Independent Trails: Fact File

Independent Trails: Fact File.COTH2

The Cotswolds ~ Cotswolds Highlights Tour

Trail Facts

Total Distance: 43 miles (69km)
Duration: 7 nights, 6 walking days
Minimum/maximum daily distances: 5 miles (8km)/81/2 miles (13.5km)
Season: All year
Starting point of holiday: Chipping Campden
End of holiday: Chipping Campden
Tour code: COTH2

Itinerary

Day 1: Travel to Chipping Campden

Day 2: Chipping Campden to Moreton-in-Marsh. 8½ miles (13.5km)

Day 3: Moreton-in-Marsh to Stow-on-the-Wold. 6½miles (10.5km)

Day 4: Stow-on-the-Wold to Temple Guiting. 8 miles (13km)

Day 5: Temple Guiting to Winchcombe. 5 miles (8km)

Day 6: Winchcombe to Stanton. 7 miles (11km)

Day 7: Stanton to Chipping Campden. 8 miles (13km)

Day 8: Depart from Chipping Campden.

Extra nights/rest days

Moreton-in-Marsh is a popular choice for a rest day - the historic city of Oxford is only 30 minutes away by train. Stow-on-the-Wold is an attractive town with many good antiques shops and art galleries. Winchcombe is a popular choice for a rest day. It is a charming small town with two or three inns, many attractive old Tudor houses, cottages with roses clambering over their porches and a fine church containing an altar cloth worked by Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII first wife. Forty-five grotesque gargoyles, each representing a local character from the 1460's adorn its outer walls. Winchcombe is also a good base for exploring Sudeley Castle. Many people chose to have an extra night in Chipping Campden. It is the loveliest, best preserved and most historically important of all the Cotswold towns. Buildings of interest include the open-sided Jacobean Market Hall, built to shelter stallholders from all weathers; the Town Hall, the 14th century Woolstaplers Hall, where the fleeces were sold, which now houses the town's museum; opposite this is the magnificent Grevel House built in 1380. St James' Church is one of the best examples of a Cotswold 'wool' church and contains the largest memorial brass in the county, to William Grevel, 'the flower of the wool merchants of all England'. Next to the church is the gateway and onion-topped lodges of the old manor of Campden. The manor itself was destroyed during the Civil War. Nearby on a raised pavement stands a superb row of Almshouses built during the reign of James I in stunning symmetry.

What's included?

7 nights accommodation in en-suite rooms with private bathrooms (where available) in selected hotels, inns and guesthouses along the trail.
Traditional cooked breakfast.
Door to door luggage transfer.
Maps with the route marked on and a guidebook describing the trail.
An information pack containing an itinerary, instructions on how to find your accommodation each night, town plans, information about facilities and places of interest along the trail and a kit list.
Detailed travel instructions on how to get to the start of your holiday and back from the end of it.
Emergency assistance

Travel Information

Detailed instructions on how to get to the start of the holiday and back from the end of it are sent to you on booking. A summary is given below.

Most convenient major city and International airport: London (Gatwick or Heathrow airports) or Birmingham Airport. Train to Moreton-in-Marsh from London Paddington (1 hour 40 minutes) or Birmingham (2 hours 15 minutes). Bus or taxi to Chipping Campden.

Outward journey from London to Chipping Campden: Train from London Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh (I hour 40 minutes). Bus or taxi to Chipping Campden.

Return journey to London at the end of the holiday: Bus or taxi to Moreton-in-Marsh railway station. Train to London Paddington (1 hour 40 minutes).