Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Things to do · Chipping Campden
Hidcote
Lawrence Johnston's Arts and Crafts garden near Chipping Campden, a series of garden rooms begun in 1907 and owned by the National Trust since 1948.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · EV charging
One of the best-known gardens in the Cotswolds, and best early in the day. See Kiftsgate, close by, on the same trip.
- Good: Free car park with eight EV chargers
- Good: Mobility scooters and a wheelchair to borrow; book ahead
- Good: Cheaper winter tickets from 2 November
- Worth knowing: Step-free route through only about a third of the garden
- Worth knowing: Dogs on short fixed leads, not in the Old Garden or the Manor House
- Worth knowing: No bus to the garden; satnav can send you down a farm track
About
Hidcote is the garden Lawrence Johnston began in 1907 at Hidcote Bartrim, about 3 miles from Chipping Campden. Inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, it is laid out as a series of outdoor rooms divided by hedges and walls, with wilder planting inside a formal plan. It passed to the National Trust in 1948.
Winthrop's Café in the garden serves light lunches and cakes, and there is a takeaway kiosk at the plant centre, picnic areas by the car park and in the New Orchard, a gift shop, a plant shop and a second-hand bookshop in the chapel. Families get trails in the school holidays, with sensory and explorer bags. Dogs on short fixed leads are welcome everywhere except the Old Garden complex and the Manor House.
There is no bus to the garden. Drivers should follow signs to Mickleton and then the brown signs, because satnav can send you down a farm track. On foot, our walk from Mickleton past Hidcote and Kiftsgate climbs the steep path from the village. The car park is free, with eight EV chargers, and Kiftsgate Court's garden is close by.
Opening hours and season
November 2026: Friday to Sunday only; December: open only 26 and 27 December. Hours change through the year, so check the Trust's calendar. Last entry an hour before closing; closes in high wind.
Facilities
- Car parkFree, on gravel and grass; 8 EV chargers and cycle racks
- Winthrop's CaféIn the garden: light lunches and cakes; takeaway kiosk at the plant centre
- Gift shop, plant shop and bookshopPlant shop by Visitor Reception; second-hand bookshop in the chapel
- ToiletsIn the garden and at the plant centre, both with accessible toilets
- Family trailsIn school holidays, with sensory and explorer bags
- Dogs on short fixed leadsNot in the Old Garden complex or the Manor House
- Mobility scooters and a wheelchairThree scooters and one wheelchair to borrow; book on 01386 438333
The details
- Features
- Café · Shop · Picnic area · Parking · Bike storage
- History
- Garden begun by Lawrence Johnston in 1907; National Trust since 1948
- Parking
- Free car park on gravel and grass, with 9 Blue Badge spaces and 8 EV chargers (11kW; RAW Charging app, RFID or contactless; bring your own cable).
- Without a car
- No bus to the garden: regular buses stop in Mickleton, 1.5 miles away up a steep footpath; the Friday H7 calls at Hidcote Boyce. Honeybourne station is 4.5 miles; pre-book a taxi.
Photos
The garden rooms Photo: Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
Spring tulips Photo: Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
The manor door Photo: Sarah Stierch from Sonoma, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
The Stilt Garden Photo: Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Location
Accessibility
- Accessible toilet
- Hearing loop
- Large print available
Blue Badge parking (9 spaces) and a drop-off point. A step-free route on gravel or paving, uneven in places, covers about a third of the garden and is marked on the map; the rest has steps or uneven ground. Level access to the café and shop. Induction loops at the tills; Braille and large print on request.
Places to stay nearby
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Three Ways House Hotel
Hotel · Chipping Campden
A 48-room hotel at Mickleton, three miles from Chipping Campden, home of the Pudding Club since 1985, with pudding-themed rooms and dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Howard Arms
Pubs · Ilmington
A 400-year-old stone inn on Lower Green in Ilmington, with a log fire, a restaurant, a snug and a garden, eight bedrooms and food from breakfast to dinner every day.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Eight Bells Inn
Inn · Chipping Campden
A pub with six rooms on Church Street, Chipping Campden, serving lunch and dinner, on Church Street.
Verified Nov 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Kiftsgate Court Gardens 0.5 km away
- The Kings Arms, Mickleton 1.7 km away
- Three Ways House Hotel 1.8 km away
- The Ebrington Arms 3.0 km away
Sights nearby
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St Lawrence's Church, Mickleton
Sight · Church · Chipping Campden
Mickleton's Grade I church at the foot of the Cotswold edge below Hidcote and Kiftsgate: a twelfth-century nave, a fourteenth-century tower and broach spire, a two-storey seventeenth-century porch, and Utrecia Smith's urn, which the poet Shenstone wrote about.
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St Mary's Church, Ilmington
Sight · Church · Shipston-on-Stour
St Mary's Church in Ilmington, below the hills north-west of Shipston-on-Stour, is a Norman church of the mid twelfth century with a sixteenth-century porch and eleven carved mice hidden in its oak pews by Robert Thompson of Kilburn. Grade I; open daily from 9am.
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St James's Church, Chipping Campden
Sight · Church · Chipping Campden
Chipping Campden's wool church at the end of Church Street: a soaring fifteenth-century tower, William Grevel's brass of 1401, Sir Baptist Hicks's marble tomb and a medieval cope and altar hangings. Grade I, open to visitors most days.
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Old Campden House, Chipping Campden
Sight · Historic building · Chipping Campden
The lodges, gateway and two banqueting houses that survive of Sir Baptist Hicks's great house beside St James's in Chipping Campden, burned by its own Royalist garrison in 1645. The banqueting houses are Landmark Trust holiday lets; the grounds open only on occasional open days.