6 best walks in the Cotswolds (with maps)

On the western side of the Cotswolds, the escarpment (a steep hill about 200 metres high) marks the boundary between the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Severn Valley. The escarpment itself is excellent hill-walking country and the views from the top are outstanding. Three of our best walks in the Cotswolds make use of this dramatic feature. This is one of them.

But there are two other drawcards to this walk. Firstly, it begins and ends in the village of Broadway – one of the posher villages in the Cotswolds. It has art galleries, wine bars, and great fish and chips.

The other feature is Broadway Tower, the second-highest spot in the Cotswolds. Perched on top of the escarpment, it’s the perfect spot for a picnic with majestic views over the endless array of ridges that glimmer on the horizon. There’s also a café at the top.

The walk itself is just under 7 kilometres long and has two short steep sections ascending and descending the escarpment. The path is easy to follow and takes about 2 hours and 30 minutes. Make sure you leave time to explore Broadway including tea at Tissanes Tea Room, a real ale at the Crown & Trumpet Inn or a glass of wine at Lygon Wine Bar.

There are plenty of pretty villages in the Cotswolds, but Castle Combe is perhaps our favourite. Nestled in green valley walls it has everything that makes a Cotswold village special: an old pub, a grand manor house, a lovely church and a babbling brook.

Most importantly, the locals have kept it largely car-free so you can capture the village in much of its pre-industrial age glory. It’s a beautifully set location and the surrounding countryside is perfect for a stroll.

This walk starts and ends in Castle Combe but in between, it passes through rolling English countryside. The path follows a meandering river, slowly rising into a forest before arriving in the hamlet of Long Dean. Bending right it ascends up a banked leafy trail, then crosses fields before returning via a wooded glen. Just before arriving back in Castle Combe, the manicured golf course provides excellent views of the manor house, church and village.

It’s a beautiful walk that is perfectly capped off by a drink at the Castle Inn or White Hart pub in the village market square.

While most of the Cotswolds is rolling green countryside and pretty little villages, this walk is more rugged and diverse. Its focal point is Cleeve Hill – the highest point in the Cotswolds at 330 metres. But what makes it special is the large common that covers the top. Unlike anywhere else in the area, it’s remarkable for its desolate appearance and wild-looking sheep and cattle.

But the walk does more than explore the common, it also visits the Neolithic burial mound of Belas Knap, drops into woods, runs along a river and collects the charming town of Winchcombe. At times the trail meanders through the rolling countryside familiar to the Cotswolds; at others, it’s more reminiscent of the Lake District. Interesting diversity makes this one of the best circular walks in the Cotswolds.

At 15 kilometres with 300 metres of ascent, it’s the most challenging of our Cotswolds walks. Allow 5 hours to complete the walk, have a picnic and savour the wide-ranging views. From the top of the common, the Malvern Hills, Black Hills, Cheltenham and even the Severn Bridge are visible. As you descend, Sudeley Castle glimmers next to the attractive town of Winchcombe.

For a slightly tougher walk with more rugged rural scenery, then this circular walk is for you.

This is one of the classic circular walks in the Cotswolds. It traverses green rolling hills, two charming river-cut valleys and four of the most beautiful villages you’re likely to find anywhere in the country. There is simply no other circular walk that better captures the unique aesthetic of the Cotswolds.

It begins in Bourton-on the-Water, where the River Windrush rolls past a mix of old tea houses and trendy bakeries. Leaving the town, it follows the Warden’s Way to Lower Slaughter and Upper Slaughter.

The Slaughters have had no building since 1906 and are immaculate. Untouched for over a century, the River Eye (a tributary of the River Windrush) winds its way through beautiful honey-coloured cottages and cute churches with little bridges dotted along the brook. A rotating mill wheel, impressive country hotel and grand manor house, top off the charms of this Cotswolds walk.

After the Slaughters, the trail rises over fields and drops into Naunton, another charming village. Take a break at the Black Horse Inn and snoop around the stunning houses and gardens that surround the village church. Leaving Warden’s Way, the trail now joins the Windrush Way as it slowly follows the River Windrush while it meanders back into Bourton-on-the-Water.

In our opinion, this is the best walk in the Cotswolds to collect gorgeous villages set on tiny rivers in rolling countryside. Exactly what the Cotswolds are all about.

While the escarpment at the western edge of the Cotswolds offers the best rustic walks, the eastern side has idyllic riverside charm. It’s an altogether gentler and slower pace of life making it perfect for simple family strolls, lazy lunchtime picnics and wild swimming.

The Old Swan pub stands at the entrance to Minster Lovell overlooking the River Windrush which arcs around the local cricket pitch. At the other end, a picture-perfect church stands beside the ruins of an old manor house. From here the trail heads down one side of the Windrush valley, before crossing a bridge and returning at a slightly higher elevation.

There are two great spots for a picnic by the river: one under the ruins and another a little further downstream in a meadow. It also has two great wild swimming spots. The first one by the ruined manor house is shallower and slower making it excellent for younger kids. The second is in the reed-fringed pool just downstream of the weir. Here the current is strong enough and water deep enough to give you a proper workout. (Picnic and swimming spots are marked on the map).

All in all, it’s a great way to while away a few hours on a hot summer’s day. A pint at the Old Swan is a great way to finish an excellent day out.

This is another walk that visits the top and the bottom of the escarpment. Like the others, it has great views of the surrounding countryside. But it also passes through two beautiful villages, both of which have great pubs that are perfectly positioned for a midway refreshment and an end of walk reward.

It begins in the village of Stanton, which has some of the cutest cottages in the area. It then rises up the Cotswold’s Way to the top of the escarpment. It’s 200 metres of ascent, but all the hard work is out of the way quickly. From here, the rest of the walk is a breeze.

Once over the top, the village of Snowshill shimmers on the hill opposite you. Set around a church in the middle of a triangular green, it’s not much more than a small collection of cottages. But tucked within this tiny village is the Snowshill Arms and the Snowshill Manor & Gardens. The pub serves ale produced at the local Donnington Brewery and the manor house is a classic Cotswold house and garden run by the National Trust. Both are worth a visit.

From Snowshill, the trail winds its way around the escarpment collecting fine views before dropping back into Stanton – our favourite spot in the Cotswolds to end a walk in. At the Mount Inn, you’ll find other hikers exhaustedly nursing a pint while relaxing aching limbs.