Jump to: Our Verdict / Features / Specifications
Guidebook to walking the Cotswold Way National Trail. Between Chipping Campden and Bath, the 102 mile route explores the Cotswolds AONB. Described in both directions over 13 stages, the Cotswold Way can be walked year round and is suitable for beginner trekkers. Includes separate OS 1:25,000 map booklet of the route.
Cicerone says:
Guidebook to walking the 102 mile (163km) Cotswold Way National Trail between Chipping Campden and Bath, across the Cotswolds AONB. The guidebook - which includes both a guide to the route and a separate OS 1:25,000 map booklet - describes the route in both directions.
The route is described over 13 stages, each following the Cotswold escarpment, with dramatic and far-reaching views across the Severn Vale towards the Welsh hills, plunging down to visit honey-coloured villages, old market towns and the elegant and historic city of Bath. The longest of the 13 stages is 10 miles, the shortest 6 miles: these are dictated by the existence of overnight accommodation. For the determined, the trail can be walked in as little as five days.
The Cotswold Way offers a wonderful walker's landscape, featuring beautiful woodland, pretty cottages and ancient battlefields. The route can be walked all year round, and is suitable for walkers of all abilities. The stage-by-stage route description is accompanied by maps at a scale of 1:100,000 (1cm to 1 mile) and full colour photographs. The guidebook also includes a map booklet showing the full route on 1:25,000 OS map extracts.
A trek planner gives at a glance information about facilities, public transport and accommodation available along the way, and there is plenty of background information on local geology, wildlife and history.
Our Verdict
For nearly 50 years Cicerone have been producing guidebooks on recognised treks, regions, areas and general tips for hikers.
We have used them countless times and they've always provided excellent insight and knowledge that you only get through experience, giving you the edge to make your trip a success and more enjoyable too.
If you're a gram counter you can easily remove sections of the book to take with you making your own ultra-lightweight guidebook with only the essential sections that you require.
- Reviewed by Ultralight Outdoor Gear
Features
- Seasons: Can be walked all year round: accommodation is scarce during Cheltenham Festival (March) and Badminton Horse Trials (late April/May)
- Centres: Chipping Campden, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud, Bat
- Difficulty: The Cotswold Way is a waymarked lowland walk suitable for all abilities: suggested day sections are in the region of 6-10 miles (10-16km)
- Must See: Hailes Abbey, Belas Knap, Crickley Hill, Haresfield Beacon, Sudley Castle, Broadway, views of Kelston Round Hill, roman baths (Bath)
Specifications
- Edition: Fourth
- Number of pages: 240
- Size: 17.2 x 11.6 x 1.4cm
- Weighs 340g
Contents
Introduction
The Cotswold Way
Planning your trip
Choosing an itinerary
Which way to walk?
When to go?
Self-guided or guided?
Getting there and getting around
First nights and last nights
Accommodation
Facilities en route
Baggage transfer service
What to take
The Cotswold Way Hall of Fame
Planning day by day
Using this guide
Additional mapping
Waymarking
Health, safety and emergencies
Mobile phones, wi-fi and the internet
The Country Code
All about the Cotswolds
Geology
Plants and wildlife
Man in the landscape
Southbound: Chipping Campden to Bath
Introduction
Stage 1 Chipping Campden to Stanton
Stage 2 Stanton to Winchcombe
Stage 3 Winchcombe to Cleeve Hill
Stage 4 Cleeve Hill to Dowdeswell (A40)
Stage 5 Dowdeswell (A40) to Birdlip
Stage 6 Birdlip to Painswick
Stage 7 Painswick to Middleyard (King’s Stanley)
Stage 8 Middleyard (King’s Stanley) to Dursley
Stage 9 Dursley to Wotton-under-Edge
Stage 10 Wotton-under-Edge to Hawkesbury Upton
Stage 11 Hawkesbury Upton to Tormarton
Stage 12 Tormarton to Cold Ashton
Stage 13 Cold Ashton to Bath
Northbound: Bath to Chipping Campden
Introduction
Stage 1 Bath to Cold Ashton
Stage 2 Cold Ashton to Tormarton
Stage 3 Tormarton to Hawkesbury Upton
Stage 4 Hawkesbury Upton to Wotton-under-Edge
Stage 5 Wotton-under-Edge to Dursley
Stage 6 Dursley to Middleyard (King’s Stanley)
Stage 7 Middleyard (King’s Stanley) to Painswick
Stage 8 Painswick to Birdlip
Stage 9 Birdlip to Dowdeswell (A40)
Stage 10 Dowdeswell (A40) to Cleeve Hill
Stage 11 Cleeve Hill to Winchcombe
Stage 12 Winchcombe to Stanton
Stage 13 Stanton to Chipping Campden
Appendix A Useful contacts
Appendix B Accommodation along the route
Appendix C Further reading
