7-day Cotswold Way itinerary

1. Day 1

   Chipping Campden to Stanton

   4–5 h 10.3 mi (16.5 km) ↑ 400 m (1,300 ft) ↓ 430 m (1,400 ft)

   Broadway Tower and the drop into Broadway are the pictures, and neither is the night. This count stops at Stanton, the same first night as the longer plans. Book it with Birdlip and Tormarton. When Stanton is full, the fallback is a taxi from Broadway and back in the morning. Do not push on to Winchcombe. That town is lunch tomorrow. Painswick is lunch later in the week, not a night on this plan.

   Example stay The Stanton GuildHouse (opens in a new tab)

2. Day 2

   Stanton to Cleeve Hill

   7–8 h 15.2 mi (24.4 km) ↑ 620 m (2,050 ft) ↓ 470 m (1,550 ft)

   Winchcombe is lunch, not the night, with Hailes Abbey before the village and Belas Knap on the climb after it. The path drops through Breakheart Plantation and climbs again. The night is Cleeve Hill, the highest point on the Way. A slower walk sleeps at Winchcombe and leaves the common for the next morning. This one does not. Eat in Winchcombe. Tomorrow is the escarpment into Birdlip, and the day after that does not stop at Painswick.

   Example stay Cleeve Hill Hotel (opens in a new tab)

3. Day 3

   Cleeve Hill to Birdlip

   6–7 h 14.3 mi (23.0 km) ↑ 470 m (1,550 ft) ↓ 500 m (1,650 ft)

   You start on the highest point. Cleeve Common looks over Cheltenham. Dowdeswell has no bed, so you walk through Seven Springs and on to the Devil's Chimney, the rock pillar on Leckhampton Hill. Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake bring you into Birdlip. A diversion near the village has been signed since July 2026. Follow it. Birdlip has little choice of bed. Book it with Stanton and Tormarton. Eat here. Tomorrow walks through the mid-point and does not stop until King's Stanley.

   Example stay Royal George Hotel (opens in a new tab)

4. Day 4 Longest

   Birdlip to King's Stanley

   8–9 h 18.6 mi (30.0 km) ↑ 700 m (2,300 ft) ↓ 810 m (2,650 ft)

   Painswick is lunch, not the night. That is the change from the eight-day, which sleeps there and keeps the mid-point as its own short day. You walk through the town and on to King's Stanley, the village on the line. Stonehouse is a bed off it, and this plan does not leave the path for it. Eat in Painswick. The evening is in a smaller place, and tomorrow still goes through Dursley to Wotton-under-Edge. Follow the Birdlip diversion at the start of the day.

   Example stay Orchardene (opens in a new tab)

5. Day 5

   King's Stanley to Wotton-under-Edge

   5–6 h 11.5 mi (18.6 km) ↑ 580 m (1,900 ft) ↓ 600 m (1,950 ft)

   Dursley is lunch, not the night, after Coaley Peak and the steep pull over Cam Long Down. A slower walk sleeps there. This one goes on over Stinchcombe Hill, the long way round for the view, and up to the Tyndale Monument above North Nibley. The shortcut across the neck of the hill cuts the section. Stay on the longer loop. Wotton-under-Edge has the shops. Use them. Tomorrow passes Hawkesbury Upton and Old Sodbury and stops at Tormarton, the one night in the south.

   Example stay The Bank (opens in a new tab)

6. Day 6

   Wotton-under-Edge to Tormarton

   6–7 h 15.2 mi (24.5 km) ↑ 510 m (1,650 ft) ↓ 430 m (1,400 ft)

   Hawkesbury Upton and Old Sodbury are both on this day, and neither is the night. The eight-day makes the same join. Newark Park, the millstream at Lower Kilcott, and the Somerset Monument come first, then the fort at Horton and the park at Dodington. Tormarton has little choice of bed. Book it with Stanton and Birdlip. Eat at Hawkesbury. The nine-day sleeps at Old Sodbury and keeps the next day shorter. This plan does not.

   Example stay Best Western The Compass Inn (opens in a new tab)

7. Day 7

   Tormarton to Bath

   7–8 h 17.0 mi (27.4 km) ↑ 400 m (1,300 ft) ↓ 550 m (1,800 ft)

   Cold Ashton is the village you pass, so the finish starts at Tormarton, the same shape as the eight-day. The wall of Dyrham Park and the climb through Dyrham Woods come first. Then Lower Hamswell, the climb to Lansdown, the fort at Little Down, and Bath Racecourse. The end is the stone disc in the pavement outside the west doors of Bath Abbey. Carry water from Tormarton. The nine-day sleeps at Cold Ashton and keeps this as a village day. This one walks it.

   Finish Cotswold Way Finish

Cross-check: National Trails . The route is 102 miles (164 km), and the guidebook suggests seven to ten days. Distances on the cards are measured on the imported line. No official page prints a total climb.

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