Cotswold Way: 8-Day Gentle Hike

DAY 1: Arrival in Painswick

From your point of arrival, use the public transport information we provide to make the journey to Painswick.

DAY 2: Painswick to Middleyard

Distance 15km • Approximate Walking Time 4 - 5 hours • Ascent (↑) 380m

Today, after walking through open countryside for the first few kilometres, the trail leads you through some of the wonderful wooded areas on the Cotswold Way. Stockend Wood and Standish Wood are two fine examples you will pass through on today’s walk.

DAY 3: Middleyard to Dursley

12km • 3 - 5 hours • (↑) 390m

Spend some time exploring the ancient burial grounds dating back 5,000 years at Nympsfield, with spectacular vistas over the Severn Valley. Further on, a short, sharp climb to the summit of Cam Long Down offers splendid views of the surrounding countryside. Descend from here to the village of Dursley.

DAY 4: Dursley to Wotton-Under-Edge

12km • 3 - 4 hours • (↑) 275m

A steep climb out of Dursley in the morning and more stunning views over the Severn Estuary unveil themselves. Moving on to North Nibley, you pass a monument dedicated to the memory of William Tyndale - a local man responsible for the translation of the Holy Bible into English in the 16th Century.

DAY 5: Wotton-Under-Edge to Old Sodbury

21km • 5 - 7 hours • (↑) 450m

This walk is one of the more remote on the trail with a few tiny villages but mainly through countryside and along quiet paths and tracks. Later in the day, you pass two Iron Age forts (at Horton and Little Sodbury) - settlements dating back over 2,000 years.

DAY 6: Old Sodbury to Cold Ashton

14km • 4 - 5 hours • (↑) 280m

Imagine how some of England’s wealthiest people live as you pass by the sprawling countryside estates of two wonderful old county homes at Dodington Park and Dyrham Park. The grounds are wonderful for walking and you may be lucky enough to spot deer, rabbit and even foxes on the trail.

DAY 7: Cold Ashton to Bath

17km • 4 - 6 hours • (↑) 310m

Today, your path takes you across a battlefield where, in 1643, hundreds of English soldiers died fighting one another during the English Civil War. From this beautiful, yet somehow eerie, site you descend into the majestic town of Bath. Your journey ends at the fittingly spectacular Bath Abbey next to the Roman Baths - a great end to a great walk!

DAY 8: Departure from Bath

There are regular bus & train services from Bath to London/Bristol and other destinations in the UK.