'Why I travelled thousands of kilometres to visit this pub'
Updated . First published
"We went there!"
It's something most of us love to yell at the telly.
Because while visiting places we've seen on films or TV shows has always been a thing (Sex and the City stoop anyone?) it has ramped up over the past few years.
READ MORE: Forget a power bank, this is the most effective way to charge your phone while travelling
At The Farmer's Dog pub from Clarkson's Farm Supplied
Travel firms even have a name for it: Set Jetting. Visit Britain has a whole campaign based around it, showing off the locations for Harry Potter and Game of Thrones in lavish adverts.
So when I had a few days free in the UK and decided to head to the Cotswolds I had a list of things I wanted to do.
READ MORE: 'Phenomenal' island destinations fuelling Aussie cruise boom
Quite a few of them, I confess, were to do with one of my favourite TV shows, Clarkson's Farm.
It follows former Top Gear and The Grand Tour host Jeremy Clarkson as he becomes a farmer and later a pub landlord.
It's hilarious, sad, educational and I promise you'll even like Clarkson by the end of it.
Jeremy Clarkson has opened a pub in the Cotswolds. Supplied
Where is Clarkson's Farm?
Clarkson's farm is actually called Diddly Squat Farm and is in the Cotswolds in England.
Close to the city of Oxford and only an hour or so from London, the Cotswolds is the England of your dreams.
Think chocolate box villages, rolling hills and cosy pubs.
READ MORE: Millions of people are about to become obsessed with this ultra-luxury hotel
Diddly Squat Farm Shop from Clarkson's Farm Supplied
It covers Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire as well as parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset.
It's also become a bit of celeb hotspot.
The Beckhams live in a mansion there, TV host Ellen DeGeneres and her actress wife Portia de Rossi fled the US for a luxury cottage, and Hugh Grant and Kate Moss are other A-list residents.
Sir Patrick Stewart, Princess Beatrice, Princess Anne and Simon Cowell call the area home, too.
The village of Castle Combe in Wiltshire, in the Cotswolds. Getty
Even Beyonce and Jay Z have been seen house hunting.
King Charles himself has a private country home, Highgrove here too.
Give yourself a laugh by googling the house prices, go on...
Do you need to book a table at The Farmer's Dog pub?
In the latest series of Clarkson's Farm, Clarkson decided to open a pub. He wanted to support farmers by selling only British fayre.
The result is The Farmer's Dog, and there are a few ways you can visit. It stands on its own in the countryside near the village of Burford.
The first way to visit is just to turn up and visit The Farmer's Puppy.
The Farmer's Dog pub from Clarkson's Farm on Amazon Prime Video. Supplied
READ MORE: Five British beauty spots to visit that are not the Cotswolds
It's the big pub garden with a food truck. You can also buy merchandise.
However, to dine inside the pub you need to book - and it's pretty difficult to secure a table.
Bookings come out a month ahead, and we eagerly refreshed the page on the day to get one. Only a few ties came up - all for lunch. And within minutes, they were all gone.
The famous chrome tractor from Clarkson's Farm. Supplied
How to get to The Farmer's Dog
You will need a car.
Despite trying to work out another way to get there and browsing multiple Reddit threads on the topic, we ended up hiring one in Oxford.
There is a bus stop near the pub, but it just didn't tie up with where we were staying in Moreton-in-Marsh.
There's no uber, and we were quoted around $200 for a 40 minute taxi. Each way.
What is the menu at The Farmer's Dog pub?
Everything is British, and there's plenty to choose from.
Between us we ordered soup of the day, tomato salad on bruschetta, grey oyster mushroom pearl barley and a side of veg.
It was all delicious, and the waiter was very friendly too. The summer fruit pudding we had for dessert was also very tasty.
The food at The Farmer's Dog pub. Supplied
The menu at The Farmer's Dog. Supplied
Because everything is British, there's no Coke, lemonade or even coffee. You can, however get the entire range of Clarkson's own Hawkstone beer (obviously).
It's not cheap as far as pubs go, but this is the Cotswolds. Just don't work out the exchange rate to Aussie dollars or you'll just be sad.
The verdict
We might have travelled around 17,000 km from Australia to dine at this pub.
But it was worth it.
I was giddy with excitement as we parked up, and it was a thrill to see all the things from the show. There really is a tractor coated in chrome by Richard Hammond dangling from the ceiling.
The tent from The Grand Tour at the pub, and we sat under those umbrellas Clarkson spent a fortune on.
How to visit Diddly Squat Farm
You can visit also the Diddly Squat Farm Shop as seen in the TV show. It's in the village of Chadlington and is easy to find on Google Maps.
Viewers may remember the saga over the car park and traffic on the show.
Diddly Squat Farm shop in the Cotswolds. Supplied
When we visited on a weekday in September it was busy but parking was fine and there was no traffic jam.
After splashing out on some granola and chilli sauce in the shop, we also visited the food truck around the back.
Can you see Jeremy Clarkson at the farm?
You might be lucky. But we didn't spot any famous faces at the pub or the shop.
Best time to visit The Cotswolds
We visited in late September, which was ideal.
The UK schools have gone back, but the weather is still usually good (this is England though, remember).
Arlington Row in Bibury, Cotswolds, England Getty Images/iStockphoto
June to August is likely to be warmer - but will also be very busy.
Spring, around April and May, avoiding Easter, would also be a good alternative.
Or visit in the winter, between November and March and make the most of those cosy pubs.
The writer travelled at their own expense and was hosted at The Farmer's Dog.
