Two healthy younger 60’s are looking for the best village to use as a base for self-guided walking in the northern Cotswolds. We do not want to drive ourselves in the UK. We would like to hike around 8 miles a day and are happy to use a car service to get to the right starting point or to return the base. Probably 5 days and 4 nights. But, we are leaning against a point-to-point tour with a different room each night and baggage transport. To some extent we would like to wake up each day and decide what we feel like doing. So, what’s a good base for taking our own walks? Thanks.

Just quick first -- Four nights = three full days, not five.

But to answer your primary question -- you can pretty much base in any of the larger villages/towns. Most will have a local taxi service and maybe some buses. Just about every village will have multiple footpaths. If you are car-less I'd want someplace with multiple pubs/cafes/shops and not one of the tiny 'service-less' villages.

A few places I'd look at would include Chipping Campden, Broadway, Stow-on-the-Wold, and Burford (my personal favorite, though any of the others would be fine). Trains serve Moreton-in-Marsh, Charlbury and Kingham. Kingham is about 6 miles from S-o-t-W; Chipping Campden and Broadway are about 6 and 9 miles respectively from M-i-M. Burford is 10-ish miles from Kingham.

Ay which ever station you arrive -- you'll need to pre-book a taxi to your 'home' village.

Take a look at HF Holidays, and their country house at Bourton on the Water. Could be an option. Or Winchcombe has a walking festival called 'Winchcombe welcomes Walkers,' so that is a nice village, too.
https://www.hfholidays.co.uk/country...ater-cotswolds
https://www.winchcombewelcomeswalkers.com/

Thanks for the info!

for planning purposes
https://footpathmap.co.uk/

I'd recommend Chipping Campden. There's a train station at Honeybourne, about 5 miles from town so easier to get to than most Cotswold places. It's also the beginning of the Cotswold Way, a 100+ mile long-distance path which I walked over several trips. The first section is a great walk, 6 miles to Broadway with fine views & toward the end, Broadway Tower before descending to Broadway. A slight detour from Broadway Tower will take you to Snowshill Manor, a National Trust property well worth a stop.

In the other direction, about 4 miles, are 2 famous gardens, Hidcote, also National Trust & quite remarkable, & Kiftsgate Court, smaller & privately owned but also interesting & different from Hidcote.

Websites for locations mentioned above.

Broadway Tower:
https://broadwaytower.co.uk/

Snowshill Manor:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/vis...nor-and-garden

Hidcote Manor:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/vis...swolds/hidcote

Kiftsgate Court:
Kiftsgate Court Gardens

I posted very quickly yesterday as it's been a busy work week, but I second MmePerdu's suggestion. I really loved my Chipping Campden to Broadway walk. That first stretch, the carriage drive, is one of my favorite memories of England. Interested to hear your progress, @cdbarlow.

That is indeed a lovely section of the walk.

cdbarlow, if you do decide to set foot on any part of the Cotswolds Way, the signage is the best of any trail I have walked.

As an example, this on the approach to Broadway Tower, but it would be a good idea to have the relevant OS topographical maps for the area. All of the public walking paths are clearly marked on the chart.

Thank you all so much!

Bookmarking since I'd like to do a similar trip one day.

cdbarlow I'd love to read a trip report if you care to write one after taking this trip!

Some of my Cotswolds stories on another site might have some useful information for planning:

https://www.travelgumbo.com/2016/12/...by-in-england/

We had a great trip with Celtic Trails tours. We did a 7-day walk beginning and ending in Moreton-in-Marsh, focusing on the smaller villages. 5 walking days, one day at Sudeley Castle and the lavender fields and one day at Hidscote and Kiftsgate gardens. I highly recommend Celtic Trails for this type of trip. Very responsive, great maps and walk notes, good accommodations.