Can you visit Daylesford, and is it open to the public?

Yes. Daylesford is open to the public, with free entry and free parking. The farm shop and cafés are walk-in; the spa, cookery school and evening dining need booking ahead.

Is Daylesford free to visit?

Yes, to enter and to park. You pay only for what you buy in the shop, eat in the cafés, or book in the spa or cookery school.

In Gloucestershire, between Kingham and Stow-on-the-Wold, about two miles from Kingham and its station. It is an estate and farm shop rather than a village.

Is Daylesford dog friendly?

Yes, in the outdoor areas and parts of the shop and cafés, with dog-parking points outside, though dogs are not allowed in the main restaurant.

Visiting Daylesford, Cotswolds: A Local Field Guide

Daylesford is not a village but an estate, and the most famous farm shop in England, on organic land between Kingham and Stow. Here is how to visit Daylesford, what is there, and where it sits in the two Cotswolds it belongs to.

At a glance

How to visit: Open to the public and free to enter; the shop and cafés are walk-in, while the spa, cookery school and evening dining are booked ahead.
Where: Daylesford, Gloucestershire, between Kingham and Stow. Nearest village Kingham, about two miles off.
Best time to visit: Open most days through the year. Weekends, Saturdays above all, are the busiest, when the car park fills with the weekend crowd.
How long to spend: Half a day for the shop and lunch; longer with a spa treatment or a cookery class.
Parking: Free, on-site and ample, though it fills on a fine Saturday.
Getting there: Nearest station Kingham, about two miles off, direct from London Paddington in around ninety minutes, then a taxi. By car, off the A436.
Dog friendly: Yes, in the outdoor areas and parts of the shop and cafés, though not in the main restaurant.
Family friendly: Yes, for the shop and cafés; the spa is the grown-up exception.

Visiting Daylesford: parking, getting there, when to go

Daylesford sits in the country between Kingham and Stow, an immaculate estate built around its farm shop, with restaurants, a cookery school, the Bamford spa and a garden. The shop and cafés are open to anyone, with no ticket; the things to book ahead are the spa, the cookery courses and a table for dinner.

Parking is free and on-site, and on a fine Saturday it fills nose to tail, so come earlier in the day or midweek for room to move.

Without a car, the nearest station is Kingham, about two miles off, on the Cotswold Line, with direct trains from London Paddington in around ninety minutes and a taxi for the last stretch. By road it is signed off the A436 between Kingham and Stow.

Daylesford questions, answered

Can you visit Daylesford, and is it open to the public?: Yes. Daylesford is open to the public, with free entry and free parking. The farm shop and cafés are walk-in; the spa, cookery school and evening dining need booking ahead.
Is Daylesford free to visit?: Yes, to enter and to park. You pay only for what you buy in the shop, eat in the cafés, or book in the spa or cookery school.
Where is Daylesford?: In Gloucestershire, between Kingham and Stow-on-the-Wold, about two miles from Kingham and its station. It is an estate and farm shop rather than a village.
Is Daylesford dog friendly?: Yes, in the outdoor areas and parts of the shop and cafés, with dog-parking points outside, though dogs are not allowed in the main restaurant.

This is the new money of the hills, the Friday-night arrivals, the second houses with the lights on two days in seven. It sits alongside the older, quieter Cotswolds without quite touching it.

Both worlds keep to themselves, in the end. One does it in a full car park, the other behind a closed gate, and the gate is the older custom.

The story moves through this world. Begin Chapter One →