Walking The Cotswold Way

Arrival in Chipping Campden and check-in at your first accommodation. Chipping Campden is a very charming Cotswold village with a lovely High Street filled with tea rooms, restaurants and shops. You reach Chipping Campden by train and bus from London via Moreton-in-Marsh.

Accommodation in Chipping Campden

You begin your hike by making your way up to Dover's Hill with fantastic views over the area before continuing through the green, rolling landscape to Broadway. Feel free to pause at a Tea Room before continuing over the hills towards the idyllic Stanton where you will spend the night.

In some cases depending on availability, you may need to stay overnight in Broadway instead of Stanton – this means return transfer, e.g. transfer back to Broadway when you reach Stanton and then the following morning take a return taxi back to Stanton and continue along the route. Extra costs may apply.

Accommodation in Stanton / Broadway

Today's hike takes you from Stanton via Beckbury Camp from 2000 BC to medieval Hailes Abbey. Explore the 13th century ruins and the newly built museum (open between April-August, paid locally) and experience the history of the monks who lived and worshipped in the monastery for almost three centuries. Continue thereafter via Sudeley Castle onwards to Cleeve Hill, the highest point in the Cotswolds Hill Range.

Accommodation in Cleeve Hill

Leave Cleeve Hill behind you and enjoy outstanding panoramic views over the green, rolling Cotswold countryside to Cheltenham. Walk through peaceful woodlands and quiet country roads until you reach the lively Seven Springs, believed to be the source of the Thames. From here you get again open landscapes with panoramic views and interesting rock formations. The day ends in Birdlip.

Accommodation in Birdlip

A peaceful walk through forest leads you out from Birdlip along the foot of the escarpment towards Cooper's Hill. In spring the forest is covered by a carpet of flowering plants. The path then rises steeply to the top of Cooper's Hill, the site of the famous annual cheese rolling festival!

The journey continues through Buckholt Wood and over Painswick Golf Course, where a short detour to Painswick Beacon is recommended. From here the path leads down to charming Painswick.

Ancient forests, rural tranquility and magnificent panoramic views meet here and create a magical hiking experience.

Accommodation in Stonehouse

Begin the hike by making your way to King's Stanley. Stanley Mill on the outskirts of Kings Stanley once employed around 1,000 people and bears witness to the area's rich history in the wool industry.

A series of short but steep ascents and descents, together with burial chambers and Iron Age hillforts, make the good ten kilometers to Dursley pass quickly.

Then awaits a steep climb back up to the edge of the escarpment, where Tyndale Monument is the day's main attraction before you reach Wotton-under-Edge – a pleasant stop that nicely combines old and new.

Accommodation in Wotton-Under-Edge

From Wotton the trail follows the stream to Coombe, before it climbs steeply up Blackquarries Hill with magnificent views. Further around Worley Hill and through forest the path descends via a sunken road to the outskirts of Wortley.

From here you continue through peaceful countryside past Somerset Monument, onwards to Horton and the Iron Age hillfort at Little Sodbury. Then you descend through the old churchyard and finish in Old Sodbury.

From Old Sodbury the trail continues through fields to Coombs End and onwards to Tormarton, where the stage ends at St Mary Magdalene church.

Accommodation in Tormarton

The final section of The Cotswold Way offers several beautiful nature experiences and magnificent views on the way to the famous spa town of Bath with its ancient Roman baths. Bath is a charming city with several beautiful buildings and a charming and pleasant center.

Accommodation in Bath

The trip ends after breakfast. From Bath you can take the train back to London in about 1.5 hours. If you would like additional days in Bath, that can be booked.