london and cotwolds with my 25 yr old
 

Thanks in advance.
We are planning a last minute trip end of april, my husband and I and our 25 yr old son. We will spend 4 days in London, 1 day in Cambridge, leaving us 2 extra days. We have been to Bath, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle before, so don't want to repeat that. We have 2 left to fill (if we eliminate one day in London). My son would like to do something active, so we thought of going to the Cotswolds and doing some serious walking, sounds like there are lots of walks that we could do that take most of a day.

Can you suggest which town we should base ourselves in, so we can arrive in one town by train from london, walk for most of the day, continue walking for another day and train back? Of course we are looking for beautiful walks!

we did find a walk that starts in chipping camben, overnights in stanton then continues south, but stanton seems tiny and not sure we can get accommodation there. if we started in stanton and went north, are there nice loop walks we could do from chipping campden?

or does anyone have a nice two day alternative to the cotwolds, to get us out of the city? it is too far to go to york, edinburgh or cornnwall, all great looking destinations

thanks in advance!

You can walk ANYWHERE/everywhere -- not just the Cotswolds. But if you want the Cotswolds - trains only serve a very few places. I'd get a car instead and base someplace like Burford.

If it must be a train then Moreton in Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury are about it except for all the way over on the west side (Cheltenham, etc.)

There are foot paths in every corner of the country though

To add to Janis's list of train stops for the Cotswolds, if Chipping Campden is your choice, it's served by a stop just outside the town called "Honeybourne".

Regarding the walk beginning in Chipping Campden, the Cotswold Way begins there and, having walked the entire path, I have stayed in Stanton at a B&B. There are places to stay all along the 100+ miles of the path. There are a number of websites dedicated to just that one path, so if you google "Cotswold Way accommodations" you'll find them.

It's a long way by public transport and time consuming from Cambridge to the Cotswolds. And since janis is right about paths everywhere, you might consider staying north of London where you'll already be and walk in Norfolk. It has the advantage of being flat, much easier walking than the hills of Gloucestershire. The other difference is that there are fewer villages, so you'd likely want to base yourself in a town and do circular walks and return to your accommodation each night. Google "circular walks Norfolk".

I would have thought Norfolk made more sense - some lovely walks along the creeks at Blakeney and round the north Norfolk coastal path. Plus boat trips on the broads complete with old windmills.

Train to Oxford, walk down the Thames to Reading, home (about 26 miles), if too much stop at Goring.

It's mad to waste time coming over to the Cotswolds if you're in Cambridge.

There's about 120,000 miles of official open-access cross country footpaths in England: so much that there's no easily manageable way of answering your question.


One resource, still being developed, is walkersarewelcome.org.uk

This features small towns that are actively developing better infrastructure for walkers: like dog hitching posts outside shops, covered seating, well-displayed trail maps and the like. It's mostly aimed at Britons (who'll arrive by train or car and go home the same day), so it may not be good on lodging. But it encourages us all (mine's a member) to learn from each other, and to ask the question "what do walkers need here?" in most town planning issues.

One of the gratifying things about our path system is discovering places you wouldn't have thought of. The nearest WAW town to Cambridge is Sandy, Bedfordshire: not famous walking territory, but actually fine, with a lot of John Bunyan associations - and of course a lot flatter than the Cotswolds.

Bilboburgler's advice to walk the Thames Path is also a very good one, also with the advantage of flat walking. Another advantage is it's convenience to Heathrow Airport, if your plans have you leaving from there at the end of your trip. There's train service to almost every town along the river or coach service from Oxford direct to the airport.

I'd suggest, if you'd like to walk largely unencumbered by your luggage, walk for 2 days along the river with a day pack containing essentials, having left your big bags at your first night's accommodation (inquire, most will hold it free for you), then return for it at the end of your walk. Oxford is easy and there are other sections downriver that are beautiful and would work.

I agree w/ RM and flanner . . . Getting to the Cotswolds from Cambridge is a total slog. If on the other hand you meant going back to London and then out to the Cotswolds -- the journey would be easier -- but a waste of time.

Not only is there great walking in East Anglia -- rails connections will be easier.

Sorry if I was confusing- we are not necessarily going from Cambridge to the Cotswolds, Cambridge is just a day trip we had planned. We would likely leave from London to the countryside.

I will look into Norfolk though. But be honest- is it as lovely as the Cotswolds, which are really only a couple hours away? The pictures I have seen of that countryside look great.

Also, we are quite fit, (well my son is...) and the hills don't worry us

Walking in the Cotswolds is terrific -- but so is walking in Dorset, or the Peaks, or the Kent/Sussex coast, or East Anglia, or just about any rural area.

Are you against renting a car? If it was me -- even on a walking holiday, I'd want to have a car for getting to places too far to walk to. And if your son is into long/ambitious walks -- you and your DH could do more 'gentle' touring/shorter walks but be able to do more sight seeing.

Norfolk is different than the Cotswolds. It's flatter, so with a more spacious feel, big sky, waterways in the Broads and the sea, if you go to the edge. The land tends to be less broken up with more distance between villages due to much of it still configured in ancient estates. Like Sandringham, which you might want to visit: https://www.sandringhamestate.co.uk/

Norfolk is different and no less beautiful.

To have a car or not to have a car is entirely dependent on which you plan for. If you choose your location for walking with accessibility by train in mind, as I spoke about above regarding Oxford & the Thames Path, it would be a liability having to get, mess with and return a rental car. On the other hand, if you want to bother with a car you can go anywhere without regard to transport, obviously. My trips to the UK are planned around walks. I rarely bother with a car, in fact, avoid them and find them a nuisance.