot Indian Restaurant

4 Argyle Street

Bath BA2 4BA

United Kingdom

Tel: + 1225 466833

Website: www.rajpoot.com

Business Hours:

Lunch 12pm - 2.30pm

Evenings 6pm - 11pm

The Edgar Townhouse

We headed back to Edgar Townhouse that evening and slept like a log. The whole day was indeed an eye-opening experience for me as I have literally seen a side of London that I have only managed to read in books growing up.

My room at Edgar Townhouse was beautiful and very comfortable. I vaguely remembered a quick shower, then a rest on my utterly comfortable bed before I dozed off in bliss…

The Edgar Townhouse

64 Great Pulteney St,

Bath BA2 4DN,

United Kingdom

Tel: +44 1225 420619

Website: www.edgar-townhouse.co.uk

*Stay tune for my final day, Day 5 – Edgar Townhouse, City of Bath, Roman Bath and lunch at The Royal Hotel

For more information and to plan your Great Value Travel to London, check out Visit Britain at www.visitbritain.com/malaysia or CIT Malaysia at www.cit.travel/europe/united-kingdom

This trip was made possible by Visit Britain. All stories and comments in my posts are purely derived from my own experiences through the trip.

Great Value Travel to London Stories

Day 1 - London Eye,Skylon Restaurant, Covent Garden, Tuttons Restaurant, Premier Inn

Day 2 – Big Ben,Buckingham Palace, Hache Burgers Camden, Camden Market, Bill’s Restaurant,Lyric Theatre

Day 3 - Pret A Manger,Oxford, Jaime’s Italian, Ashmolean Museum, Portabello Restaurant, MarlboroughHouse Hotel

Day 4 - Cotswold,Moreton-in-Marsh, Tilly’s Tea House, Bourton-on-the-Water, Bath, Rajpoot IndianRestaurant, Edgar Townhouse Hotel

Day 5 – Edgar Townhouse,City of Bath, Roman Bath, The Royal Hotel (coming soon)