Heading to the Cotswolds? Here's how to enjoy a Rivals-style getaway

If you haven’t watched Rivals yet, you’re in for a trip. The saucy Disney series, starring David Tennant, Aidan Turner and Alex Hassell, based on Jilly Cooper’s bonkbuster book, is packed full of sensational scenery.

It’s not just the bewitching bottoms, thrusting men and series’ climax, which are titillating viewers around the world, but also the absolutely magnificent … mansions. We’re serious – the countryside is outstanding.

Set in the 1980s in Rutshire - a fictional county in south-west England - in real-life it’s the Cotswolds, an area so picture-perfect and posh, it’s dubbed “Chelsea in Wellies.”

The region – about 160km west of London - is England’s largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and chock-a-block with celebrities and royalty, from Kate Moss and Kate Winslet, to ex-Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson and his Diddly Squat farm and the King and Queen themselves. 

It's not just bewitching bottoms titillating viewers, it's also mansions...

Think ridiculously-beautiful honey-stoned villages, peppered with upmarket shops, cafes and restaurants, plus luxury hotels and spas such as Soho Farmhouse. Scattered all over the region are grand stately homes, from Blenheim Palace to Highgrove estate.

And while, sadly, you are unlikely to come across bad-boy Rupert Campbell-Black playing naked tennis – his house was filmed at the private Ammerdown House in Somerset - here’s how to have a Rivals-inspired holiday in his backyard…

Take a trip to Tetbury, aka Cotchester

Much of the filming was actually done in this town

Much of the filming was done in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, which stood in for the fictional town of Cotchester, home of Corinium TV HQ. The second-biggest town in the Cotswolds, you’re in good company, as it’s home to the King and Queen, at nearby Highgrove estate. You can visit the gardens and take afternoon tea. Princess Anne is also local, at Gatcombe Park, which is only open to the public for equestrian events.

The town is also the location of the home of ambitious US TV exec Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams), who manages an affair with both her boss, Lord Tony Baddingham (Tennant) and his arch enemy, Rupert Campbell-Black (Hassell). Grade II-listed Berkeley House is in real life, a holiday rental.

And call in at Corsham, also Cotchester

Corsham is full of old school glamour. Picture: Visit Wiltshire

The market town of Corsham, in Wiltshire, also doubled for Cotchester. Check into nearby Lucknam Park, where you can pretend you’re part of the Rutshire jet-set. This Palladian mansion, with its Michelin-starred restaurant and spa, is old-school glamour and as near as you can get to staying at Lord Baddingham’s house, which was filmed at nearby Neston Park, not open to the public.

Visit the O’Hara’s home, Chavenage House 

This is a stunning private home you can actually visit. Picture: Historic Houses/ James Kerr

One stunning private home you can visit, however, is journalist Declan O’Hara’s. Called The Priory in Rivals, this was filmed at Chavenage House, Tetbury, a medieval priory and former home of Henry VIII’s final wife, Katherine Parr. Actor Aidan Turner would have felt at home here, as Poldark was also filmed at Chavenage. Whilst still a family home, you can visit the house on a tour.

Boot out the Bridgertons

Wilton House is open to visitors this summer. Picture: Visit Wiltshire

Another location which might prove familiar to viewers, is Wilton House, near Salisbury, which has appeared in Bridgerton, Emma, The Crown and Young Victoria. Several scenes from Rivals were shot at this grand country house, which is home to the Earl and Countess of Pembroke. It is open to visitors in the summer.

Have a discreet liaison at The Hare & Hounds

Does it get more Cotswold than this?

Is Westonbirt, near Tetbury, you can check into the quintessentially-Cotswold hotel The Hare & Hounds, which is where the cast and crew of Rivals stayed whilst filming. With its country pub, fine-dining restaurant and rooms, it’s just the kind of place Freddie Jones (Danny Dyer) and Lizzie Vereker (Katherine Parkinson) try to rendezvous in, for their secret affair.

Catch Concorde

Harbour Hotel Bristol is where the awards ceremony scene took place. Picture: Harbour Hotel

A little further west from the Cotswolds, brings you to one of England’s hippest cities, Bristol. Its Bottle Yard Studios was where many of the interior scenes were filmed, including the 1980s chat show set. Its aviation museum, Aerospace Bristol, was where “those” Concorde opening scenes were filmed in the supersonic jet and you can book a Concorde Experience, although not that exact experience, obviously. Bristol’s The Cosy Club restaurant was where Lizzie meets her agent (played by Felicity Kendal) and is eavesdropped by Jilly Cooper making a cameo. Finally, the boutique Harbour Hotel Bristol, was where the awards ceremony scenes took place.

Originally published as Heading to the Cotswolds? Here's how to enjoy a Rivals-style getaway