{"id":135788,"date":"2025-09-14T01:25:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T01:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/135788\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T01:25:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T01:25:16","slug":"this-picture-perfect-cotswolds-village-has-just-been-crowned-the-most-beautiful-in-the-world-so-why-arent-the-600-residents-delighted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/135788\/","title":{"rendered":"This picture perfect Cotswolds village has just been crowned the most beautiful in the world – so why aren’t the 600 residents delighted?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A picture perfect Cotswolds village has been crowned the most beautiful on earth – but its 600 residents are less than delighted about the title.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bibury, in Gloucestershire, topped the ranking of the 50 most beautiful villages in the world recently released by Forbes Magazine.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its prose became positively purple as it waxed lyrical about the quaint parish, just north of Cirencester.<\/p>\n

‘Bibury unfurls like a watercolour dream – where honey-slicked cottages line Arlington Row; their mossy roofs whispering tales of 14th-century weavers,’ it wrote.<\/p>\n

The village, a historic centre for the wool trade which dates back to the Iron Age, beat out some formidable competitors to win the business magazine’s title.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even Oia, on the whitewashed island of Santorini, Greece<\/a>, or, further afield, Boquete, in the Panamanian mountains, for instance, were no match for its Cotswolds charm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But residents, instead of being pleased, are rather dismayed – as the win promises to exacerbate Bibury’s already enormous problem with over-tourism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Parish council chairman Craig Chapman grimly told the BBC<\/a>: ‘It’s completely a double-edged sword.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bibury <\/p>\n

Bibury (pictured, file photo), in Gloucestershire, topped the ranking of the 50 most beautiful villages in the world recently released by Forbes Magazine<\/p>\n

\"Its <\/p>\n

Its prose became positively purple as it waxed lyrical about the quaint parish (pictured, file photo), just north of Cirencester<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The village (pictured, file photo), a historic centre for the wool trade which dates back to the Iron Age, beat out some formidable competitors to win the business magazine’s title<\/p>\n

In a single weekend at the height of summer, the picturesque village can see as many as around 20,000 visitors – more than 30 times its ordinary population.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Restrictions have been introduced throughout this year to try to curb the impact of footfall on the historic village.<\/p>\n

Parking bays in the square have been replaced with drop-off and pick-up points for the endless stream of coach trips that hits Bibury every day in peak season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And last month, tourists were advised to drive to the village in smaller vehicles to ease traffic in its winding country lanes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Chapman called this level of tourism ‘problematic’ – and said it comes ‘at a cost for locals’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The main problem, he explained, is the principal route into the village is a narrow B-road, with only one, single-carriage bridge across the River Coln, which Bibury sits on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Congestion, especially from large coach trips, he said, is a massive issue, with up to 50 such vehicles parking in the village each day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new tourism rules are helping to restore balance, he explained – and will hopefully see Bibury well on the way to ‘harmony’ between tourists and locals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Even <\/p>\n

Even Oia (pictured, file photo), on the whitewashed island of Santorini, Greece, or, further afield, Boquete, in the Panamanian mountains, for instance, were no match for its Cotswolds charm<\/p>\n

\"But <\/p>\n

But residents, instead of being pleased, are rather dismayed – as the win promises to exacerbate Bibury’s already enormous problem with over-tourism (pictured)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In a single weekend at the height of summer, the picturesque village (pictured) can see as many as around 20,000 visitors – more than 30 times its ordinary population\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Restrictions <\/p>\n

Restrictions have been introduced throughout this year to try to curb the impact of footfall on the historic village (pictured)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it also may simply now have even more challenges in store with its recently expanded international recognition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Chapman said: ‘I’m fairly flabbergasted, having travelled the world, to believe we’re the most attractive village in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘It’s a great honour but it’s a little bit of a surprise, there’s a lot of competition out there.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

It comes after over-tourism in Bibury appears to have gotten particularly bad in recent years, especially on Bank Holidays and over the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Locals claim it can sometimes now become like the Wild West, with cars and coaches bringing thousands of people into the tiny community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The increase in visitors is partly driven by influencers promoting such tiny villages as perfect day trip destinations from big cities such as London on social media.<\/p>\n

In fact, selfie-hunting tourists have previously been pictured climbing over walls and vaulting garden fences in Bibury in a bid to get the perfect picture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And it appears the behaviour of a minority of visitors leaves much to be desired, with some getting unsociably close to people’s houses to snap their dream shot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Parking <\/p>\n

Parking bays in the square have been replaced with drop-off and pick-up points for the endless stream of coach trips that hits Bibury (pictured) every day in peak season\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"And <\/p>\n

And last month, tourists were advised to drive to the village (pictured) in smaller vehicles to ease traffic in its winding country lanes\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Congestion, <\/p>\n

Congestion, especially from large coach trips, is a massive issue, with up to 50 such vehicles parking in the village (pictured) each day\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Over-tourism <\/p>\n

Over-tourism in Bibury (pictured, file photo) appears to have gotten particularly bad in recent years, especially on Bank Holidays and over the summer\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, after Bibury villagers called for action and formed a working group including councillors and the police, Gloucestershire County Council announced plans to tackle the problem.<\/p>\n

Coaches could, in the long term, be banned from stopping and parking in the village – although less drastic measures have been adopted initially.<\/p>\n

The layout of parking bays have been changed to stop coaches from parking or waiting in the layby on the B4425, next to the Swan Bridge in the village centre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The council is also exploring introducing more restrictions on coach access to the centre of the village, consulting with villagers on the matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Longer-term recommendations from the working group include looking into prohibiting coaches from stopping and parking in Bibury completely and improving signs to direct them away from its narrow lanes.<\/p>\n

The group wants to see if there might be areas outside of the village where coaches could park.<\/p>\n

It also wants to encourage tourists to use other ways of visiting Bibury, such as walking, cycling, using public transport or minibuses.<\/p>\n

Councillor Stephen Davies, leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said: ‘We are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of Bibury residents and visitors.<\/p>\n

\"Locals <\/p>\n

Locals claim it can sometimes now become like the Wild West, with cars and coaches bringing thousands of people into the tiny community (pictured)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The increase in visitors (pictured) is partly driven by influencers promoting such tiny villages as perfect day trip destinations from big cities such as London on social media\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In fact, selfie-hunting tourists have previously been pictured climbing over walls and vaulting garden fences in Bibury (pictured) in a bid to get the perfect picture\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"It <\/p>\n

It appears the behaviour of a minority of visitors leaves much to be desired, with some getting unsociably close to people’s houses to snap their dream shot (pictured)<\/p>\n

\"Coaches <\/p>\n

Coaches could, in the long term, be banned from stopping and parking in the village (pictured, file photo)\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘The proposed measures will help manage traffic more effectively and enhance the overall experience for everyone.<\/p>\n

‘We appreciate the community’s support and cooperation as we implement these changes.<\/p>\n

‘We also understand that these proposals may not be popular with coach operators, however we are determined to work to find a solution for coach tourists to be able to visit Bibury but this will take time.<\/p>\n

‘Therefore, we have attempted to find compromise solutions that offer outcomes which continue to welcome visitors in a managed way, whilst also addressing safety and congestion concerns of the village.’<\/p>\n

Coaches have already been banned from the centre of nearby Bourton-on-the-Water<\/a>, dubbed the ‘Venice of the Cotswolds’, because of similar issues to those in Bibury.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The council is also urging visitors to park responsibly and use designated parking areas.<\/p>\n

‘Irresponsible parking not only endangers others but also detracts from the charm and accessibility of this historic village,’ a council spokesman said.<\/p>\n

‘Any vehicles not parked in compliance with parking restrictions will risk being issued with a parking penalty charge notice.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A picture perfect Cotswolds village has been crowned the most beautiful on earth – but its 600 residents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[97,59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-135788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-greatbritain","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}