Cotswalds Walking Tour September 2025

The last week of September I did a completely new kind of trip—an “inn to inn” walking trip in England with 3 dear friends (Catherine, Sara, and Sarah [Ducky, so-named by toddler Sally]). Catherine had proposed the brilliant idea about a year and a half earlier and did all the research to set it up. The trip was perfection from start to finish—well-organized and -communicated, beautiful locales, excellent food, splendid hiking weather, and delightful company. We did the tour with Cotswold Walks, and it was a 6-day circular route starting and ending in Moreton-in-Marsh. It’s almost impossible to adequately describe just how charming the Cotwalds are, but I’ll certainly try.

The four of us met in London on Monday (21st) where we had one night at an apartment near Paddington Station. We spent the afternoon on a tour of Buckingham Palace (as grand as anticipated), strolled through Saint James’ Park, very much appreciating the water fowl, enjoyed dinner at a cool wine bar (you poured your own wine!) back near Paddington, and crashed early as they had all crossed the Atlantic that day.

On Tuesday (23rd) we took the train out to Moreton-in-Marsh and eagerly caught our first glimpses of the pastoral countryside which we were soon to traverse. After checking into our hotel (the White Hart Royal Hotel), we explored the beautiful town and open-air market. We capped the day with a their “luxurious high tea” which was memorable though unfortunately not particularly luxurious. They stuck us in a back room (good: quiet, bad: remote) and started with somewhat dour service, dirty plates, a friendly little spider on the tea stand, and astonishingly failing to remember we were 3 vegetarians even though just hours before I had confirmed it at the front desk. It was a bit of a fail as far as luxury goes, but we definitely fun, regardless. We ended the day with a drink at a cute pub called The Beagle.

On Wednesday (24th) we hit the trail! After a lovely breakfast (more or less true every day - in fact I’ve never eat breakfast so heartily and regularly!) we headed out, following a mix of the guide book from the tour company (with very detailed good directions and poor maps) and a GPS app they also provided. I was generally the navigator, with Catherine keeping an eye on the GPS when things got weird (like, through the cows or around the cows?). Over the course of the week, we walked through beautiful fields, a mix of fall farmland and sheep/cattle/horse pastures, sometimes through wooded trails, and occasionally even through people’s stunning flower gardens/backyards/raceyards/barnyards. It was a delightful mix and we opened and closed gates and climbed over stiles, oohed and aahhed at countless sheep (of whose breeds we repeatedly looked up), and fawned over the handful of horses. We carried extra apples and treats for the various animals. Almost every person we encountered along the trail (which was pleasantly not that many, and most of whom had dogs), was warm and friendly. The garden of virtually every house was the epitome of an award-winning English garden. 

The first morning, we passed the beautiful Sezincote House (with its out-of-place Hindu/Muslim architecture) and stopped in the incredibly charming Stow-on-the-Wold for lunch at a cafe with a big heart (and good food!) undergoing some staffing issues. About a mile before our destination we stopped for drinks in a sunny garden in the town with the inviting name of “Lower Slaughter.” We ended in Bourton-on-the-Water, which is called “Venice of the Cotswalds” because it’s a stunning little town with loads of bridges and canals and friendly ducks. There was also a Motoring museum and Bird sanctuary (both closed by the time we arrived). 

On Thursday (25th) we went from Bourton-on-the-Water through Guiting Power to end up in Winchcombe. This was also the first day we really took to scrumping fruit - there were so many windfall apples and pears, and countless perfectly ripe blackberries, that we ate really too much fruit (is that possible?). We met up with a former coworker/professor of Sarah’s and mine from New Bolton Center days, Imogen Johns, for lunch in Guiting Power, which was a wonderful treat. I also need to mention, for my memory’s sake, that I had honestly the best pear of my life from under a tree as we walked into Guiting Power. I hadn’t seen Imogen in close to 20 years, so it was intriguing to hear how life as an internal medicine specialist in the UK is treating her! This day we pulled out our binoculars for the first time to enjoy the gorgeous red kites (and of course I had the Merlyn app out to ID birds - which were primarily European robins!). On our way to Winchcombe we passed beautiful Sudeley Castle, but it had just closed so we weren’t able to go inside. Winchcome was beautiful and we had lovely drinks at the cozy hotel pub before a delicious dinner down the street. 

Friday (26th) we went from Winchcombe to Broadway, picking up snacks at Hayle’s Fruit Farm, going past Cromwell’s seat (booo) and some epic views, and enjoying our picnic (I had a vegetarian Scotch egg!) in an old cemetery in Stanway. A highlight was passing through a horse pasture with very sweet horses…we were so delighted that you’d honestly think none of us had ever been allowed to touch a horse before (this being 2 horse vets, 1 small animal vet who owns horses on her property, and an equestrian journalist and event rider!). We gave those cuties all the various apples and pears we had accumulated and enough pets and kisses to hopefully last a lifetime. The hotel in Broadway was perhaps my favorite (with the one in Winchcombe a close second, because there we had an actual hobby horse in our room!) as it was horse-themed and the multitude of artwork in the rooms and pub and hallways were gorgeous animal paintings. 

On Saturday (27th) we headed out from Broadway, up the hill past the Broadway Tower (just an architectural folly of a wealthy Brit placed in a lovely spot), and Ducky questioned some elderly farmers about their sheep (which they seemed to enjoy but was uncomfortable for me! - see the note later about Ducky seizing life’s opportunities and making friends!). This was a shorter hike to arrive in Chipping Camden (“chipping” means “market”) in time for lunch at a cute tea room. Then Catherine and Sara ran an afternoon loop to gorgeous Hidcote House and Gardens, while Ducky and I walked it. The gardens were stunning and one could have spent all day there, but we had drinks to get back to, I had somewhat sore feet, and the wind kicked up a bit, so we didn’t hang around for too long. That evening I tried my first peanut butter whiskey (“Sheep Dog whiskey”!)- and since I don’t usually particularly like sweet drinks, I was pleasantly surprised. Conversely, none of the others typically like whiskey, but they were equally pleasantly surprised since it was peanut butter flavored. Win-win situation.

Our final walking day, Sunday (28th), we had a short day from Chipping Camden back to Moreton-in-Marsh, which gave us time to stop at the Cotswold Falconry Centre, which was amazing! They had so many birds, and we learned about/met the secretary bird (her name was “Hattie”) and a sweet vulture who was a terrific ambassador for this under-appreciated species. Sunday night we had more difficulties with the service at our hotel, but did have a drink at the Bell Inn, which was Tolkien’s inspiration for the Prancing Pony. Then Ducky wrangled us a free round of peanut butter whiskey from the sullen barkeep at our hotel, which delighted even the British gentleman who had pessimisticly said “good luck with that!” When he heard Ducky plead our case.

During the trip, I was reminded (or learned) that Ducky has no qualms about asking strangers for literally anything. She repeatedly and joyously asked people for group photos or help as the rest of us acted like embarrassed teenagers awkwardly lurking behind her. And, on god, people loved it! She received great responses (historically this wonderful bravery has benefitted her), and we were so grateful to have it benefit us throughout this trip!

We got to see how Sara is thriving as a therapist, and we three vets joked that we now always must travel with our therapist - it was so conducive to rounding out the positivity/self care aspect of the trip! She is a spectacular listener and offered excellent insights at just the right moments. 

Catherine and I had travelled quite a bit together previously, though this time we weren’t carrying [not-so] small children on our backs and it was quite liberating. I’m so grateful to her for putting this whole trip in motion. We had fun keeping the Sara(h)s in line and navigating our journey together.  

We spent a lot of time looking up breeds of sheep (over 90 in the UK!), types of trees, and species of birds. We took hundreds of photos of sheep and pheasants. We read about the golden-hued oolitic limestone used to build most of the Cotswolds’ structures. We looked at real estate posters (gasp) and considered thatched roofs and how much upkeep and gardening one must have to do to live there. We had deep conversations about life and shallow conversations about books/movies/podcasts/celebrities. We laughed and ate and drank and it was a truly outstanding week with marvelous friends.