Bill Boaden, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Eat and drink · The Cotswold Edge
The Royal George Hotel
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
An inn in the middle of Birdlip, which makes it the natural end of the walk from Leckhampton Hill and the start of the next day to Painswick. It is a chain inn with classic pub food rather than a destination kitchen, but it takes dogs and the 882 bus stops outside.
- Good: At the end of the Cotswold Way section from Leckhampton Hill
- Good: 34 bedrooms, dogs welcome if you say when booking
- Good: Large beer garden behind the hotel
- Good: Breakfast from 7am on weekdays
- Worth knowing: Evening meals end at 9pm, or 8pm on Sundays
- Worth knowing: Same-day online bookings only until 9pm
About
The Royal George is an eighteenth-century inn of pale Cotswold stone in Birdlip, the village on the edge above Gloucester where the Cotswold Way section from Leckhampton Hill ends and the section to Painswick begins. Greene King Inns runs it as a hotel, with a traditional bar, a restaurant, 34 bedrooms and a large beer garden at the back.
The menu is classic pub dishes and British favourites, with real ale in the bar. Evening meals are served until 9pm from Monday to Saturday and until 8pm on Sundays, and breakfast from 7am to 11am on weekdays and from 8am at weekends. Reception is staffed from 7am to 10pm.
Every bedroom has a bathroom and free wifi, and some open on to the grounds. Dogs are welcome if you tell the hotel when you book. Check-in is from 2pm and check-out by 11am, and the hotel takes same-day bookings online only until 9pm. There is a car park with EV charging, and Stagecoach's 882 between Gloucester, Cirencester and Tetbury stops by the hotel a few times a day from Monday to Saturday.
Opening hours and season
Reception
| Monday | 07:00 to 22:00 |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 07:00 to 22:00 |
| Wednesday | 07:00 to 22:00 |
| Thursday | 07:00 to 22:00 |
| Friday | 07:00 to 22:00 |
| Saturday | 07:00 to 22:00 |
| Sunday | 07:00 to 22:00 |
Breakfast
| Monday | 07:00 to 11:00 |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 07:00 to 11:00 |
| Wednesday | 07:00 to 11:00 |
| Thursday | 07:00 to 11:00 |
| Friday | 07:00 to 11:00 |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |
From 8am on Saturdays and Sundays
Evening meals until 9pm Monday to Saturday and 8pm on Sundays. Breakfast 7am to 11am on weekdays, from 8am at weekends.
The details
- Food
- Pub classics
- Serving
- Breakfast · Dinner
- Rooms
- 34
- Check-in
- From 2pm
- Check-out
- By 11am
- Features
- Garden or terrace · Restaurant · Bar · Real ale · Parking · Wi-Fi
- History
- An eighteenth-century inn
- Parking
- Car park at the hotel, with EV charging.
- Without a car
- Stagecoach 882 (Gloucester, Cirencester and Tetbury) stops by the hotel two to four times a day each way, Monday to Saturday; no Sunday service.
Photos
The hotel from the lawn Photo: Anthony Parkes, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
The Royal George at night Photo: Andy Beecroft, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
The four-poster room 
By the bar fire
Location
Places to stay nearby
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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
- Crickley Hill café 1.9 km away
- StarBistro 3.0 km away
- Prinknash Abbey 4.6 km away
- Woody's Cottage 4.6 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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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.
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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.