Cotswold villages: Bath to Chipping Campden

Route description

Spend a morning in Bath for the Roman Baths, the abbey and the Royal Crescent, leaving the car at a park and ride. Then head north-east on minor roads to Castle Combe, a stone village in a wooded valley that is best explored on foot from the car park above it.

Cross to Cirencester, the old wool capital, with a huge parish church on its market place. From here the A429 follows the Roman Fosse Way north. Make a short detour east to Bibury to see the cottages of Arlington Row beside the river Coln.

Bourton-on-the-Water spreads along a shallow river crossed by low stone bridges; it is lovely but busy, so arrive early or late. Stow-on-the-Wold, a few kilometres on, sits on a hilltop around a wide market square lined with antique shops and inns.

The last stretch climbs to the Cotswold edge at Broadway Tower, with a view far across the Vale of Evesham. Finish in Chipping Campden, whose curving high street of golden stone houses is one of the finest in England. Village lanes are narrow and parking is limited, so a small camper is easier than a large motorhome.