Classic Cotswolds Walking - 6 Day Guided Group

What You'll Do

Explore the beautiful Cotswolds on foot, taking in essential sights such as Stonehenge and Windsor, your local guide will take you off the beaten track in the rolling hills of Southern England. With stunning views around every corner, excellent accommodation, wonderful pubs and beautiful cuisine, this is an experience you won’t forget.

On our 6-day, 5-night tour your expert guide will lead you through the stunning Cotswold countryside, through fields and over rolling hills to stay in honey-coloured Cotswold villages and bustling market towns.

The Cotswold hills are perfect walking country, as your guide leads you along winding lanes and national footpaths, you will be transported back into England as it was before mechanisation, where sheep and dry-stone walling were the biggest industries.

Relax and enjoy walking between global heritage sites including Windsor, home to the Queen and its majestic Great Park, the university city of Oxford, Churchill’s Blenheim Palace, the Neolithic wonder of Stonehenge, and the elegant spa town of Bath. Time to stop off and explore and really soak up the beauty of this quintessentially British landscape with your expert guide on this immersive holiday.

You’ll stay in a carefully selected hotels, either 4* or 3* – your choice – and there is a choice of excellent local eateries in the evenings, so you can get to know the beautiful area’s local produce and culinary specialities.

Experience
Highlights

Discover the prettiest Cotswold villages, and magnificent iconic venues of Windsor, Blenheim, Stonehenge.

From Broadway Tower drink in the views of 16 counties and the Black Mountains of Wales

Enjoy 5 nights of comfortable accommodation in prestige and country hotels, and excellent local cuisine

Experience Itinerary

Arrive in London and Discover Windsor

You will be collected at 8.30 from London at Paddington Station, Platform 1, under the clock and taken by bus to Windsor, which is about 1 hours’ drive.

You visit Windsor Castle, home to the Queen, and walk through Windsor Great Park, past the Guards Polo Club.

Often on a Sunday there is a polo match taking place right in front of us as we travel past, lingering longer when there is a
Chukka in play! This beautiful walk leads us around of the Great Park grounds, with all of its eccentric
statues, totem poles and ruins – including Leptis Magna aka the Temple of Augustus or, an ancient
Roman ruin from Libya that has ended up here, 2000 miles away from where it originated! We walk
through the famous ‘Long Walk’, an historic 3 mile avenue past the Copper Horse Statue of King George
III right up to Windsor Castle, lunching in town before we take a tour of the magnificent castle with an expert guide.

We will then take the support vehicle to our hotel in Moreton-in-Marsh in the North Cotswolds, which means a nice, gentle start to your holiday with gentle 4-6 mile walking options.

Explore the Cotswolds

A day dedicated to the Cotswolds.

In the morning we walk from the golden-stoned Chipping
Campden with its impressive market hall, built in 1627 and its fascinating civil war history – lived-out in the ruins on the outskirts of the town. Heading through the fields to the stunning gardens at Hidcote, for lunch and to explore its internationally renowned gardens – special because of its series of ”outdoor rooms” and as the first National Trust property to be purchased for its gardens rather than the building itself. We visit Broadway Tower overlooking the northernmost extreme of the Cotswolds, Broadway Tower, from where you can see 16 counties and to the Black Mountains of Wales, before walking into Broadway town itself, one of the prettiest villages the Cotswolds has to offer. We take the short transfer back to our hotel in Moreton in Marsh for a relaxed evening.

Walking options: 5 miles or 8 miles

Accommodation

You can choose between a 3* country hotel or a 4* prestige hotel

bar in a country hotel

Blenheim Place and Oxford

We head out from the hotel through the beautiful Cotswolds to start our walk in Blenheim Palace, where Winston Churchill was born and a World Heritage Site.
With 3000 acres of Capability Brown parkland to explore, todays walk is a stunning wander around lakes, serpentine streams, woodland and into the Palace itself for an audio tour of this historical palace in the afternoon. We travel into Oxford in the evening for a walk through the historical university town, from the Radcliff Camera to the Bridge of Sighs, and a dinner out in the city.

Walking options: 5 miles or 7 miles

Accommodation

You can choose between a 3* country hotel or a 4* prestige hotel

country hotel in the cotswolds

Travel Back in Time

Travel from Burford to the stunning White Horse Hill to see the beautiful ancient carving atop the Ridgeway, thought to be around 3000 years old. We walk to Wayland’s Smithy an atmospheric Neolithic chambered long barrow, said to be haunted by the God-Giant Wade – King of the Finns, and your guide will take you to the Bronze Age Fort with views stretching across the Thames valley. We travel on to Stonehenge, Europe’s best known prehistoric monument for a look around these magnificent stones – there is the option to walk to and from these stones – completing our Neolithic Day or to finish at lunchtime and head straight to our hotel for a relaxing evening in Bath

Walking options: 4 or 6.5 miles

Accommodation

You can choose between a 3* country hotel or a 4* prestige hotel

outside of a hotel in the cotswolds

Wander the Roman City of Bath

The morning starts with a walk along the canals of Bath, towards Bradford on Avon, down towpaths and beside the rivers that lead into this Roman city. In the afternoon we visit the incredible Roman Baths, constructed between 60-70 CE and one of the best preserved Roman remains in the world.

An early evening relaxed walk through the cobbled streets leads guests up to the Royal Circus and the iconic Royal Crescent with views overlooking the city. We stay overnight once more in Bath, eating out as a group in this elegant town, known for its restaurants, bars, culture and arts!

Walking options 5 miles or 7 miles

hotel bedroom in the cotswolds

Departure Day

Your tour ends in Bath after breakfast, where we help guests with their ongoing travel arrangements, most often from Bath train station, just a short walk from the hotel.

Location Information

You will be collected from Paddington Station in London at 8:30 am on the first day of your adventure, before you head out to Windsor, then to the Moreton-in-Marsh to begin your journey through the green rolling hills of the Cotswolds.

From there, you’ll head south through the Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty, visiting Oxford, rural towns, and finishing the tour in the old Roman town of Bath.

FAQs

This tour is appropriate for guests used to going for a good walk who can handle an incline or two. The terrain we cover is varied. We’ll enjoy some rolling hills, and a few steeper walks which will be a bit more demanding.

Your holiday, however, will be tailored by your guide to suit your individual preferences. Rewarding views are guaranteed. Daily distances range from 4-10 miles and options for shorter or longer walks are available on all days.

You will spend two nights staying in The Manor or Redesdale in Moreton-in-Marsh, two nights in The Highway or The Lamb in Burford, and one night in The Bird in Bath.

All options are luxurious, comfortable and bursting with country character, and guarantee you a pleasant stay in the Cotswolds. There is free parking, wifi and upgrades available at every option.