Planning a Rivals-inspired escape? Discover the Cotswolds filming locations, luxury hotels, and glamorous country estates inspired by the Rutshire Chronicles.
Set against the rolling hills and sprawling estates of the Cotswolds, Rivals proves that country life is anything but quiet. The Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s scandalous novels transports viewers to Rutshire, the fictional English countryside, where television executives, polo players, aristocrats, and social climbers spend as much time seducing each other as they do attending black-tie dinners.
While Rutshire may only exist thanks to Cooper’s wild imagination, much of the series was filmed across the Cotswolds, where the author lived for more than four decades until her death last year. ‘The Cotswolds are so heartbreakingly beautiful, so home is definitely here,’ she once said. And she’s right. The region’s honey-hued villages and grand country houses may look idyllic, but beneath the polished facades lies a world of gossip and questionable affairs.
With the second season of Rivals making its eagerly awaited return, we couldn’t resist creating a Jilly Cooper-inspired guide to the Cotswolds: from the filming locations that brought Rivals to life to the country-house hotels where Rupert Campbell-Black would almost certainly have a permanent suite. Enjoy, and try to stay out of trouble.
A Rivals-inspired Cotswolds guide
For the closest thing to real-life Rutshire: Tetbury
The epicenter of filming for Rivals, Tetbury’s honeyed streets became fictional Cotchester, complete with Thatcher-era shopfronts and vintage cars. But beyond the screen, the town already feels unmistakably like real-life Ritshire, and comes complete with its own royal residents, as King Charles III has called Tetbury home since the 1980s. With its streets of antique shops and immaculate Georgian facades, it’s easy to understand why.
Stay at Calcot & Spa
Set just outside Tetbury, Calcot & Spa is a converted 14th-century farmstead surrounded by Cotswolds countryside. Inside, there are roaring fireplaces, stone walls, and long, low-lit lounges; meanwhile, guests will find a spa tucked into the old outbuildings. It’s exactly the kind of low-key hideaway a Rivals character would disappear for a quiet weekend away from the gossiping social circles.
For the quintessential English stay: Corsham
Corsham stood in for Cotchester during filming, its impossibly pretty high street transformed into an 1980s time capsule. Aiden Turner, who plays the TV journalist Declan O’Hara, must be well acquainted with his way around the town by now, since in addition to Rivals, Corsham was also the filming location for the BBC series Poldark. There’s a cinematic quality to the historical market town already, thanks to its grand Georgian architecture, paved sidewalks, and hidden courtyards
Stay at Lucknam Park
A Palladian country house set in 500 acres of parkland, Lucknam Park comes with its own equestrian center, Michelin-starred restaurant, and a long, sweeping drive for dramatic entrances. It has the scale and polish of an old landed estate, meaning if Tony Baddingham owned a country hotel, it would probably look something like this.
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For the unofficial capital of Cooper country: Cirencester
If one town captures the social ecosystem of Cooper’s novels, it’s Cirencester. The largest town within the rural region, you’ll find polo players, media types, landed families, and London escapees all orbiting this corner of Gloucestershire. It’s more cashmere-and-champagne countryside than the chocolate-box Cotswolds villages we have grown used to, but its weekly markets and Roman history still deliver that quintessential Corinium charm.
Stay at Cowley Manor Experimental
Just outside Cirencester, Cowley Manor Experimental is a Victorian country house reworked into something far more playful. The hotel’s bold and colorful interiors may not be the Rivals we recognize from the screen, but this hedonistic country-house hotel is designed for exactly the kind of behaviour Cooper would encourage.
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For the ultimate equestrian escape: Cheltenham
Cooper built an empire around the chaos of Britain’s horsey set. Polo players, racegoers, hunters, and aristocrats thunder through her novels, making Cheltenham (the home of one of Britain’s most famous racecourses) a natural addition to any Rivals-inspired Cotswolds itinerary. During the racing season, the town takes on the sort of high-glamour, high-gossip atmosphere that could have leapt straight from the pages of the Rutshire Chronicles.
Stay at Ellenborough Park
At the edge of Cheltenham Racecourse sits Ellenborough Park, a grand manor house set within 90-acre grounds. Once a 15th-century estate, it keeps that historic country-house character but offers contemporary comforts, including a sizable spa and heated outdoor pool – the ideal place to recover after a day at the races.
For the spiritual heart of Cooper country: Bisley
Cooper was known to write from the rolling Gloucestershire hills around Bisley, the tiny village she called home for more than 40 years. This is the less polished side of the Cotswolds: think winding lanes, muddy Labradors, and horse paddocks. But while it may not have the glossy grandeur of Tetbury or the racing crowds of Cheltenham, this is the real landscape that shaped Cooper’s world of outrageously bad behaviour.
Stay at The Painswick
A charming 18th-century hideaway perched above the Stroud valleys, The Painswick has an easygoing sense of style that leans more to a relaxed country house than formal estate. With soft interiors and cosy, fire-lit corners, it’s worlds away from any countryside scandal (unless, of course, that’s exactly what you’ve come here for).
For the modern-day members’ club: Estelle Manor
If Cooper were rewriting Rivals in 2026, chances are half the cast would end up at Estelle Manor. Set within a sprawling Oxfordshire estate just beyond the Cotswolds, the hotel has become the weekend playground of a new British upper class. There are cocktails in velvet-lined bars, impossibly glamorous spa facilities, and a social energy that Rupert Campbell-Black would not just approve of, but he’d have a room permanently on standby.
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