Rosemary Cottage for an Easter break

Of the three cottages, Rosemary is the one I would put a family in over Easter, and the reasons are practical before they are pretty. It sits beside a quiet village green, just steps from St Mary’s Church and less than two minutes from Arlington Row, which means children can be let loose on grass that is safely off the lane while you watch from the door. In a village as visited as Bibury, having the green right on the doorstep makes a real difference with little ones.

The cottage is 17th-century Cotswold stone, so there is genuine character to it, low beams and warm stone, but it has been made comfortable rather than left as a museum piece. The ground floor is open plan, which I think is what makes it work for a family. A large corner sofa, a dining table that seats six, an open fire, and a kitchen with a dishwasher, all in one connected space, so the cooking, the colouring-in and the early-evening collapse onto the sofa all happen in the same room. Nobody is shut away.

The thing that makes it rare: the parking

I should be plain about the feature that matters most to families, because it is the one almost no cottage in Bibury can offer. Rosemary has off-street parking for two cars. In this village that is close to unheard of, and if you have ever tried to unload a car full of children, bags, wellies and a travel cot onto a busy lane, you will understand why I mention it first.

You pull up off the road, you unload at your own pace, and the car is there waiting when you want to drive out to Burford or further afield. Self check-in is available any time, which is a small mercy when you arrive later than planned with tired children in the back. Joe and I are just down the road if you need anything at all.

It also makes the days out easier. With the car to hand you can take a morning at the cottage, let everyone wake up slowly, and then drive out for the afternoon without the palaver of finding somewhere to park on your return. For a family, that flexibility is worth more over a week than almost any other feature, and it is the one thing I cannot offer at the other two cottages.

Room to spread out

Upstairs there are two king bedrooms. The master has a luxury mattress and a full-sized bath, which is a quiet luxury after a day out, and the attic bedroom has its own en-suite shower room. There is a low beam by the bathroom door up there, charming but worth a word to taller members of the party. The cottage sleeps six, so it takes a family comfortably, with space for grandparents or another pair of hands over the holiday.

The living room has a soundbar and subwoofer on the television, which earns its keep on the evening when the weather has turned and a film is the only thing that will settle everyone. Easter in the Cotswolds is not guaranteed to be dry, so having a proper sofa and a real fire to come back to is no small thing.

For getting around on foot, the cottage could hardly be better placed for a family. Arlington Row is less than two minutes away, so a walk before breakfast is genuinely a walk before breakfast rather than a production. The Catherine Wheel is the village local and an easy stroll, the sort of unfussy place where children are no bother, and The Swan is within walking distance for the evening you want to do something a little more special. Twig and Eleven are good for a coffee or a light lunch by day.

From the door you are moments from the river for a daffodil walk, the church for a quiet ten minutes, and the green for the children to run off the morning. Easter here lends itself to the simple things: a hunt around the green, a walk along the Coln to look for ducklings, an afternoon back at the cottage when the showers come in. For a family wanting a break that is easy rather than effortful, with somewhere to park, somewhere to play and somewhere warm to land at the end of the day, Rosemary is the one I would choose.