Bath & The Wiltshire Cotswolds Walk

A five day walking holiday beginning and ending in Bath, It is best to commence this walking tour of the Bath and Wiltshire Cotswolds on a Sunday or Thursday to ensure a favourable choice of accommodation.

Bath with its showcase of classical Georgian architecture is recognised as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is one of only four European cities designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site – the others being Florence, Venice and Strasbourg.

Bath’s Georgian terraces, crowned by the magnificent Royal Circus and Royal Crescent, climb dramatically up the hillsides, while the historic centre, where the Roman baths and ancient abbey still stand, is in a splendid location by the River Avon.

Itinerary

Day 1:  Overnight in Bath

Day 2: Bath to Bradford-on-Avon. (20kms/12.5miles)  Start from central Bath and walk to Sham Castle with fine views of Bath. Walk over the Dundas aquaduct to elegant Freshford and along a quiet valley to Farleigh Hungerford with its fine 14th century castle. Then through Barton Farm, with its magnificent tithe barn, to Bradford-on-Avon, one of the loveliest small towns in Britain with picturesque 17th century bridge, a complete Saxon church and tiers of Georgian townhouses and 16th century weavers cottages. (This walk can be shortened by taking a bus to Limpley Stoke.)

Day 3: Bradford to Lacock. (21kms/13miles)  From Bradford-on-Avon walk across rolling countryside to the picture-book village of Monkton Farleigh. Then to Kingswood with views of the Wiltshire Downs and Bath, and on to the handsome small town of Box. From there it is a short walk to Corsham, noted for Corsham Court, an Elizabethan mansion dating from 1582 which now houses a fine art collection. From here it is a short walk to Lacock, an exquisite village much used for films and movies, for overnight.

Day 4: Lacock to Castle Combe. (19kms/10miles)  Pass through Corsham to join the picturesque By Brook Valley. Continue to Slaughterford and thence to Castle Combe, undoubtedly one of the prettiest villages in England, with its clear stream, ancient bridge and market place. Transfer back to Lacock for overnight.

Day 5: Castle Combe to Bath. (21kms/13 miles)  Morning transfer to Castle Combe. Head south back towards Bath, walking along the beautiful St. Catherine Valley to Bath east on from where you have the choice of taking a bus into the centre of Bath or walking along the Avon to complete your journey. Overnight Bath.

Day 6:

Departure

Price

£715.00 per person (based on 2 sharing) staying in a mixture of B&B’s, Hotels and Inns.

Single person supplement on request

Upgraded accommodation available - please contact us for details.

Note: It is possible to shorten this walk and be picked up earlier along the route.

Practical Information:

ACCOMMODATION:

A selection of carefully chosen B&B's or Inns – all rooms with private bathrooms. Upgrades are possible and it is possible to mix and match the accommodation if you wish – please ask us.

Tailoring your walk

This holiday can be undertaken in fewer nights if you choose to walk from Bradford-on- Avon to Castle Combe (staying in Castle Combe overnight) and then return directly to Bath.

Contact us at info@britishandirishwalks.com or Tel: (44) (0)1242 254353

What To Take

Sturdy walking boots and walking socks (with a change of socks in rucksack), rucksack/day pack, 1 x water bottle with 1 litre capacity, insect repellent, sun glasses, sun hat, sun block/cream, compass, torch, first-aid kit

When To Go

Mid-April to mid-September. Accommodation will be difficult to obtain on UK national holidays unless booked well in advance (and may require an alteration to the programme).

GETTING THERE:

The nearest airports are London (Heathrow), Birmingham and Bristol.

Rail: Bath is served by frequent trains, with a direct line to London (Paddington) and also Bristol.

INCLUDED:

5 nights B&B with private bathrooms, luggage transportation each walking day, route notes and maps, local back-up.

NOT INCLUDED:

Lunches, dinners, drinks, insurance, anything not mentioned in programme.

Insurance

We recommend that you take out appropriate holiday insurance covering you against illness, injury, and loss or damage to luggage. This insurance should also cover the possibility of your having to cancel your holiday for whatever reason.

Reviews

Mr and Mrs B, Belgium

‘”Further more I want to say that the accommodations were lovely, really well picked. So we are 100% satisfied”. ___________________________________________________________________

Mr and Mrs C, Canada

“I hope we have the right email address for you. We seem to have misplaced your card, but I got this address off your website so I hope it will reach (or be passed on to) you. We actually intended to let you know once we reached the Feathers that we had made it but somehow lost track of time then as well.

In any event, we wanted to follow up to say, again, how much we enjoyed our time with you–you truly made the experience outstanding! We also intend follow up with our own travel agent to suggest for anyone wanting walking/cycling tours in the UK and Europe be directed to your company directly, as I am sure there would be a significant cost savings.

Anyways, we hope all is well with you and that you are now enjoying yourself on another adventure of your own” ___________________________________________________________________

Mr and Mrs R, USA

“My wife and I wanted to write and tell you how much we enjoyed our 2 walking holidays in the Cotswolds and in France. We were pleased with your help regarding travel connections and all of the accommodations. We made every travel connection without any real problem. While there was some apprehension about travelling the trains in France, it all worked out well and we had no problems. As to my personal injury with my Achilles tendon, I am pleased to report that I managed to do the walking without undue pain or discomfort. It was truly amazing to me that it held up so well when, as little as five weeks ago, I was hobbling around and seriously considering postponing the trip. However, it held up. In fact, the tendon held up better than the therapeutic walking boot did as it fell apart and had to be discarded in France. I assume that it just wasn’t designed to walk some 140 miles +/-, but I even managed well without it. We both finished the walking without any undue physical discomfort for which we are very grateful.

The walking itself was more rigorous than I expected. My wife was in better shape than I am, but it was strenuous for her also. We were not totally prepared for the terrain as their is nothing really comparable in America, or at least, California that I am aware of. The Cotswold walks were just beautiful, scenic farm lands. The French portion of the walk was different from the Cotswold, but it was also beautiful and interesting.

We were very pleased with the hotel and B&B’s provided. Each place was very good. The food was good also, although I confess that I prefer English food to French cooking. My wife and I are probably different than most people in that regard, but we were happy with the food choices. We also struggled with the language barrier in France. We were surprised that there were so few people that spoke English which is different than our past travel experiences in Continental Europe. However, this is probably due to where we were in France.

The walking routes were fine, although we had trouble following the walking instructions on occasion. We probably doubled back a few times, and got off trail occasionally. But, we eventually figured it out and got to our destinations without undue stress.

I am not sure what you could do differently with the instructions to make them any clearer. I think part of the problem is American terms are slightly different than what is used in England, and there is additional problem in that area where French must be translated into English.

Thank you for services provided. It was a pleasure to work with you”