For the frugal friends, an immersive, dog friendly weekend adventure, visiting the 13 most stunning villages in the North Cotswolds in two days, a no fuss guide, sharing our planning, maps and stops. There is no affiliated or sponsored content here, just places I loved and enjoyed!
I've wanted to visit Cotswolds for such a long time, but each Instagram post I've come across was more beautiful than the first. How on earth could I ever decide which to prioritise? After some detailed research, I've managed to map out the most mentioned villages all next to one another and it turned into one of the most immersive, gentle, weekend adventures I have ever organised. I hope you find this helpful and enjoy :)
Important tags
Over 13 Cotswolds villages within reasonable walking or driving distance
Car is strongly recommended
Dog friendly
Walking tour weather dependant
Solo travel tested
Comfortable clothing recommended
Bike or accessibility not tested
Ideal for hiking beginners or Cotswolds newbies
Travel dates: late September, early October
List of villages
Jumping straight to it, with the most important - where did I go and how to get there. Each village is linked to its website or the information I used to research each location in case you want to peruse more.
DAY ONE - WALKING TOUR
This is a circular walk, around 14 miles and without stops takes around 6 hours. It's fairly flat, across a few fields which were almost mud free beginning of October. In reality, it was around 35k steps, we left at 9am and returned to the B&B around 5pm, with photo shoot and food stops along the way. But as you can hopefully tell from the map below, you can make this a longer or a shorter trek to suit your needs and ability.
Free OS Map Route
I've created the route we walked on https://explore.osmaps.com/. You can follow this link or download the app on your phone free. You don't need to sign up to follow the route I have created, but signing up doesn't cost you anything and will enable you to save the routes you want to walk, free of charge. The difference with the paid version is that you will be able to see the Topographic map with all the paths labelled clearly, and will be able to plan your own routes (and more) which costs around £34 a year. But you can follow the route linked below completely free. Though as ever, a disclaimer, that since I've last visited this route, it is possible (as with any outdoor adventures) for it to have become not walkable , so please, do your own research too and be prepared for all weather conditions and to change your plans if needed.
DAY TWO - LOCAL DRIVE
After a day of intense walking, it was nice to have a gentle drive around. It is easy to find free or insanely affordable parking lots. Thank you, Cotswolds!
Chipping Campden ~11min drive to >
Broadway ~8min drive to >
Stanton (stop for lunch at a great pub, arrive early for a space) ~11min drive to >
Snowhill ~20min drive to >
Upper Slaughter ~20min WALK to Lower Slaughter and a great pub stop>
Lower Slaughter ~6min drive to >
Stow-on-the-wold ~12min drive to >
Some of these villages are mapped in the image below, to show you, that they are all fairly close together, and you can add or remove villages if you want, to make your perfect adventure.
Key Recommendations
WHERE TO STAY
We stayed in the North of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. If you are travelling from London or the North, North Cotswolds is naturally closer and makes for a shorter drive, and everything is just as beautiful as anything else you will find at the centre. Barton-on-the-Heath is where we decided to base ourselves. Again, not so well known, but still close to all the well mentioned villages, so ended up being that bit more affordable.
WALKING TOUR - KEY STOPS
The purpose of the walking tour was to immerse ourselves into the landscape and beauty of Cotswolds on foot, but we picked a few strategic stops along the way:
Scrumptious lunches, brunches and delicious homely brews. I picked home grown organic mint tea and cake. It was amazing, everything and more than it promised to be.
Want a tasty and possibly a gently boozy stop on the way? Then a visit to the distillery will also be for you! We didn't book a tour but sat outside in the caf, for the most delicious G&T, a sarnie, pack of crispies and a cake. It was all about cake on this trip clearly!
DRIVING TOUR - KEY STOPS
The purpose of the driving tour was cramming in as many villages and short walks as possible. Since the day was about driving, we tried to offset the carbon footprint by browsing but not purchasing things we didn't need, but support local as much as possible, litter pick along our short walks. So our two main stops were an early lunch at the The Mount Inn, Stanton and a late afternoon bevvie at The Slaughters Country Inn .
But, my favourite thing about Cotswold's as it turns out, was that it felt that you could go to any village, any pub, everything was dog-friendly, and beautiful and welcoming. I write down these places now, but actually, we found them as we went, by accident, having done a quick online search for reviews, menus and history, and the rest, just came together on its own, into one of my most favourite trips!
How we made this a frugal and a more eco friendly adventure
Minimising driving distances between home and villages on half a tank
Day 1 walking tour and being car free for the day
Packing re-usable water bottle and filling up along the way
Taking home made snacks because I get hangry
Supporting local businesses where possible
Litter picking along the way if you spot something
Eating out as little as possible, we made our own breakfast and snacks, only stopping at the not to be missed local places
Making the biggest and often most expensive meal (dinner) at the place we stayed
Eco friendly poop bags for Pep
Staying the night in a less known village made it more affordable
And just taking each moment gently, not rushing around, savouring all the beautiful villages, the history and stories :)
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