9-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. The first walk stops at Stanton, after Shenberrow Camp, because that is the village these nights share. Book it with Birdlip and Cold Ashton. 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 Longest

   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 the lunch, with Hailes Abbey before the village and Belas Knap on the climb after it. The path drops through Breakheart Plantation and climbs again. That last climb is why the night is Cleeve Hill, the highest point on the Way, and not the town. A slower walk sleeps at Winchcombe and leaves the high ground for the next morning. This one does not. Eat in Winchcombe. You are sleeping on the top, and the common starts 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, which is why this day sits in the middle of the week and is not the finish. 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. This is one of the nights to book first.

   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)

   The short day after the escarpment, which is why Painswick is still a night on the nine-day. Beech woods, Cooper's Hill, then the ramparts on Painswick Beacon. The town is the mid-point of the Way. A shorter plan walks through it and joins this ground to the Stroud valleys. Stop here. Tomorrow is Haresfield Beacon, and your legs have already had the escarpment. The town has food. Use it before the valleys.

   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 on to Wotton-under-Edge, so do not spend the evening on the canal.

   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)

   Coaley Peak and a steep pull over Cam Long Down drop you into Dursley, and Dursley is lunch, not the night. 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. The south gets thinner after this.

   Example stay The Bank (opens in a new tab)

7. Day 7

   Wotton-under-Edge to Old Sodbury

   5–6 h 12.5 mi (20.2 km) ↑ 430 m (1,400 ft) ↓ 380 m (1,250 ft)

   Hawkesbury Upton is lunch, not the night. A slower walk sleeps there. Newark Park, the millstream at Lower Kilcott, and the Somerset Monument are the morning, then the fort at Horton and the park at Dodington. Old Sodbury is the stop that keeps tomorrow short. Cold Ashton is the next night, and it has few beds, so do not arrive there already late from a longer day. Eat at Hawkesbury. The villages after it are thin.

   Example stay Cross Hands Hotel (opens in a new tab)

8. Day 8

   Old Sodbury to Cold Ashton

   4–5 h 9.4 mi (15.1 km) ↑ 230 m (750 ft) ↓ 160 m (500 ft)

   Tormarton is the village you walk through. A shorter plan sleeps there and makes the finish the long day. This one keeps Tormarton as a pass, follows the wall of Dyrham Park, and climbs through Dyrham Woods to Cold Ashton. Few beds, and little choice of food. Book it with Stanton and Birdlip. When it is full, the fallback is a taxi into Bath and back out in the morning. The abbey is one short day away. Do not skip the booking.

   Example stay Nimlet Stays

9. Day 9

   Cold Ashton to Bath

   4–5 h 10.3 mi (16.6 km) ↑ 260 m (850 ft) ↓ 440 m (1,450 ft)

   The finish stays a village day from Cold Ashton, which is what the nine-day is for. You drop into Lower Hamswell, climb to Lansdown, and cross the fort at Little Down and Bath Racecourse before the streets. The end is the stone disc in the pavement outside the west doors of Bath Abbey. Carry water from Cold Ashton. The villages behind you were the thin ones, and the city is where the trains are. A longer finish, from Tormarton, is the eight-day, not this one.

   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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