David P Howard, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mickleton, Hidcote and Kiftsgate
A 5-mile (8km) circular walk from Mickleton, moderate and about two and a quarter hours: up through the woods and fields to Furze Lane, along quiet lanes to Hidcote Boyce, north past Hidcote's garden and manor, then down the edge of Kiftsgate Court's grounds to Mickleton.
- Distance
- 8.0 km (5.0 mi)
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time
- 2 hrs, 15 mins
- Ascent
- 156 m
- Circular
- Circular
The route
Starts at Footpath off Mickleton High Street, near St Lawrence’s Church Road walkingMuddy in winterLivestock in fieldsDogs on lead near sheepStilesCafé on route Download GPX
Step by step
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Step 1: Mickleton to the top fields
From the footpath off the High Street, walk south past St Lawrence’s Church and follow the bridleway south-east out of the village. Take the public footpath south through the woods and up the fields for about 1.2km, climbing about 65m, then follow the farm track to the lane.
- Muddy in winter
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Step 2: Furze Lane and Hidcote Road
Turn along the lane and then Furze Lane, east for about 1.1km, and follow Hidcote Road and the lane into Hidcote Boyce. This is the longest stretch on roads, about 2km in all, so watch for traffic.
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Step 3: Hidcote Boyce to Hidcote
At Hidcote Boyce take the public footpath north across the fields for about 600m, then the lane into Hidcote Bartrim, past Manor Farm and the Old Forge to Hidcote’s garden and manor.
- Dogs on lead
- Café
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Step 4: Past Kiftsgate
Keep north along the lane past Hidcote Manor, the old chapel and the gate piers, briefly on a footpath, then turn west along the lane. Take the track and then the footpath that follows the edge of Kiftsgate Court Gardens.
- Stiles
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Step 5: Down to Mickleton
From Kiftsgate the path runs downhill to the north-west for about 1.2km, dropping about 100m, to the bridleway on the edge of Mickleton, and follow it back past the church to the start.
- Muddy in winter
- Dogs on lead
Sights on the way
The sights this walk passes, numbered as on the map.
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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.
The walk in detail
The Mickleton, Hidcote and Kiftsgate walk is a 5-mile (8km) loop from Mickleton, three miles north of Chipping Campden, to two famous gardens on the hill above it, Hidcote and Kiftsgate Court. It climbs about 156m on lanes and field paths and takes about two and a quarter hours; some walkers finish at the Kings Arms in Mickleton.
The gardens charge for entry, and the route keeps to the public lanes and paths outside them, so allow most of a day if you go into either.
Mickleton and St Lawrence’s
St Lawrence’s Church, a short way from the start, is listed Grade I. Its nave is twelfth century, the west tower with its broach spire and four pinnacles fourteenth century, the chancel fifteenth and the south porch seventeenth, and Frederick Preedy restored it in 1868. Three Ways House in the village has been home to the Pudding Club since 1985.
Up to Furze Lane and Hidcote Boyce
The first part climbs from the village through woods and fields to about 150m, then levels out. From there the route follows farm tracks and lanes for about 2km: Furze Lane, Hidcote Road and the lane into Hidcote Boyce. The hamlet’s Sam Keyte’s Farmhouse, of the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, is listed Grade II. A field path then crosses north to Hidcote Bartrim, the highest part of the walk at about 188m.
Hidcote
Lawrence Johnston began the garden at Hidcote in 1907, as rooms divided by hedges and walls, and it passed to the National Trust in 1948. The lane runs past the manor, a late seventeenth-century farmhouse refronted in the eighteenth century and enlarged in the early twentieth century, which his mother, Gertrude Winthrop, paid for on his behalf. Beside it is an eighteenth-century barn that Johnston turned into a chapel, and the old stable range with its dovecote is now the Trust’s shop and ticket office. All three are listed Grade II.
The garden is for paying visitors and National Trust members, and the lane past it is public. Hidcote has a free car park, and inside the Trust allows dogs on short fixed leads, but not in the Old Garden, the manor or the café servery, as our guide to the Cotswolds with a dog explains.
Kiftsgate and the way down
North of Hidcote the route turns west and follows the edge of Kiftsgate Court Gardens. Kiftsgate has been made by three generations of women gardeners, Heather Muir, Diany Binny and Anne Chambers. In 2026 an adult ticket cost £12.50, and Historic Houses members go in free. From its edge the path drops to Mickleton through fields and trees. Our guide to the great Cotswold gardens has both gardens and their seasons.
What walkers report
The walk mixes woodland, fields, tracks and lanes, with long stretches on lanes. Walkers report the lanes are generally quiet, but at busy times walkers with dogs found themselves stopping for cars.
They report mud at the start and in the fields after rain, sometimes deep, including through the winter of 2025 to 2026. One walker in September 2026 reported sheep in some fields and a single stile near the end with a gap only a small dog fits through. Two walkers in 2026 found that going round the other way gives a stiffer climb at the start.
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Parking, buses and food
Walkers park on the road near St Lawrence’s Church. The lane marked as the start is a narrow dead end, so do not drive down it. Some start from Hidcote’s free car park instead. Stagecoach buses 1, 1A, 2 and 2A stop in Mickleton about every one to two hours from Monday to Saturday.
Walkers report stopping at Hidcote halfway round for a drink and the toilets, some of them as National Trust members, and finishing at the Kings Arms in Mickleton, which serves food every day (noon to 6pm on Sundays). For a night nearby, our pick of places to stay in Chipping Campden is three miles south.
Nearby walks
From Hidcote, the loop from Ilmington by Ebrington Hill passes the garden on its way over the hill. In Chipping Campden, our walk from Broad Campden is short and level, and the National Landscape’s Chipping Campden and Dover’s Hill follows the first stretch of the Cotswold Way.
Places on the way
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Hidcote
Parks and gardens · Chipping Campden
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
Verified Oct 2026
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Kiftsgate Court Gardens
Parks and gardens · Chipping Campden
A garden near Chipping Campden made by three generations of women gardeners, close to Hidcote, with a bluebell wood and free parking.
Verified Nov 2026
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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
Stay near the start
Inns, cottages and hotels within a short drive of where the walk begins, so you can set off early.
Where to stay in Chipping Campden-
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
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The Seagrave Arms
Inn · Chipping Campden
A seventeenth-century coaching inn with seven rooms at Weston Subedge, about two and a half miles from Chipping Campden, renovated in 2021.
Verified Nov 2026
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The Lygon Arms, Chipping Campden
Inn · Chipping Campden
A coaching inn with ten rooms on Chipping Campden's High Street, with family rooms, bike storage, free parking at the rear and dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
More like this
Stories on this walk
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The Arts and Crafts movement in the Cotswolds
Story · History · 10 minute read
How Ashbee's Guild of Handicraft, Gimson and the Barnsleys, Rodmarton Manor, Gordon Russell and the gardens at Hidcote made the Cotswolds a home of Arts and Crafts, and where to see it now.
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The Cotswolds in May
Story · Guides · 9 minute read
Things to do in the Cotswolds in May: the month of customs, from Badminton and the jazz festival to the Woolsack Races, cheese rolling and the Olimpicks, the last bluebells, gardens in full flower, two bank holidays and half term, and four walks.
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The great gardens of the Cotswolds
Story · Guides · 12 minute read
Eighteen Cotswold gardens by kind and season: Hidcote, Kiftsgate, Sezincote, Batsford, Westonbirt, the Rococo Garden, Colesbourne's snowdrops, Rodmarton, Highgrove and more, with who made each, the best month, how long to allow and the dog rules.
More walks to try
-
Ilmington, Ebrington Hill and Hidcote
Walk · Starts in Shipston-on-Stour · 2 hrs, 45 mins · Circular
A 5.9-mile (9.5km) circular walk from Ilmington, moderate and about two and three quarter hours: out by Park Lane and a busy stretch of lane, across the fields up to Hidcote, then east along the ridge over Ebrington Hill, past the masts and steeply down into Ilmington.
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Chipping Campden from Broad Campden
Walk · Starts in Chipping Campden · 1 hr, 15 mins · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 3.3-mile (5.3km) circular walk from St Michael's church in Broad Campden, easy and mostly level, in about an hour and a quarter. It draws a figure of eight over the fields to Lady Juliana's Gateway, along Chipping Campden's High Street, by St James's and back.
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Chipping Campden and Dover's Hill
Walk · Starts in Chipping Campden · 3 hrs, 30 mins · Circular
A 4.5-mile (7.2km) circular walk from the Market Hall in Chipping Campden, two and a half to three and a half hours, moderate with steep sections. It climbs the Cotswold Way to Dover's Hill, home of the Olimpicks, and drops through Lynches Wood; a 3-mile version skips the climbs.