The Charm of the Cotswolds

5 day tour

Distance:  Walks cover
4-8 miles a day
Grading:  Easy and Easy/Moderate

ITINERARY

Start at Moreton-in-Marsh train station and arrive at your comfortable Inn that you'll call home for the next four days.  That evening you can have a wonderful buffet meal in relaxed surroundings.

The next few days shall take you through some truly memorable, quintessential English countryside.

You'll walk through some fine Cotswold villages, with unusual names like Upper and Lower Slaughter, where the tranquil River Eye meanders through tree-lined streets with lovely old cottages and houses clustered around village greens.

You'll pause for lunch in the busier but still beautiful Bourton-on-the-Water. Here the River Windrush passes through the wide main street under a succession of old stone footbridges.

There are some delightful shops to browse here before you continue on your perambulations from the pretty village of Broad Campden to neighboring Chipping Campden.

With an excellent 15th century 'wool church' and old market hall, it was once a prosperous wool town and still maintains its wonderful appeal, with an array of tearooms and shops to enjoy.

There will be time for a short walk from here up to Dover's Hill where there are wonderful views over the Vale of Evesham. This hill is so named after the lawyer, Robert Dover, who founded the famous Cotswold Olympicks here in 1612 and which are still held today.

Another day you will venture into 'Laurie Lee countryside', in the southern Cotswolds, where the author's famous autobiographical account of his childhood years, in 'Cider with Rosie', is set.

You will walk through Cranham, another village that prospered in days gone by with the woolen industry and up to 'Coopers Hill'.

Here they hold the locally famous, annual 'cheese-rolling' competition and there are also lovely westerly views from the escarpment to the Vale of Severn and Gloucester Cathedral.

Your walk will take us through pretty Sheepscombe village, set in a peaceful wooded valley of beech trees, its charming houses and church clustered together with the mill, which is still standing.

This small village was frequently mentioned in Laurie Lee's, 'Cider with Rosie', along with the neighboring village of Slad where the author lived and was laid to rest in the village churchyard.

You will also have time for a wander around the lovely working village of nearby Painswick. Known as the 'Queen of the Cotswolds', set on the edge of the steep Painswick Valley, this bustling place prospered in the 17th and 18th centuries with the production of wool cloth.

The church here has a 17th century spire which is quite striking and elegant and the churchyard, with its ancient yew trees, is well worth a visit.

The next day you'll enjoy a walk full of scenic beauty and historic interest. You'll visit a prehistoric burial chamber, or Neolithic long barrow, one of the most impressive in the area, dating back to 3000 BC.

Then you will walk on for lunch in Winchcombe, once a flourishing Cotswold 'wool town', it has an impressive 15th century 'wool church' and streets full of character. You will pass magnificent Sudeley Castle, once the home of Queen Catherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII, and end the walk at the picturesque ruins of Hailes Abbey, which date back to 1246AD.

On your final day you can stop in one last Cotswolds village, before saying your farewells to the Cotswolds at Moreton-in-Marsh train station.

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All images on this site were taken on our walks.  Copyright Great Walking Holidays Limited 2003