Guided Walking at Bourton-on-the-Water

    Easier Walks    Medium Walks     Harder Walks 

Easier Walks have easy gradients. Medium Walks are on well-graded paths. Harder Walks have gently undulating gradients.

• Our experienced guides offer the choice of up to three different walks each day
• Choose the option which best suits your interests and fitness; take an Easier Walk one day and switch to a Harder Walk the next, or choose to explore the Cotswolds independently
• We offer a social activity each evening

2012 - Itinerary One

7 night holidays
Days 1-7: Mon 23 April; Sat 19 May; Sat 16 June; Sat 28 July; Sat 11, 25 Aug

6 night holidays
Days 1-6: Fri 2 March; Sat 29 Sept

5 night holiday
Days 2-4 & 6: Mon 7 May

4 night holidays
Days 1-4: Sat 28 July; Sat 11, 25 Aug

3 night holidays
Days 1-3: Sat 29 Sept
Days 2 & 6: Fri 10 Feb; Fri 2, 16 March; Fri 6, 20 April; Fri 9, 16, 23 Nov;
Fri 30 Nov - Tinsel & Turkey
Days 3 & 4: Mon 5 March
Days 4 & 6: Tues 2 Oct
Days 5-7: Wed 1, 15, 29 Aug

See below for Itinerary Two

Day 1: Arrival day

Meet your leaders who will tell you more about the walks.

Day 2: Around the Slaughters

Easier Walk: On this circular walk from Bourton we visit the pretty villages of Lower and Upper Slaughter via field paths and the River Windrush. 5¼ miles with 400 feet of ascent.

Medium Walk: Following a similar route to the easier group we have an additional loop to the medieval village of Lower Harford. 7¼ miles with 575 feet of ascent.

Harder Walk: Following a clockwise loop from Bourton along the River Windrush to Lower Harford and Naunton we cross country to the Warden’s Way and the Slaughters and back to Bourton. 10¼ miles with 700 feet of ascent.

Day 3: Parts of the Gloucestershire Way

Easier Walk: From Notgrove the route is through Cold Aston before joining the River Windrush back to Bourton. 5 miles with 150 feet of ascent.

Medium Walk: Starting at the Neolithic burial site of Notgrove Long Barrow we walk west to Salperton and then on to Cold Aston and Bourton. 8½ miles with 550 feet of ascent.

Harder Walk: We walk east from the Frog Mill Inn, once known as the most haunted pub in the Cotswolds, through Shipton Solers and Shipton Oliffe, then to Hampen and Salperton and back to Bourton via Cold Aston. 10½ miles with 850 feet of ascent.

Day 4: The Cotswold Way to Broadway

Easier Walk: From Ford we walk to the pretty village of Snowshill and then take field paths to Broadway with its beautiful cottages of mellow Cotswold stone. 7 miles with 650 feet of ascent.

Medium Walk: After walking to Temple Guiting and viewing the enigmatic stones of the Tortoise and the Hare we follow the same route as the easier group from Ford. 9 miles with 750 feet of ascent.

Harder Walk: From Snowshill Road and Temple Guiting we see the site of the medieval village of Pinnock, abandoned in 1348 after its population was wiped out by the Black Death. After Ford and Cutsdean we head for Broadway via Snowshill. 11½ miles with 1,125 feet of ascent.

Day 5:

For 3 night holidays arriving today, this is your chance to meet your leaders.

If you have booked a 7 night holiday today is a free day with no guided walks organised. This is a great opportunity to explore the Cotswolds independently - see the Local Area tab for places that you may enjoy visiting. 

Day 6: Along the Oxfordshire Way

Easier Walk: From Bledington with its lovely church we cross country through Gawcombe Woods to Wyck Rissington. Our return to Bourton takes us through the 60 acre Site of Special Scientific Interest of Greystone Nature Reserve. 6½ miles with 500 feet of ascent.

Medium Walk: Starting at Bruern Abbey, once the site of a Cistercian monastery, we veer northwest to Bledington following the route of the easier walkers back to Bourton. 8¼ miles with 575 feet of ascent.

Harder Walk: In the valley of the Evenlode we start our walk from Shipton-under-Wynchwood and head north to Bruern Abbey, where we follow the same route to Bourton as the medium walkers. 10 miles with 675 feet of ascent.

Day 7: Chedworth Roman Villa and Bibury

Easier Walk: Today we visit one of the best preserved Roman sites in the country, Chedworth Roman Villa dating from AD120-400, before walking from Fosse Bridge to the attractive village of Bibury. 5 miles with 325 feet of ascent.

Medium Walk: After leaving Chedworth Roman Villa we walk up through Chedworth woods to Pancake Hill and the River Coln at Fosse Bridge, before heading downstream through Cotswold country and hamlets to Bibury. 7¾ miles with 575 feet of ascent.

Harder Walk: We head west past Yanwath Mill (an old corn mills) along the woods to the ruins of Chedworth Roman Villa. From there we follow the route of the medium walkers to Bibury. 10 miles with 825 feet of ascent.

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2012 - Itinerary Two

7 night holidays
Days 1-7: Fri 13 April; Sat 12, 26 May; Sat 23 June; Sat 21 July; Sat 4 Aug; Fri 2 Nov

5 night holiday
Days 2-4 & 7: Sun 11 March

4 night holidays
Days 1-4: Mon 20, 27 Feb; Mon 19 March; Sat 26 May; Sat 9 June; Mon 15, 29 Oct;
Mon 12, 26 Nov; Mon 3 Dec - Tinsel & Turkey
Days 4-7: Mon 5 Nov

3 night holidays
Days 1-3: Fri 2 Nov
Days 5-7: Wed 30 May; Wed 27 June; Wed 25 July

Day 1: Arrival day 

Meet your leaders who will tell you more about the walks.

  Day 2: South along the Windrush Valley

Easier Walk: A circular walk from Bourton starts out through the quarry lakes before ascending to the village of Clapton-on-the Hill. We return to Bourton on the Monarch’s Way. 6 miles with 400 feet of ascent. 

Medium Walk: Following the easier walk to Clapton we then take the route across the valley to Little Rissington with its “plague church” and its memorial window to the Red Arrows.  We will also see the graves of many men killed from the RAF Flying School which was based here. We return via the quarry lakes to Bourton. 7¼ miles with 550 feet of ascent.

Harder Walk: From Bourton to Clapton we then track south to the attractive village of Sherborne before returning to Bourton via the Windrush valley. 10½ miles with 700 feet of ascent.

Day 3: Chipping Campden and the Cotswolds

Easier Walk: From Ilmington we cross the ridge of Pig Lane before descending past the 18^th century Foxcote House, through Ebrington to join the Monarch’s Way into Chipping Campden. 6½ miles with 600 feet of ascent.  

Medium Walk: Starting at the National Trust’s Hidcote Manor with its spectacular gardens, we walk across country to Ilmington and follow the route of the easier walkers into Chipping Campden. 9 miles with 925 feet of ascent.

Harder Walk: Mickleton is the start of this walk which then heads to Hidcote Manor and the route of the medium walkers to Chipping Campden, famous for affluent wool merchants in the 14^th and 15^th centuries. 10¾ miles with 1,300 feet of ascent.

Day 4: Following the Monarch’s Way through the Cotswolds

Easier Walk: After the opportunity to visit the market at Moreton-in-Marsh we start our walk from Broadwell.  We pass Stow–on-the-Wold and Lower Slaughter on the banks of the River Rye on our way back to Bourton.  6½ miles with 525 feet of ascent.

Medium Walk: From Longborough we visit Donnington, Broadway, and Stow-on-the-Wold - the highest town in the Cotswolds - and Lower Slaughter on our return to Bourton. 8½ miles with 675 feet of ascent.

Harder Walk: From Moreton-in-Marsh we follow the Monarch’s Way which tracks the escape route of Charles II to Shoreham and France after his defeat at the battle of Worcester in 1651. Walking to Longborough, we then follow the medium walk route to Bourton. 11¼ miles with 875 feet of ascent.

Day 5:

For 3 night holidays arriving today, this is your chance to meet your leaders.

If you have booked a 7 night holiday today is a free day with no guided walks organised. This is a great opportunity to explore the Cotswolds independently - see the Local Area tab for places that you may enjoy visiting. 

Day 6: The Cotswold Way to Painswick

Easier Walk: From Cranham we take in Buckholt Wood and walk though the grounds of Prinknash Abbey before picking up the Cotswold Way to Painswick, one of Gloucestershire’s many wool towns, with its 99 yew trees which were planted in its churchyard in 1692. 6 miles with 1,000 feet of ascent.

Medium Walk: Walking from Witcombe Wood we drop gradually into Cranham, take in Cooper’s Hill, and then follow the route of the easier walkers into Painswick. 8 miles with 1,250 feet of ascent.

Harder Walk: East of Gloucester is Ullen Wood where we start our walk, picking up the Cotswold Way as we head past Birdlip. Contouring round Cooper’s Hill, site of the Whit Monday cheese-rolling competitions, we continue over the Iron Age hill fort site of Painswick and into Painswick itself. 9¾ miles with 1,500 feet of ascent.

Day 7: The Windrush Valley to Burford

Easier Walk: From Little Barrington we follow a route through Westwell and Holwell into Burford, with its packhorse bridge and high street lined with 17^th and 18^th century houses and inns. 6½ miles with 375 feet of ascent.

Medium Walk: Our start is a typical Cotswold village, Windrush, continuing to Great Barrington with its Norman church and Palladian mansion built in 1737. From here we continue on the same paths as the easier walkers to Burford. 8½ miles with 525 feet of ascent.

Harder Walk: Today’s starting point is Sherborne Park and Sherborne, a traditional agricultural estate and feudal village now owned by the National Trust. Heading east across water-meadows and through the Cotswold villages we follow on the medium walk into Burford. 11½ miles with 650 feet of ascent.

Local transport

On some days the walks start and finish at our Country House, Harrington House. On other days you’ll be transported to other parts of the Cotswolds. The cost of all transport to and from the walks is included in the price of your holiday.

Our guests

The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly. There is normally a good mix of ages, of new guests and 'regulars' from Britain and overseas, and of people travelling alone, with a partner or with friends.

In the evenings

Your leaders will inform you about the choice of walks for the next day and answer any questions you may have. After a sociable evening meal you could join in an organised activity such as a quiz or a talk about the local area, relax in the bar or use the Country House facilities.