OXFORD TO LEDBURY

THE JOURNEY

For many of us, the cheery sight of daffodils bobbing in the breeze is the first sign spring is finally here. And no more so than in the ‘Golden Triangle’ of the Gloucestershire-herefordshire border, where swathes of wild daffodils mark the season as they have done for centuries. Back in the 1930s, the Great Western Railway even put on special day trips – “Daffodil Specials” – from London to Ledbury for people to admire them and gather bunches to take home. Today, you can enjoy the perennial show as you travel along the Cotswold Line that winds for two hours through some of the UK’S most bucolic landscapes and honeycoloured villages, including Moretonin-marsh and Chipping Campden. Visit gwr.com and search ‘Oxford to Ledbury’.

THE DESTINATION

Pick up a map from a local shop and walk the Daffodil Way, a ten-mile circular route that takes you through meadows and woods lit with nodding yellow blooms. If you prefer a more manageable stroll, there are plenty of marked short cuts, and be sure to stop for a ‘daffodil tea’; many village churches run them from mid-march onwards.

See page 100 for details of an exclusive Country Living reader four-day railway tour in the Scottish Highlands, travelling on the iconic Jacobite steam train.