The Cotswold Way

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.

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Overview

Guidebook to walking the Cotswold Way National Trail between Chipping Campden and Bath, across the Cotswolds AONB - which includes both a guide to the route and a separate mapping booklet. The 102 mile (163km) route is described in both directions over 13 stages, of between 6 and 10 miles, depending on the existence of overnight accommodation. Camping options are sparse along the route.

This guidebook is illustrated with maps and the author's own full-colour photographs. The stage-by-stage route description is accompanied by overview maps at a scale of 1:100,000 (1cm to 1 mile). A more detailed map of the Way is supplied in booklet form, at a scale of 1:25,000, slid into the back of the book.

The Cotswold Way became a National Trail in May 2007, despite having been a much-loved walking route for more than 35 years. It follows 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.

Table of Contents

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

Updates

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June 2021

Stamped card

Please note that the card mentioned on p23 which used to be available for walkers to get stamped at the start and end of the walk, as well as a number of locations en route, is no longer available. Instead you can record your achievement on the dedicated website: www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk/halloffame

May 2019

Updates

Cotswold Way Accommodation

Please note, accommodation is no longer available at the Kaloshi Indian Restaurant at Dowdeswell Reservoir (Stage 4 southbound) or at Laburnam Cottage in Cold Ashton (Stage 12 southbound)

Feb 2019
Please note that B&B accommodation is no longer available at Coombe Farm in Hawkesbury Upton, but just a few mins walk from the Cotswold Way, B&B can be found at:
Mounteneys Farmhouse
(2 double rooms)
Mounteneys Lane
Wickwar
Wotton-Under-Edge
GL12 8JY
tel: 07808164776
www.mounteneysfarmhouse.co.uk... owners also provide a taxi service to CW walkers)


Aug 2017

Appendix B page 228B&B in Edge is closed.
Upper Doreys Mill
Edge
near Stroud
GL6 6NF

June 2016
Please note two corrections to the map booklet that accompanies the 2016 edition of Walking the Cotswold Way.
On page 18 of the map booklet, the route is incorrectly shown between Crickley Hill and The Air Balloon pub. The correct route (as described in the guide) continues along the southern end of The Scrubbs as far as the roundabout by the pub, then alongside the A417 to the telephone box shown on the map.
On page 26 of the map booklet, the start/finish symbol at Middleyard should be a little to the north of that shown, as Stage 7 (southbound)/Stage 6 (northbound) end by King’s Stanley Baptist Church.
With thanks to David Jupe for this information.

Reviews

"This new long distance guidebook series from Cicerone has a unique selling point: each copy comes with a pocket-sized booklet providing 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey mapping for the whole of the route it covers. Guidebooks have of course included map sections in the past, but the difference here is that if you stick to the route outlined in each book you shouldn't need to carry an extra map with you. So for those of you who like saving weight (and money for that matter) on your long distance adventures, then this could be the ideal navigation tool....

The guidebooks are impeccably researched and written by Cicerone's expert pool of outdoor authors...

Our only criticism is that they haven't been doing it for years!"

Oli Reed, Trail Magazine

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