8-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 nine-day. 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, and the climb to Cleeve Hill is a day of its own.

   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. The escarpment into Birdlip starts from the top tomorrow.

   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 and walk the common before the week turns south. 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. Painswick, the mid-point, is still a night tomorrow.

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

4. Day 4

   Birdlip to Painswick

   3–4 h 7.0 mi (11.3 km) ↑ 240 m (800 ft) ↓ 330 m (1,100 ft)

   Painswick is still a night on the eight-day, which is the difference from the seven-day. Beech woods, Cooper's Hill, then the ramparts on Painswick Beacon. The town is the mid-point of the Way. Stop here. A shorter plan joins this ground to the Stroud valleys and sleeps at King's Stanley. The town has food. Use it before Haresfield Beacon tomorrow. Your legs have already had the escarpment.

   Example stay Painswick Hotel (opens in a new tab)

5. Day 5

   Painswick to King's Stanley

   5–6 h 11.6 mi (18.7 km) ↑ 460 m (1,500 ft) ↓ 480 m (1,550 ft)

   Haresfield Beacon looks over the Stroud valleys after the drop through Standish Woods. At the Stroudwater Navigation the path splits. Take the way through King's Stanley. That village is the day end on the line. Stonehouse is a bed off it, and this plan does not leave the path for it. Selsley Common is the other path, and it is not the night. Tomorrow goes through Dursley to Wotton-under-Edge. The shops there matter, because the south has one bed after that.

   Example stay Orchardene (opens in a new tab)

6. Day 6

   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.

   Example stay The Bank (opens in a new tab)

7. Day 7

   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. That join is what the eight-day is for. Newark Park, the millstream at Lower Kilcott, and the Somerset Monument come first, then the fort at Horton and the park at Dodington. The nine-day sleeps at Old Sodbury and keeps the next day short. This plan goes on to Tormarton. Little choice of bed. Book it with Stanton and Birdlip. Eat at Hawkesbury. Tormarton is thin.

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

8. Day 8 Longest

   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 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 splits this ground and sleeps at Cold Ashton. This one walks it in a day.

   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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