Begin in historic Chipping Campden, a wool town built from golden Cotswold limestone and famous for its 17th-century Market Hall. The trail climbs steadily to Dover's Hill at 230m for sweeping views across the Vale of Evesham, then continues over open farmland to Broadway Tower, a striking folly perched at 312m on Broadway Hill. Descend through sheep pasture into Broadway village with its honey-coloured stone cottages, pub and tearoom, before climbing onto the escarpment at Shenberrow Hill — site of an Iron Age hill fort dating to around 500 BCE, with views westward to the Malvern Hills. The day finishes with a steep descent into unspoiled Stanton, where the Mount Inn offers spectacular valley views.
Leave Stanton on a flat path past Stanway House, a magnificent Jacobean manor whose 17th-century gatehouse fronts the tallest gravity-fed fountain in Europe at 91m. Climb to Stumps Cross, then ascend steeply to Beckbury Camp, an Iron Age hill fort with panoramic views toward Cleeve Hill and the Malvern Hills. Descend past Hailes and across farmland into Winchcombe, a Saxon town with several pubs, cafés and a tourist information centre — the imposing Sudeley Castle, last home to Catherine Parr, lies just east of the route. From Winchcombe the trail climbs past the 15th-century St Peter's Church to Belas Knap, an impressive Neolithic long barrow from 3800 BCE, then continues through Breakheart Plantation and Postlip Estate onto Cleeve Common.
Climb immediately to Cleeve Hill summit at 317m, the highest point on the entire Cotswold Way, with panoramic views to the Malvern Hills, Brecon Beacons and across Cheltenham. Cross the exposed limestone grasslands of Cleeve Common past ancient quarries and Iron Age earthworks, then descend through Dowdeswell Wood to Dowdeswell Reservoir, home to rare white-clawed crayfish. Climb again through Lineover Wood with its 300-year-old heritage beeches to Wistley Hill, then continue to Seven Springs. Cross Leckhampton Hill at 299m, passing the iconic Devil's Chimney rock formation carved by Victorian quarrymen, then traverse Ullenwood and the prehistoric earthworks of Crickley Hill Country Park before descending to The Royal George pub at Birdlip.
Descend from Birdlip into the majestic beech woods of Witcombe, where ancient trees create a cathedral-like canopy and spring brings spectacular bluebell displays. Climb to Cooper's Hill, famous for its annual cheese-rolling event where competitors chase a 9lb Double Gloucester down a 1:2 gradient slope, then descend through Pope's Wood with its wild garlic carpets before dropping into Painswick — the 'Queen of the Cotswolds' — with elegant 17th-century stone 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, an Iron Age hill fort with views across the Severn Estuary, Forest of Dean and Welsh mountains. Traverse Standish Wood with its ancient beeches and bluebell carpets, then descend to Ryeford and across the Stroudwater Canal to King's Stanley.
From King's Stanley cross to Middleyard, then climb steeply through Pen Wood and Stanley Wood, both rich in ancient beech and wildflower clearings. Follow the escarpment edge with sweeping Severn Vale views, pass Hodgecombe Farm, then ascend the distinctive whale-backed Cam Long Down at 218m for panoramic views across the Bristol Channel and Welsh hills. Descend through orchid-rich meadows into Dursley, a historic market town with its 13th-century twisted-spire St James Church and the Old Spot Inn. Climb again over Stinchcombe Hill — seven counties visible on a clear day — pass through North Nibley with its Norman church and the Black Horse Inn, then climb to Nibley Knoll and the 111-foot Tyndale Monument. Descend through Westridge Wood and Wotton Hill into Wotton-under-Edge.
Climb out of Wotton-under-Edge to Blackquarries Hill and along Wortley Hill, with sweeping views across the Severn Vale toward Wales. Descend through sunken woodland tracks to the peaceful village of Alderley with its traditional stone cottages, then through a quiet valley showcasing medieval ridge-and-furrow field patterns to the hamlet of Lower Kilcott and its clear millstream. Climb gradually through mixed woodland to the Somerset Monument, a 111-foot tower built in 1846 commemorating Lord Robert Somerset's service at Waterloo, then descend to Hawkesbury Upton with the Beaufort Arms, Fox Inn and a historic drover's pond. Continue through rolling farmland past Horton Court — a National Trust property with a 12th-century Norman hall — and Horton Camp's ancient hill fort, then pass Little Sodbury where William Tyndale once lived, before climbing to Little Sodbury Fort and descending into Old Sodbury.
The grand finale. Climb gently from Old Sodbury through cultivated fields to Coomb's End, then enter the elegant parkland of Dodington Estate, designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century and now owned by Sir James Dyson. Pass through Tormarton with its duck pond, the historic St Mary Magdalene church and the Compass Inn, then cross the busy M4 motorway and skirt Dyrham Park before cutting through Dyrham Wood with its ancient trees and seasonal wildflowers. Cross the A46 at Pennsylvania, continue through Cold Ashton, then climb steadily to Lansdown Hill — site of the 1643 Civil War battle — marked by Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument. From Prospect Stile, the first panoramic vista of Bath appears below. Descend past Kelston Round Hill, through Royal Victoria Park and the magnificent Royal Crescent, to finish at the carved stone disc at Bath Abbey.
