The Cotswold Way is often described as the quintessential English walking trail with rolling hills, honey-colored limestone villages, and lots of tea. Follow along as I share our 100 mile adventure in the Cotswolds.
Lots of you wanted us to compare this long distance English walk to the ruggedness of the West Highland Way (which we hiked last year). I will say that we definitely preferred the West Highland Way and everyone we talked to on the walk who had done both also preferred the West Highland Way. I don't want to take away from the Cotswold Way though, because it was lovely in its own way and might be PERFECT for you.
The Cotswolds felt like a different kind of challenge: slightly longer mileage days, but with the promise of super cute villages and more pub opportunities each day. It lets you experience a long walking trek but still lets civilization be super close (which was lovely when I had to call a Taxi because I couldn't finish one day). There's definitely beauty in this trail so, don't write it off because we liked the WHW better.
If you’re planning your own trek through the heart of England, here is exactly how our 10-day journey looked in April, from the starting point in Chipping Camden to the final tasting menu (which was the best meal ever) in Bath.
The Logistics
Quick stop in London
We started with a quick stopover in London. We flew overnight from the US and arrived in London at 12pm. We took the train from the airport to our hotel. I booked us at the Ember Locke Kensington through Expedia, which I knew was an easy walk from the tube and easy connection point to the start of the Cotswold Way.
It was a great hotel and we'd happily stay there again. I had made reservations for high tea at 3pm (to help keep us awake from the flight) so we did that and then had an early meal at Maroush (a Lebanese restaurant five minutes from the hotel). We loved loved loved the hummus chicken and flatbread. So good.
The next morning, we took the train out of Paddington Station (12:52 departure) to Chipping Campden. I'd recommend this departure time because it allows plenty of time in Chipping Campden to walk around before dinner.
Logistics tip: You’ll need to plan to grab the bus from the train station or prebook a taxi from the station to get into the village proper. We booked a taxi two days before.
We stayed at Woolmarket House, a charming spot that was steps away from the official "starting line" of the Cotswold Way. We had a final pre-hike dinner at Michael’s Mediterranean (make a reservation in advance).
TIP: If you wanted to shorten the overall duration of the trip, you could take the train from the airport and connect at Paddington and then go directly out to Chipping Campden. This would add around 2.5 hours to your travel day but would be doable for sure. This would cut out the London night and save a bit of money to boot!
The Logistics: Bookings & Breakfasts
For this trip, we used Cotswold Walks to set up the itinerary and book our accommodations. I contacted them in November for a walk date in late March-April (I was flexible on my travel dates and let them pick the best lodging options available). This was a "hands-off" choice. They handled our accommodation bookings, some of the nightly dinner reservations (if there was only one option where we were staying), and our daily luggage transfers (meaning, we carried a day backpack and they took our roller bags). All of our accommodations included breakfast.
One thing to note on the budget: after talking to several other hikers on the trail who booked everything independently, we paid roughly 30% more for using the booking service. While the convenience of having the logistics handled was nice, if you're comfortable managing your own bookings and using a standalone luggage transfer service, you could save a significant amount of money. That being said, one or two of the lodgings that we had booked were only available options to Cotswold Walks. If we did it again, I would still use a booking service to handle all the accommodations, but I did want to share.
TIP: I typically share details like this on my newsletter, so if you want weekly tips, join the crew.
The Trail: Day by Day
Day 1: Chipping Campden to Stanton (10.5 miles)
We eased into the walk with a 10.5-mile stretch.
About halfway in (miles 5-6), we stopped in Broadway for lunch. Broadway is the CUTEST village in the whole trip so spend some time walking around here. Shop, grab coffees, sit outside, and just explore. Lots of people recommended Flipside Burgers but they weren't open the day we were there. We ended up at a coffee shop and grabbed some treats there but there were so many places to eat and relax at.
We spent the night at a B&B (I won't provide exact details for each of these as I don't want to take business away from the booking service) and walked down into the village for dinner at The Mount Inn. This is the only food option in town so definitely make dinner reservations in advance.
TIP: If you need a local lift, Taxi Tomas (07763784746) is a name you’ll want in your phone.
Day 2: Stanton to Cleeve Hill (11.5 - 13.5 miles)
The mileage this day depends on your lodging last night as well as tonight, just fyi.
No need to pack a lunch today, because there's a few lunch spots on the walk. You can stop early at Hayles Fruit Farm (their brunch looked amazing), but we pushed through to Winchcombe to eat at The Lion Inn (we tried to get the tiny donuts which people rave about but they were out). I got a chicken caesar flatbread and it was delicious. There's a coffee shop and charity (thrift) store here, so we stopped at both of those as well.
We got back on the trail to finish out the day. We stayed at Cleeve Hill and had dinner at the Rising Sun Pub (which was walkable). The pub was fine but if we had it to do over, we would have called an Uber to take the short ride to Cheltenham and go to a nicer restaurant. It wouldn't have been more than a fifteen minute ride and the city looked pretty large so I'm sure there were a lot of fun food options there.
Tip: Ubers or taxis are available for most areas of the trail.
Day 3: Cleeve Hill to Birdlip (15.5 miles)
The mileage started to ramp up today. We stopped at The Star Bistro along the route—it’s a great spot for a scone and a coffee. We heard it's really good for lunch, too but it was Easter when we were there and they stopped serving lunch at 2pm right before we arrived. To say that we were disappointed to miss lunch after walking for hours is a bit of an understatement. I was downright cranky.
We finished off the rest of the hike and then checked into a hotel in Birdlip. We had dinner on site (which had the exact same menu as the night before - hence, why I'd take the Uber in the bigger town to find something unique).
Tip: The hotel offered a packed lunch but if you have an itinerary similar to ours, don't get the packed lunch for tomorrow because walk through Painswick (about 4 hours in tomorrow) and there's lunch options.
Day 4: Birdlip to Stonehouse (16 miles)
This is a really long day. At around the halfway point, the trail goes right through the town of Painswick. This was a perfect stop for coffee and scones.
TIP: Arts Cafe Painwick has a lovely menu and some cute handmade goods to buy as well.
After fueling up and going in a few stores around the town, we continued on the trek. The weather turned a bit and the elevation (specifically the descents, started to be unbearable).
At around 12 miles in, my knee couldn't handle the descents. I had been hobbling for a few miles and we realized that it just wasn't sustainable. It was quite interesting trying to get a taxi because this was by far the most remote area we were in. Luke finally called our hotel for the night and they were able to direct us to a guy (who drives a fancy BMW) who also does taxi service randomly as well. I finished the day in the taxi but Luke toughed it out a few more hours on the trail.
We stayed the night at Stonehouse Court Hotel (upgrade your room here and enjoy the stay!!) and it was our favorite stay of the trip. It's about a twenty minute detour, but the walk along the Stroudwater Navigation canal is peaceful. We had dinner at the Court Brasserie on-site (reserve in advance).
TIP: We had most dinner reservations at 6:30pm. We felt like this was a great time to allow for us to get in and get settled before heading to dinner.
Day 5: Stonehouse to Wotton-under-Edge (16.5 miles)
As this was going to be another big mileage day, I knew my body wasn't up for it as I was hobbling around with lots of knee pain just to get to breakfast. We decided to split up for today's adventure.
Luke and I left together and walked the navigation canal until we split up so I could grab the bus to explore a new town on my own and he could do the 16.5 mile hike to Wotton-under-Edge.
I took the bus to Stroud (about a 20 min ride) and saw one of the biggest farmer market's in England. Or, should I say, I ate my way through one of the biggest farmer markets in England.
I thrifted this art. It was fun to get a piece that was a replica (thatched roofs are wild!) of some of the houses we walked by. I had no idea if it would fit in my luggage, but knew it was worth a chance.
I had looked beforehand and knew that I could take a bus from Stroud to our evening accommodation, so I did that. I was a bit nervous about paying for the bus and getting to the right station, but all of that is pretty easy with a phone these days. Most public transit takes tap to pay and with google maps, it's all pretty easy. And also, it's good to be out of your comfort zone and by yourself doing these things... there's growth in the uncomfortable moments.
In the meantime, Luke went on with the hike and stopped halfway at Dursley for lunch (lots of options there). And then he continued with all the elevation until we finally joined up early evening in Wooton-Under-Edge.
He got views of Wales this day (which I was slightly jealous of).
We had dinner at Good Food Kitchen in Wotton-under-Edge, which was a lovely find and one that I was really excited about. Definitely book in advance (I did it a month in advance) and go eat here. It was a favorite of the whole trip. It was in the town, so just a few minutes walk from our lodging.
TIP: For both of our 100 mile treks, we've taken a pair of jeans and one nice top that we wore to dinner every night. My "nice" top is my favorite gray wool sweater. In the villages in both Scotland and England, there are some places that would prefer you to dress up, but most people are dressed informally just slightly pulled together.
Day 6: Wotton-under-Edge to Old Sodbury (13 miles)
The next day, I was still feeling my knee (like, limping down a driveway still) so I cut off about two miles on the trail and walked the road. Luke continued on the trail and we ended up meeting up about a hour into the walk (kinda funny, we met at the same meeting place as our Canadian trail buddies who did the same split up situation).
We continued together with the Canadians for an hour or so until we pulled ahead (they were also struggling with descent).
I had to grab a photo of the style of house that I found the vintage art of! SO fun, right?! Also, I kept wondering after seeing lots and lots of sheep and cows, if we'd see any highland cows. We finally saw some!
We detoured slightly into Hawkesbury Upton for lunch at The Beaufort Arms. The owner was so incredibly lovely. It's a traditional English menu (and the food was just ok), but the hospitality was the star.
We continued on with our walk after saying goodbye to the Canadians and kept trucking along. The mileage definitely felt doable on this day.
We checked into our accommodation in Old Sodbury (usually a 4:00–6:00 pm check-in window) and headed to The Dog Inn for dinner (skip this restaurant). Every trip has one "meh" meal, and this was ours (plus, the pub had definitely seen better days).
TIP: If you stay in Old Sodbury, grab an Uber and go eat in the town about 3 miles away.
Day 7: Old Sodbury to Cold Ashton (8.5 miles)
This was a shorter day, which was a welcome break for our feet. We took a 20-minute detour to Tolly's Kitchen for lunch, and it was easily our favorite lunch of the entire trail. Honestly, it was amazing but I will say getting back to trail takes you down about a 12 min stretch of road that feels pretty sketchy (with the traffic and where you have to walk). We'd do it again but there was a bit of a feeling of being uncomfortable with the path. You can also visit Dyrham Park for tea and scones and to walk around the beautiful grounds (but there is a steep entry fee for that). The Cotswold Trail goes around the park so you do get to see some of it and it's stunning!
We stayed at a local farm in Cold Ashton, which is right on the trail. You definitely need to coordinate with the host for dinner ahead of time; we had a local chef-prepared microwave meal that was exactly what we needed.
Cold Ashton is really small with zero food options, from what I saw, so having an Airbnb or accommodation that provides food here is a must.
TIP: If you want to eat at Tolly's Kitchen but are concerned about the route, you could backtrack the way you go there (would probably add 25 min on to the route) and that would be a safer footpath.
Day 8: Cold Ashton to Bath (10 miles)
The final push! There aren't many lunch options until you reach the outskirts of Bath (Weston), so pack some snacks. We got into Bath around lunchtime. Entering Bath on foot is a pretty spectacular feeling. We snacked a bit, checked into our bougie hotel and then explored Bath on foot.
We celebrated the finish line with the tasting menu at The Mint Room, which was incredible. I booked this about two weeks before our trip. Also, again, we wore the same dinner outfit that we wore other nights so no need to stress about this! Now, there are nicer restaurants in Bath and you might need to evaluate your outfit if you plan to go out to a fancy dinner.
West Highland Way vs. Cotswold Way: How They Compare
If you missed my post on Hiking Scotland’s West Highland Way, you might be wondering how the two compare.
While Scotland gave us that raw, "middle of nowhere" isolation, the Cotswold Way offered a more "village-to-village" charm. In Scotland, the raw beauty of the land and trail just gave you feelings of awe. There's a mystical feel to Scotland (similar to Iceland if you've been there). We loved Iceland, too, btw.
For us, the Cotswold Way just didn't deliver in the way that the West Highland Way did. Lots of the Cotswold Way days are through fields and pasture lands which is beautiful but not other-wordly. Most of the time, you aren't walking through beautiful villages either. I don't want to downplay the Cotswold Way because it was an adventure and we definitely don't regret it but for us (and for the other 4 people we talked to who had done both)... we'd 100% pick the WHW if you can only choose one. If you are seeking the aesthetic village charm and want to do lots of food, shopping, and wandering around, you might also just consider staying in different towns in the Cotswolds but not actually doing the 100 mile walk.
Cotswold Way: Tips & FAQ
Physically, the terrain is much "kinder" - you aren't scrambling over roots or rocks in the same way. However, the mileage can be higher, and the constant "up and down" adds up. We felt like the elevation changes on the Cotswold Way were harder overall but this is really going to depend on how many miles you are doing each day. I will also say that if you are a hiker then the WHW does have days that feel more like a hike.
Many of the best pubs and B&Bs are 15-20 minutes off the actual trail. My best tip is to build that "extra" mile into your mental math for the day. Use a navigation app (like AllTrails) to ensure you don’t miss the turn-offs for places like the Stonehouse Court Hotel, which is a bit of a trek from the path.
Yes. Especially in the smaller villages like Cold Ashton or Birdlip. Many of these pubs stop serving food at 8:00 or 9:00 pm, and they fill up fast with locals and other travelers. If your B&B host offers a meal option, take it—it’s usually more relaxing than walking another mile into town.
If you don't want to carry your full pack, there are several luggage transfer services that move your bags from hotel to hotel for a small fee.
No, you'll need to fill up your bladders every morning at your B&B. Most cafes and pubs along the route are happy to refill your water if you're stopping for a snack. None of our days were too long, so we were fine with a water bladder each filled just in the morning.
For nine nights through our booking service (Cotswold Walks), we paid approximately $3600 which included luggage transfers and breakfast. This did include some premium accommodation upgrades (especially our final stay in Bath). This did not include airfare to London, accommodations in London on both sides of the trip, or train transfers to the start and end of the walk. We spent about $8k total including the booking service accommodations, food, airfare, trains, etc.
If you are booking yourself, you could probably book most accommodations for under $2k total. The luggage transfer is easy and costs around $15 per day and you could book that yourself as well. For a budget conscious traveler (without airfare), I think two people could do this trip for $3000 (but you'd need to watch your $$ at pubs because that adds up).
One thing to note, all our accommodations included breakfast and most of them included a continental (pastries, fruit, yogurt, etc.) and a cooked to order breakfast.
Final Thoughts
We spent our final morning exploring Bath—there are free guided walks of the city that you can do, or you can just wander (which is what we did).
Overall, we liked the walk, but we didn't love it. It had a bit too much that felt so similar to Missouri in walking through fields. But, the parts where you go through towns (about 20% off the time) were totally charming and we loved this! All of that being said, we REALLY enjoy this type of vacation. There's something so rejuvenating about being in nature, unplugged, walking, talking, and taking it all in. It's definitely a good fit for both of us.
If you are curious about this type of adventure but feel like the West Highland Way might be too much of an adventure, then I'd recommend this one. If you feel up for handling the slightly more adventurous West Highland Way, definitely go for that!
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