Eat and drink · The Cotswold Edge
Crickley Hill café
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust's café by the top car park at Crickley Hill Country Park, near Birdlip, on the Cotswold Way: breakfast, lunch and cakes, dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly · Family-friendly
The café on the Cotswold Way between Leckhampton Hill and Birdlip, with dogs welcome inside. It closes at 4pm, and on Mondays and Tuesdays from November 2026, so on a short winter day plan to reach it by mid-afternoon.
- Good: Weekdays from 10am, weekends from 9am
- Good: Dogs welcome inside, with dog treats and dog ice cream
- Good: Toilets, an accessible toilet and baby changing alongside
- Good: Profits go to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
- Worth knowing: Closes at 4pm, and on Mondays and Tuesdays from 1 November 2026
- Worth knowing: Car park £2.50 (2026), charged at all hours
About
The café at Crickley Hill stands by the top car park of the country park, a promontory of the Cotswold Edge near Birdlip that Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust looks after with the National Trust. The Wildlife Trust runs the café, and the profits go to its work for wildlife in the county. The Cotswold Way passes close by on the section from Leckhampton Hill to Birdlip.
It serves breakfast and a lunch menu, homemade cakes and snacks, Cliffton coffee to take away and Marshfield ice cream. It opens from 10am to 4pm on weekdays and from 9am to 4pm at weekends, but from 1 November 2026 it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Dogs are welcome inside, and the café sells dog treats and dog ice cream; the Trust asks that a dog having a lively day sits outside.
Toilets, an accessible toilet and baby changing are alongside, and the Visitor Hub next door, open during café hours, has panels on the hill's wildlife and archaeology. Parking costs £2.50 (2026) at any hour, paid at the kiosk by the café or online afterwards, and the gates are locked to cars at 6pm in winter and 9pm in summer. Coaches, minibuses and large motorhomes cannot use the main car parks and must book a separate area at least seven days ahead. An accessible circular trail suits wheelchairs and all-terrain pushchairs, though parts are bumpy, and the Trust has a few mobility scooters for hire.
Opening hours and season
| Monday | Closed |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | 10:00 to 16:00 |
| Thursday | 10:00 to 16:00 |
| Friday | 10:00 to 16:00 |
| Saturday | 09:00 to 16:00 |
| Sunday | 09:00 to 16:00 |
Wednesday to Friday 10am to 4pm, weekends 9am to 4pm; closed Mondays and Tuesdays from 1 November 2026. The park's gates close to cars at 6pm from October to March and 9pm from April to September.
The details
- Food
- Café food
- Serving
- Breakfast · Lunch
- Booking a table
- Walk-ins only
- Features
- Café · Views · Parking
- Parking
- Country park car park for 100 cars, £2.50 (2026) at all hours: pay by cash or card at the kiosk by the café, or online up to 48 hours later.
Location
Accessibility
- Accessible toilet
- Parking within 50 metres
The Trust says the café and Visitor Hub are wheelchair accessible, with Blue Badge bays in the top car park and level ground to the facilities. The Hub has a ramp and steps.
Places to stay nearby
-
The Royal George Hotel
Pubs · The Cotswold Edge
An eighteenth-century inn in Birdlip, run by Greene King Inns, with a bar and restaurant of pub classics, a large beer garden and 34 bedrooms, where the Cotswold Way sections from Leckhampton Hill and to Painswick meet.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
-
Woody's Cottage
Self-catering · Sheepscombe
A National Trust holiday cottage for four in the beechwoods half a mile from Sheepscombe, built in the 19th century for the Ebworth estate, with a garden room looking down the valley.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
-
Shepherd Huts at the Butchers Arms
Glamping · Painswick
Two shepherd huts beside the Butchers Arms at Sheepscombe, about two miles by road from Painswick, each with a king-size bed, shower room and kitchen.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly · EV charging
Verified Nov 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- StarBistro 1.5 km away
- The Royal George Hotel 1.9 km away
- The Wheatsheaf, Leckhampton 4.0 km away
- Prinknash Abbey 5.6 km away
Sights nearby
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Crickley Hill
Sight · Common or park · The Cotswold Edge
Crickley Hill is a Cotswold Edge promontory near Birdlip, cared for by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and the National Trust, where 25 years of digging found a Neolithic settlement destroyed in battle and an Iron Age hillfort. Grassland, beech wood, a café and views to Wales.
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Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common
Sight · Nature reserve · The Cotswold Edge
Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common: 60 hectares of old quarries, limestone grassland on the Cotswold Edge above Cheltenham, with an Iron Age hillfort and the Devil's Chimney. Opened to the public in 1929 after the riots of 1902; a National Nature Reserve from 2026.
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The Devil's Chimney, Leckhampton
Sight · Monument · The Cotswold Edge
The Devil's Chimney is a pillar of limestone standing below the scarp edge of Leckhampton Hill above Cheltenham, most likely left isolated when quarrymen cut an incline to the top and shaped by the weather since. Folklore says the Devil built it. Climbing it is forbidden.
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Leckhampton Camp
Sight · Hill fort or barrow · The Cotswold Edge
Leckhampton Camp is the Iron Age hillfort on the summit of Leckhampton Hill above Cheltenham: one rampart and a rock-cut ditch, an inturned entrance with two guard chambers and, to the east, a rare round barrow inside a square enclosure. Scheduled; the trig point is on its bank.