What with Mother’s day on the 6th of March and then Easter weekend falling on Friday 25th to the 28th there is a lot of expectations falling on it to be a ‘treat-filled’ month.

So to help you along with fulfilling your expectations we have come up with FIVE wonderful suggestions.

1. Highgrove Estate – Highgrove are offering a delicious three course lunch in their Orchard restaurant for Mother’s day. With a champagne reception and a pianist tickling the ivories whilst you eat, you can then go and wander around the gardens. If you wanted to treat your mother or even yourself, you could also pay a visit to the Highgrove shop. If you can’t make it for mothering Sunday, they are offering a champagne tea and garden tour on other days.
2. Batsford Arboretum – How about a lovely stroll around Batsford Arboretum. Children are safe to run free and enjoy the winding intertwining pathways in search for the next garden. Then when you are finished exploring you could take a look around The Applestore, which is bursting with shabby chic and vintage goodies. By now you will have surely worked up an appetite so obviously the next stop is the Garden Terrace Café. Perfect day out!
3. North Cotswold Point to Point– Every year on Easter Monday the village of Paxford turns from a quiet ‘drive through’ village to the place to be! The North Cotswold Hunt hold their Point to Point meeting there. For those of you who aren’t quite sure it is basically horse racing with amateur jockeys riding. It is great fun to watch with local bookmakers at the ringside for you to place your bets on and hopefully win lots of money. They have local stalls and small fairground rides for the youngsters amongst us. Food can be bought from here but it is so much more fun to fetch out your picnic basket and a bottle of port is a must!
4. Easter on the GWR-You can catch a ride on the Eggspress from either Toddington station or Cheltenham Racecourse. The steam train will take you to Winchcombe station where you will get to meet the Easter bunny and take part in lots of fun events including an egg hunt and egg and spoon race. Great for all ages to enjoy.
5. Cheltenham Gold Cup– Known as ‘The festival’ this is one of horse racing’s biggest events. The best horses run here with the best jockeys riding. The atmosphere buzzing around the racecourse is extremely hard to beat. It is held over four days with lots more to offer than just watching the horses racing. There are a wide range of typical country trade stands, food stands and bars. There is even a whole village dedicated to Guinness! If you are in the area when The Festival is on it really is rude not to pay it a visit.