Today I want to share my top picks for circular walks in the Cotswolds with you. If you love the English countryside as much as I do, these walking routes will let you experience some of the most beautiful rural scenery in the United Kingdom. With highlights like quintessential villages, bucolic rivers, and woolly sheep, the trails will show you a variety of the best walks in the Cotswolds. I’ve included detailed routes with maps, photos, and videos, too.
Circular Walks in the Cotswolds
There’s no shortage of great places for country rambles in the Cotswolds. This is a popular place to walk, not least because of all the beauty here.
From the Monarch’s Way to the Heart of England Way and the Cotswolds Way, the trails here cover a range of areas that will let you see the classic countryside scenery this part of the UK is known for.
Whether you’re looking for picturesque villages or bucolic fields, walks featuring historic market towns or routes that follow in the footsteps of kings, my list has some of the best walks in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
These walks are all easy day trips from London by train or car, so you can do them without having to stay a night.
That said, basing yourself in the area is the perfect way to get additional walking in and see more of the countryside. If you’re interested, you can book a place to stay in the Cotswolds here.
You can see lots more walks in the area in the book 50 Walks in the Cotswolds, too. You can get it on Amazon here. It’s great if you want a physical guidebook and maps.
1. Burford Circular Walk in the Cotswolds
First on my list of the best circular walks in the Cotswolds is one that starts and ends in the pretty market town of Burford in Oxfordshire.
The ramble follows a flat 5-mile (8-kilometer) route to quintessential villages, through fields, and alongside the River Windrush.
As you go, you’ll take in picture-pretty thatched-roof cottages, historic churches with intriguing interiors (they’re worth going in to see), and tranquil waterfront scenery.
This walk is perfect if you’re interested in discovering the Cotswolds on foot and you want to explore some under-the-radar villages in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
It’s also a fun day trip from London by car, as there’s no train station in Burford. That said, if you can’t drive (or you don’t want to), you can still do this walk by taking a train to Charlbury station and pre-booking a taxi from there to Burford and back.
You can also stay a night if you want to spend more time exploring Burford. When I did this walk, I stayed at the Burford House hotel.
It’s in an ideal location right on the high street, and the historic interiors and four-poster beds are lovely. The restaurant is great, too. You can book a room here.
If this walk sounds like your kind of ramble, you can find the full route, map, photos, and video on my blog post about a Burford circular walk.
2. Kingham Circular Walk
Next on my list of the best circular walks in the Cotswolds is one that starts and ends in the village of Kingham in Oxfordshire. A 10.5-mile (17-kilometer) walk, it will take you into the countryside and lead you to classic villages and towns in the AONB.
The route of this Kingham circular walk will guide you to a local pub for lunch in Churchill, into Chipping Norton for some free time to discover the famous town, then back to Kingham at the end.
As you go, you’ll head up gentle hills, through stiles, over culverts, and past ha-has. You’ll also walk by the unusual form of the Bliss Tweed Mill. It’s a heritage building that looks like it’s a cross between a factory and a stately home.
This walk is for you if you’re up for a longer route with lots of countryside scenery and classic British towns and villages.
Additionally, it’s perfect if you don’t want to drive. There’s a train station in Kingham near the start of the route. The station benefits from direct rail services from London, so you can do it as a day trip from the UK capital if you leave the city relatively early.
It’s more fun to spend a night here, though. There are some excellent places to stay in Kingham, and the village is worth discovering. You can book accommodation here.
My favorite is the The Kingham Plough. I stayed here when I did this walk, and I loved everything from my beautiful room to the buzzing restaurant.
This walk is a combination of two separate routes. On the way out you can follow the Cotswolds Conservation Board’s “Walk Eight: Kingham and Churchill”. On the way back, you can follow the board’s “Walk Eleven: Mills and Meadows” route backwards.
You can see all the details, photos, and video on my blog post about a Kingham circular walk. There’s more on my guide to spending 3 days in the Cotswolds without a car, too.
3. Charlbury Circular Walk
Another of my favorite circular walks in the Cotswolds is one that starts and ends in the town of Charlbury in Oxfordshire. It’s a 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) route, and it will lead you through the bucolic countryside and into the ancient Wychwood Forest.
The route starts in the village of Charlbury, which is in the Evenlode Valley. There are lots of historic country pubs and picturesque streets here, so it’s worth stopping for a meal and a wander before setting off from the heart of town.
Much of this ramble follows the Oxfordshire Way, a long-distance trail that goes from Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire to the Thames in Henley. Along the way this walk crosses over the River Evenlode and passes wooded groves and copses.
This country walk is just the thing if you’re interested in seeing a mix of villages and rural landscapes. As an added bonus, it’s not as long as some of the others on my list. That makes it ideal if you’re looking for a ramble you can do in an afternoon.
Additionally, this walk is perfect if you don’t have a car. There’s a train station in Charlbury near where the route begins, and it benefits from direct rail services from London. That makes it an easy day trip from the UK capital.
It’s worth staying a night to experience more of Charlbury and the environs, though. If you have time, there are some fun places to call home-away-from-home in Charlbury. You can book one here.
If you want to base yourself here, you can combine this walk with my Kingham walk or my Moreton-in-Marsh walk. It’s easy to do this one on the first day of your visit and another on your second. You can take the train in between.
If you drive or take a pre-booked taxi from Charlbury, you can combine it with my Burford walk as well.
This walk is officially called “Circular Walk: Charlbury No.2 (Oxon Way)”, but it’s much more exciting than the rather technical name suggests. It’s worth doing it to see the highlights of the area.
To that end, you can see the full route, map, photos, and video for this one on my blog post about a Charlbury circular walk. There’s more in my aforementioned post about spending 3 days in the Cotswolds without a car, too.
4. Moreton-in-Marsh Walk in the Cotswolds
Another of my favorite circular walks in the Cotswolds is one that starts and ends in Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire. This relatively flat 7-mile (11-kilometer) ramble is one of my top picks for country walks in Britain.
A circular route, this one offers a fun way to get out into the countryside in one of the most scenic parts of Britain.
While on this walk you’ll pass everything from villages like Bourton-on-the-Hill to fanciful stately homes like Sezincote House and natural landmarks like the Batsford Arboretum.
There are great country pubs along the route where you can stop for lunch and drinks, too. My friends and I went to The Coach & Horses in Longborough, and we had a fun time sitting outdoors in the sunshine.
This walk is ideal if you want to explore the Cotswolds without a car. It starts and ends at the train station right in the heart of Moreton-in-Marsh. There are direct rail services from London, so it’s an easy day trip.
If you want to stay a night, there are lots of places to call home-away-from-home in the heart of town. You can see options and book one here.
Whatever you decide, you can find the full route, map, photos, and video for this hike on my blog post about a Moreton-in-Marsh walk.
Cotswolds Walking Map
As promised, I created an interactive map of all the circular walks in the Cotswolds I mentioned in this blog post. You can find it here. If you click on the pins, you can see my relevant blog posts about each one. I hope it helps you plan the perfect ramble in the area!
Circular Walks in the Cotswolds
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my favorite circular walks in the Cotswolds. They’re great ways to immerse yourself in the best of the British countryside and get a leg stretch at the same time.
I’ve published a lot of other walks and compiled them in my circular walks near London blog post and my walks near London by train post, too. They’re helpful resources if you want to see all my walking routes and maps in one place.
I’ll add more Cotswolds walks to this post as I do them, so you can bookmark it or Pin it on Pinterest for future reference as well.
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