5 day Tour
Price:
not yet available
Land cost only
Dates:
Spring/Summer 2009
Distance: Walks
cover
4 - 8 miles a day
Grading: Easy and Easy/Moderate
Meals: All
breakfasts,
4 pub/pack lunches and
4 evening meals
ITINERARY
Days 1-5
After leaving our London hotel in the morning, our coach will head west to the Cotswolds with a visit first to the historical village of Avebury, which lies partly within the largest ancient stone circle in Britain. After lunch here we'll have time for a walk along part of the 5000 year old Ridgeway track on the White Horse Downs, passing the famous chalk hill figure of the White Horse of Uffington that is cut into the hillside, an impressive sight.
We'll arrive at our comfortable Inn that we'll call home for the next four days, in the wonderful old village of Stow-on-the-Wold, the highest in the Cotswolds.
That evening we'll get together for a friendly reception meal set in relaxed surroundings.
The next few days shall take us through some truly memorable, quintessential English countryside.
We'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 wonderful shops to browse here before we continue on our perambulations from the pretty village of Broad Campden to neighboring Chipping Campden.
Another day we 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.
We shall 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.
We shall walk 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.
We 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.
It also has a beautiful church whose 17th century spire is quite striking and elegant and the churchyard, with its ancient yew trees, is well worth a visit.
Our one day off shall provide those who choose to go, with a visit to the distinguished Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill and whose formal gardens and landscaped park, not to mention the incredible features and works of art inside the Palace, are a delight to walk around and enjoy.
Our final day shall see our return to London, stopping briefly in the Castle Combe, in the southeast Cotswolds, which some say is the prettiest village in England,.
Often used as a backdrop in period dramas, (as well as for the film Doctor Doolittle), this picture-postcard village epitomizes the charm of Cotswold villages everywhere.
A short journey from here will take us to the old Roman City of Bath with its stunning Saxon abbey, elegant Georgian architecture, many parks and of course the spas and Roman baths from where the city gets its name.
There will be time for a short walk around some of these sights and to enjoy a delicious lunch before continuing on our way to London where we shall arrive in time for dinner and to say our fond farewells.
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