Holiday rentals and lettings in Cirencester

Table of Contents

• At a glance: What should you know about renting a holiday letting in Cirencester?
• Holiday lettings in Cirencester: find your perfect retreat
• Exploring Cirencester: our top recommendations
• Activities: What are the top things to do and see in Cirencester?

• Cotswold stone character: Converted barns, town-centre flats and lakeside lodges dominate, most with gardens, log burners and parking within a short walk of the market place.
• Where to base yourself: The town centre suits culture and dining, while Cotswold Water Park and nearby villages such as Bibury favour families and walkers.
• Guests praise the setting: Reviewers consistently highlight quiet lanes, generous space for groups and how easily they reach Corinium Museum and the weekly markets on foot.
• Best time to visit: May to September brings festivals and warm lake days; autumn and winter mean quieter streets, lower prices and cosy evenings indoors.
• Things to do: Roman mosaics, Cirencester Park, water sports, sculpture trails and the golden villages of the surrounding Cotswolds fill an easy long weekend.

The town's rentals lean heavily on Cotswold stone: converted barns with beamed ceilings, coach houses tucked behind the high street, and roomy family homes with walled gardens. Compact town flats suit couples, while lakeside lodges near the water park sleep larger groups. Many visitors compare cottages in Cirencester with log cabins near the town before widening the search to cottages across the Cotswolds. Whatever you choose, the market place is rarely more than a short drive away.

Most properties come well equipped for a self-catering stay in the countryside.

• Private gardens or patios with outdoor seating and a barbecue
• Log burners and open fireplaces for cooler evenings
• Hot tubs, and occasionally a heated indoor pool
• Off-street parking, handy for golf holidays around Cirencester and days out
• Reliable Wi-Fi, useful for longer stays and remote working

Boot rooms and secure bike storage are common too, given the walking country outside.

What are the best areas to stay in Cirencester?

For a first visit, base yourself in the town centre, where the museum, park gates and independent shops sit within a ten-minute walk. The table below details areas for specific interests:

What do our guests say?

Guests staying in and around Cirencester tend to write about the same handful of things: the quiet of a stone barn at night, how much space a converted property gives a family or group of friends, and how quickly you can be on a footpath or beside a lake. Hosts here are often local, and reviewers regularly mention thoughtful welcome baskets, clear directions and honest tips on which villages to visit midweek to avoid the crowds.

Cirencester sits in southern Gloucestershire, at the heart of the Cotswolds and a short drive from the lakes of the Cotswold Water Park.

✈️What is the best way to get to Cirencester?

Driving is the simplest option, as the town has no railway station of its own. Here are the most common ways to get to the town:

• Car: Cirencester sits where the A419 meets the A429 and A417, linking it to the M4 at Swindon in around 25 minutes and to the M5 near Gloucester in roughly 35. Coming from London, allow about two hours via the M4; from Birmingham, closer to an hour and three quarters on the M5. Town car parks sit behind the market place, and most holiday lettings include parking.
• Train: The nearest station is Kemble, about four miles south west, with direct services from London Paddington, Swindon, Stroud and Gloucester. From Kemble, a local bus or a short taxi ride brings you into Cirencester in roughly ten to fifteen minutes. Coaches also stop in town on routes towards Swindon and Cheltenham, which is useful if you would rather leave the car at home.
• Plane: Bristol Airport is around an hour and a quarter away by car, and Birmingham Airport about an hour and a half, both with car hire desks on site.

🥗Where to eat in Cirencester?

According to Google Maps data and reviews, Tierra and Mar is the best rated restaurant in Cirencester. Below is a table showing the top 5 highly-rated restaurants hand-picked by our travel experts.

⭐Our guests' recommendation: Our guest traveller Emma recommends Jesse's Bistro in Cirencester: tucked down Black Jack Street behind the butcher's, it grills local meat and fish over wood and makes a memorable end to a walking day.

☀️When is the best time to visit?

The sweet spot is late spring to early autumn, when the Cotswold Water Park is warm enough for swimming and sailing and the town's festival calendar is at its busiest. That said, Cirencester rarely feels overwhelmed, so autumn and winter reward anyone who prefers empty footpaths, woodsmoke and lower nightly rates.

Spring and summer

• Best for: Families, water sports enthusiasts and festival-goers.
• Weather: Mild and often bright, with long evenings and average highs climbing into the low twenties by July.
• Atmosphere: Lively, with open-air cinema, music events and busy beer gardens around the market place.

Autumn

• Best for: Walkers, photographers and couples after a quiet break.
• Weather: Cooler and changeable, with crisp mornings and beech woods turning copper through October.
• Atmosphere: Calm and unhurried, with harvest menus and log fires appearing in the pubs.

Winter

• Best for: Budget-conscious travellers and anyone planning a cosy self-catering stay.
• Weather: Cold and often damp, with occasional frost and the odd dusting of snow on higher ground.
• Atmosphere: Quiet streets, Christmas markets and museums you can enjoy almost to yourself.

⭐Our Hosts' recommendation: Our Cirencester local experts suggest coming to visit early on a Monday or Friday, when the market stalls fill the square in front of the parish church. Hosts here often advise walking into Cirencester Park through the yew hedge gates, then heading out to Bibury before nine to see Arlington Row without the coaches. Ask your host which lakes at the water park allow swimming, as access changes by season.

1. Meet Roman Corinium
2. Walk Cirencester Park
3. Get out on the lakes
4. Photograph Bibury
5. Taste the Cotswolds

1. Meet Roman Corinium

   Start at the Corinium Museum, where mosaics lifted from local villas sit alongside Anglo-Saxon, medieval and Tudor galleries and hands-on displays that keep children busy for an hour or more. Afterwards, walk to the grassy amphitheatre on the edge of town, one of the largest surviving in Britain, and then to St John the Baptist, whose fan-vaulted porch once served as the town hall. For a fuller Roman day, drive north to Chedworth Roman Villa and its bathhouse.

2. Walk Cirencester Park

   The Bathurst estate opens its parkland to walkers, and the Broad Ride runs arrow-straight for five miles from the edge of the market place. It is a favourite with dog owners, runners and anyone wanting big skies without driving anywhere. Polo matches take place through the summer, and the yew hedge screening the mansion is among the tallest in the world. Bring boots after rain, and combine the walk with lunch on Black Jack Street.

3. Get out on the lakes

   The Cotswold Water Park spreads across roughly 180 lakes just south of town, formed by decades of gravel extraction and now given over to sailing, kayaking, paddleboarding, windsurfing and open-water swimming. Quieter corners are managed as nature reserves, with hides for watching wintering wildfowl and, if you are lucky, otters. Families tend to head for the lakeside beaches and adventure playgrounds, while cyclists follow the flat, well-signed trails between the villages of Somerford Keynes and Ashton Keynes.

4. Photograph Bibury

   Around fifteen minutes by car, Bibury is the picture that sells the Cotswolds: weavers' cottages at Arlington Row, a clear stretch of the River Coln and swans on the water meadow. Come early or late to have it to yourself. The trout farm sells smoked fish and picnic supplies, and footpaths lead on to Coln St Aldwyns and Quenington. Pair it with Northleach or Barnsley for a gentle morning of villages and honey-coloured stone.

5. Taste the Cotswolds

   Cirencester's Monday and Friday charter markets and the monthly farmers' market are the easiest introduction to local produce: Single Gloucester cheese, Stinking Bishop, Hobbs House bread and Gloucestershire Old Spot pork all turn up on the stalls. Distilleries and breweries nearby produce Cotswolds gin, single malt whisky and cask ales worth taking home. Several farm shops on the roads towards Tetbury and Fairford stock everything you need for a self-catering week without a supermarket run.