A strong opening day covering three classic Cotswold sections. Leave historic Chipping Campden, a wool town built from golden limestone with its 17th-century Market Hall, climbing to Dover's Hill at 230m and on to Broadway Tower, a striking folly at 312m. Descend into Broadway village, then climb onto the escarpment at Shenberrow Hill — site of an Iron Age hill fort dating to around 500 BCE — before dropping steeply into unspoiled Stanton. Continue past Stanway House, a Jacobean manor with Europe's tallest gravity-fed fountain at 91m, then climb to Stumps Cross and Beckbury Camp Iron Age hill fort with views to Cleeve Hill and the Malvern Hills. Descend past Hailes and across farmland into Winchcombe, a Saxon town near Sudeley Castle, last home to Catherine Parr.
The biggest climbing day on the trail. Leave Winchcombe past the 15th-century St Peter's Church and climb to Belas Knap, an impressive Neolithic long barrow from 3800 BCE, then continue through Breakheart Plantation and the Postlip Estate onto Cleeve Common — the largest limestone grassland in the Cotswolds. Summit Cleeve Hill at 317m, the highest point on the entire Cotswold Way, with views to the Malvern Hills and Brecon Beacons. Descend through Dowdeswell Wood to Dowdeswell Reservoir, then climb again through Lineover Wood's 300-year-old heritage beeches to Wistley Hill and Seven Springs. Cross Leckhampton Hill at 299m past the iconic Devil's Chimney, traverse Ullenwood and the prehistoric earthworks of Crickley Hill Country Park, and finish at Birdlip's Royal George pub.
A slightly shorter day through the heart of the Cotswold escarpment. Descend from Birdlip into the majestic beech woods of Witcombe, with cathedral-like canopies and spectacular spring bluebells. Climb to Cooper's Hill, famous for its annual cheese-rolling event where competitors chase a 9lb Double Gloucester down a 1:2 slope, then descend through Pope's Wood with its wild garlic carpets into Painswick — the 'Queen of the Cotswolds' — with elegant 17th-century buildings and St Mary's churchyard of 99 yew trees. Climb again past the Edgemoor Inn and Cromwell's Stone to Haresfield Beacon at 248m for views across the Severn Estuary, Forest of Dean and Welsh mountains, then traverse Standish Wood and descend to Ryeford and across the Stroudwater Canal to King's Stanley.
From King's Stanley climb steeply through Pen Wood and Stanley Wood, both rich in ancient beech and wildflower clearings, following the escarpment edge over the distinctive whale-backed Cam Long Down at 218m for panoramic views across the Bristol Channel and Welsh hills. Descend into Dursley with its 13th-century twisted-spire St James Church and the Old Spot Inn, then climb over Stinchcombe Hill — seven counties visible on a clear day — to North Nibley and up to the 111-foot Tyndale Monument commemorating the Bible translator. Descend through Westridge Wood into Wotton-under-Edge, then climb again to Blackquarries Hill and along Wortley Hill, dropping through Alderley and a valley of medieval ridge-and-furrow patterns to Lower Kilcott. A final climb past the Somerset Monument leads to Hawkesbury Upton.
The longest day and grand finale. Leave Hawkesbury Upton through rolling farmland past Horton Court, a National Trust property with a 12th-century Norman hall, and Horton Camp's ancient hill fort. Pass Little Sodbury, where William Tyndale once lived, climb to Little Sodbury Fort and descend into Old Sodbury, then through cultivated fields to Coomb's End and the elegant Dodington Estate parkland, designed by Capability Brown and now owned by Sir James Dyson. Cross the M4 motorway at Tormarton and skirt Dyrham Park, cutting through Dyrham Wood to Cold Ashton. Climb steadily to Lansdown Hill, site of the 1643 Civil War battle marked by Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument, then from Prospect Stile descend past Kelston Round Hill and the Royal Crescent's sweeping Georgian facade to finish at Bath Abbey.
