Beautiful Cotswold Lavender fields in bloom

Yet again I’ve not made it to the confetti fields which are only open for 10 days this year, but I knew I’d have plenty of time to visit our nearest lavender fields.  Cotswold Lavender is near enough for me to visit on a flexi morning from work.  It was definitely worth taking my time off work to see, avoiding the weekend crowds.

Cotswold Lavender farm, grow and distill the lavender for the oil.  They’ve been growing lavender since 1999, and now have over 40 varieties. As well as the lavender fields, there’s a small wildflower area to give the insects some variety. The flowers are tiny against the purple of the lavender, but it’s nice to have another areas to enjoy.

As it doesn’t open until 10am, and I’d dropped N off at school at 8am, even stopping off en route meant I was nearly an hour early. I’d planned to sit in the car park and read until it was open, but this wasn’t possible as the car park gates were locked. Arriving at 9.45 would be better in terms of still getting there ahead of the crowds. But don’t panic as there’s plenty of parking in the field next to the coach park.

Visiting the lavender fields is under a fiver for adults, and a reduced rate for children over 5 years. You can pay by cash at the kiosk or by card in the café across the road.  There are also season tickets if you want to return several times.  The kiosk also sells a few drinks and ice creams.

Arriving early meant you can get out into the fields before the crowds, and it only takes until 10.30 for there to be queues of people walking into the fields.  There’s plenty of rows of lavender to enjoy so you can head off further into the field if you want photos empty of other people.  There were people with tripods, children, dogs and selfie sticks (yes I did take mine rather than trying to use my remote or timer and tripod.  Still being without my usual camera was painful because my point and shoot was too hard to use in the sun , and the auto setting wasn’t playing ball. Thank god for a good phone camera!).

If you can’t spot the difference in the varieties, the names are on signs at the ends of rows.  Otherwise it’s a case of walking where you want and enjoying the views.

I spent around 40 minutes walking round and taking photos and that was plenty.  Then it was time for a drink stop at the café.

I think I was the youngest person in the café by about 15-20 years.  As well as a small shop, toilets and café, there’s also an outdoor seating area, including tables under a marquee.  So plenty of space to sit and try some of the lavender flavoured treats.  I had some lavender shortbread and it was delicious, if a little ‘soapy’ in flavour.

The lavender is at its peak bloom between early to mid-July when it’s then gradually harvested into August. Cotswold lavender opens around June each year, so just check for bloom updates on Facebook and the website if you’re planning to visit.

If you fancy a nice sunny walk amongst the gorgeous smelling lavender, then check out your nearest lavender fields.  Katy over at Hot Pink Wellingtons has a list of lavender farms you can visit.  And for other flower farm tips check out my flower year post.

Have you visited any flower fields this year? Where would you recommend?

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