Philip Halling, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
The Windrush and Evenlode valleys on the Oxfordshire side of the hills: Burford's High Street, Kingham on the railway, Witney's blankets and Woodstock at Blenheim's gates.
- Nearest station
- Kingham, Charlbury or Hanborough, on the line from London Paddington
- Best time
- Spring to autumn; Levellers Day at Burford in May
- When it's busy
- Burford's High Street and the A40 on summer Saturdays; Woodstock from mid-November to early January for Christmas at Blenheim
About the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds are the eastern side of the hills, where the Windrush and the Evenlode flow towards Oxford. They have some of the region's best railway connections, with stations at Kingham, Charlbury and Hanborough, and two of its best-known places, Burford and Blenheim. Parking in West Oxfordshire's council car parks is free.
Where the Oxfordshire Cotswolds begin and end
Two rivers make the region. The Windrush comes off the Gloucestershire wolds at Burford and runs east by Swinbrook, Asthall and Minster Lovell to Witney and the Thames at Newbridge. The Evenlode runs beside the railway past Kingham, Bledington and Charlbury, with the old Wychwood forest on the ridge between the two. The county line with Gloucestershire follows the Evenlode near Kingham, where the North Cotswolds begin, and to the south Lechlade and Kelmscott belong to the Coln Valley. On the northern edge, Chipping Norton and the Rollright Stones are the ground of our sister site Banburyshire, so we only point the way. West Oxfordshire District Council puts roughly a third of its district inside the National Landscape, and Witney and Woodstock sit a couple of miles outside its line.
Burford and the Windrush
Burford runs down its hill to a medieval bridge over the Windrush, with the Tolsey Museum halfway down and a great church at the bottom, where Leveller soldiers were held in 1649. The Cotswold Wildlife Park is 2 miles south of the A40 at Burford. Downstream, Witney made blankets from the early seventeenth century until 2002, and has its Butter Cross, Church Green and Cogges manor farm. For a bed, see where to stay in Burford and Witney. Our Cotswolds weekend with children spends its Sunday at the Wildlife Park and by the river in Burford. By car, a Cotswolds touring route loops for three days from Burford.
The Windrush villages below Burford are the ones to walk between. Swinbrook has the Swan by the river and, in St Mary's, the stacked Fettiplace effigies and the graves of four Mitford sisters. Widford is a lone church in a field on a Roman villa. Asthall has the Three Horseshoes, a pub with rooms whose innkeepers, Daylesford says, were farriers who shod travellers’ horses from 1726. Minster Lovell Hall is the free ruin by the river beside St Kenelm's. West of Burford, the Barringtons face each other across the valley, Great Barrington with a twelfth-century chancel arch in its church, and the Inn for All Seasons. Downstream, Bampton played the village of Downton in Downton Abbey from the first series. Filkins was home to Cotswold Woollen Weavers, which closed to the public in 2026 after 44 years and now sells its last cloth by appointment, and Kelmscott has William Morris's manor.
The Evenlode and Blenheim
Kingham, in the Evenlode valley, has a station on the line from London, two pubs with rooms and Daylesford's farm shop nearby. Woodstock stands at the gates of Blenheim Palace, a World Heritage Site and Churchill's birthplace, and has a free county museum. For a bed, see where to stay in Kingham and Woodstock. From mid-November to early January, Christmas at Blenheim Palace lights the gardens and grounds with more than a million lights.
Round Kingham, Bledington has a Grade I church by the green with fifteenth-century painted glass, one panel dated 1470, and the King's Head, Churchill has the Chequers, and Daylesford, over the Gloucestershire line, has the farm shop and the Fox at Oddington. Charlbury, down the Evenlode, is a small town with a station, a 158-space station car park and Thames Travel’s X9 bus to Chipping Norton, about hourly seven days a week since 30 August 2026. The Wychwoods, Shipton, Milton and Ascott-under-Wychwood, lie in the valley between: Ascott has the Swan with rooms, Shipton has the Matthews flour mill by its station, and the Wildlife Trust’s Foxholes wood, about 4 miles north of Burford, is full of bluebells in May. Its layby takes about three cars, with a 600m walk down a track.
On the county's northern edge stand the Rollright Stones, beloved of ley-line hunters, and Chastleton, where Robert Catesby owned the estate until 1602, three years before the Gunpowder Plot. Newspapers recorded wife sales in the market towns.
Sights worth a detour
Blenheim Palace is the one great house, with a ticket that lasts a year, and Queen Pool can be reached free on the public footpaths from Combe, though about 570m by the lake runs on an estate road that is not a public right of way. Cotswold Wildlife Park near Burford takes dogs on leads (not indoors, in the restaurant or shop, or where animals roam free), and Cogges Manor Farm at Witney is the farm for children. The free museums are Burford's Tolsey, open on summer afternoons, and the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock.
Walks
The valleys are flat, so these are easy miles. Burford, Fulbrook and Widford is 6 miles (9.7km) over the old bridge, Swinbrook, Fulbrook and Widford 4.3 miles from the Swan, and Minster Lovell, Crawley and the Windrush 3.7 miles to the ruins. From the train, Kingham, Daylesford and the Evenlode is 4.4 miles of bridleway and river meadow. Blenheim Park from Bladon crosses the Grand Bridge, mostly on estate roads that need a Park and Gardens ticket. Walkers on AllTrails reported the riverside path at Minster Lovell flooded and the fields past Crawley impassable from December 2025 to March 2026, and the Evenlode meadows on the Kingham walk under water from November 2025 to January 2026, with cattle and sheep grazing there.
Eating and staying
Kingham is the eating village: the Wild Rabbit and the Kingham Plough on the green, the Feathered Nest at Nether Westcote, and Daylesford’s three restaurants, each with a Michelin Green Star. Burford has the Lamb, the Bay Tree and the Bull, which opened as a coaching inn in 1536. Woodstock has the Feathers and the Woodstock Arms by Blenheim's gates, and Minster Lovell the Old Swan and Minster Mill on the river. The full lists are on where to stay in Burford, Kingham, Witney and Woodstock.
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Getting around
Kingham, Charlbury and Hanborough are on GWR's Cotswold Line from London Paddington. The X52 runs from Oxford through Witney and Burford to Northleach and Cheltenham, the S3 and S7 together run from Oxford to Woodstock and Blenheim about four times an hour, and the S7 links Woodstock, Hanborough station and Witney.
Witney and Woodstock lie just outside the Cotswolds National Landscape, a couple of miles from its edge.
Pulhams’ X52 has run since 29 March 2026, up to every two hours from Monday to Saturday, with two journeys each way on winter Sundays and more in summer, stopping at the Oxford Road layby above Burford. Kingham station has no regular bus, so Burford, 8 miles away by road, is a taxi from there, or 9 miles from Charlbury. The S3 and S7 together run from Oxford to Woodstock about four times an hour, seven days a week. Getting here has the trains, the buses page the last buses, and the Cotswolds without a car the walks from each station.
When to come and where it is busiest
Burford's High Street and the A40 through it fill on summer Saturdays. Come on a weekday morning, or for Levellers Day in May (Saturday 15 May in 2027). Woodstock is busiest from mid-November to early January, when Christmas at Blenheim lights the park. Kelmscott opens from April to October. The quiet corners are the Wychwoods, the Barringtons and Bampton on any weekday, and the Evenlode walk from Kingham on a Sunday, when the X52 is thin and the 801 is the other side of the hills.
Last verified 28 October 2026 by our editors
Places in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
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Bampton
Village · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
A large village on the flat land between Witney and the Thames, with a Grade I minster church under a stone spire, three morris sides that dance every spring bank holiday, and the streets that played the village of Downton in Downton Abbey.
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Bledington
Village · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
A Gloucestershire village on the county boundary with a wide green, a brook running through it, a Grade I church with glass of 1470, a 16th-century inn on the green, and Kingham station a short walk away across the Evenlode.
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Burford
Market town · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
A wool and coaching town whose High Street runs downhill to a medieval bridge over the Windrush, with a Grade I church where the Levellers were held in 1649.
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Charlbury
Market town · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
A small stone town on the side of the Evenlode valley with a Brunel station on the line from London, a Quaker past and a gloving one, a volunteer museum by the Corner House, a free riverside festival in July, and Cornbury Park and the edge of Wychwood Forest on its doorstep.
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Churchill
Village · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
A hill village 3 miles from Chipping Norton with a church tower copied from Magdalen College's, the birthplaces of Warren Hastings and the geologist William Smith, a small heritage centre in the chancel of the old church, and the Chequers.
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Daylesford
Hamlet · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
A hamlet of estate cottages 2 miles from Kingham station, known for Daylesford Organic's farm shop, restaurants and spa; Warren Hastings's house behind the park wall is private, and his grave is in the churchyard of St Peter's.
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Filkins and Broughton Poggs
Village · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
Two villages either side of the Broadwell Brook, just off the A361 between Burford and Lechlade, known for their upright stone-slab fences, a small village museum and a pub with rooms. The woollen mill closed to visitors in 2026.
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Kelmscott
Village · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
A hamlet of about a hundred people on the upper Thames, 3 miles east of Lechlade, where William Morris rented the manor from 1871 until he died and where he is buried: the manor, his grave, a 1690 pub and the Thames Path.
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Kingham
Village · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
An Oxfordshire village in the Evenlode valley with a station on the line from London, two dining pubs, and Daylesford's farm shop two miles down the road.
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Minster Lovell
Village · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
A village in three parts on the Windrush west of Witney: the old street of thatched cottages ending at a Grade I church and the free ruins of Minster Lovell Hall, a Chartist settlement on the main road above, and a river people swim in.
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Oxford
Gateway · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
The university city at the eastern end of the Cotswold Line, where the S3 leaves the station for Woodstock and Blenheim about every hour and the X52 runs the A40 to Witney and Burford. The hills begin about 20 miles west; the colleges are the day before them.
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Shipton, Milton and Ascott-under-Wychwood
Village · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
Three villages on the Evenlode named after the royal forest that once covered them: a medieval inn and a community-owned wild garden at Shipton, the Hare at Milton, and the green at Ascott where sixteen women jailed in 1873 are remembered. Two stations.
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Swinbrook and Asthall
Village · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
Two small villages a mile apart on the Windrush east of Burford: Swinbrook, where the Mitford sisters are buried beside the stacked Fettiplace effigies, and Asthall, where they grew up in the manor; one pub in each, a lone church at Widford and Clarkson's pub on the hill.
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The Barringtons and Windrush
Village · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
Three quarry villages on the Windrush just over the Gloucestershire border from Burford: Great Barrington under its park wall, Little Barrington round its green, and Windrush with a Norman doorway of beaked heads; the stone that built Oxford colleges, and the Fox by the river.
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Witney
Market town · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
The blanket town on the Windrush, just outside the National Landscape, with a Butter Cross, a long Church Green and Cogges manor farm, and free parking.
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Woodstock
Market town · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
A small town of stone houses at the gates of Blenheim Palace, Churchill's birthplace and a World Heritage Site, with a free county museum and two old sundials.
Things to do in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
Historic houses and heritage · Woodstock
Blenheim Palace
Vanbrugh's palace at Woodstock, Churchill's birthplace and a World Heritage Site, with Capability Brown's park, formal gardens and a ticket that lasts a year.
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Minster Lovell Hall and Dovecote
Historic houses and heritage · Witney
The ruins of a fifteenth-century manor house by the River Windrush between Burford and Witney, with a round dovecote, free to visit in daylight.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens
Wildlife and nature · Burford
A wildlife park and gardens near Burford with animals from around the world, a narrow-gauge railway, free parking and room for dogs on leads in most of it.
Family-friendly · Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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Cogges Manor Farm
Family days out · Witney
A manor house of the thirteenth century with a farm, walled garden, orchard and adventure playground on the edge of Witney, with free parking.
Family-friendly · Dog-friendly · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Where to stay in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
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The Bird in Hand
Inn · Witney
A 17th-century country inn with sixteen rooms, two of them accessible, at Whiteoak Green, Hailey, about three miles north of Witney.
Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Inn for All Seasons
Inn · Burford
A country inn at the Barringtons, about three miles west of Burford, begun in the 1500s and a coaching inn from the 1700s, with twelve rooms and dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Feathered Nest Inn
Inn · Kingham
An inn with four rooms and a cottage at Nether Westcote near Kingham, in a building that began 350 years ago as a malt house.
Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
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The Duke of Marlborough
Inn · Woodstock
A family and dog-friendly pub with thirteen rooms and a large car park at Woodleys, on the A44 just north of Woodstock.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Lamb Inn
Inn · Burford
An inn with rooms in Burford, part of Cotswold Inns and Hotels, taking bookings for rooms and tables and welcoming dogs.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Kingham Plough
Inn · Kingham
A pub with six rooms and a cottage on the green at Kingham, open daily from 8.30am, with dogs and families welcome.
Car-free · Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Where to eat and drink in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
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The Chequers, Churchill
Pubs · Kingham
A Lionhearth Group gastropub on Church Road in Churchill, about 2 miles from Kingham, with an open fire, a garden terrace, two private dining rooms and dogs and children welcome.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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Daylesford Farm
Farm shops and delis · Kingham
The farm shop, restaurant and café at Daylesford near Kingham, open every day, with the Trough holding a Green Michelin star.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Wild Rabbit
Inn · Kingham
A Daylesford pub with rooms and cottages in a 17th-century house at Kingham, with three AA Rosettes and dinner from Wednesday to Sunday.
Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
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The Woodstock Arms
Pubs · Woodstock
A bistro pub with rooms on Market Street, Woodstock, showing two AA Rosettes, open every day from 9am with food all day and dogs and children welcome.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The King's Head Inn, Bledington
Inn · Kingham
A 16th-century inn on the green at Bledington, near Kingham, with twelve rooms in the inn and a courtyard, and EV charging.
EV charging · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Three Horseshoes, Asthall
Inn · Burford
An eighteenth-century pub with six rooms at Asthall, near Burford, where innkeepers have been recorded since 1726.
Verified Oct 2026
Walks in and around the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
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Woodstock town walk
Walk · Starts in Woodstock · Circular
A 1.1-mile (1.7km) easy heritage loop round Woodstock from the stocks in Park Street to Hawksmoor's Woodstock Gate into Blenheim, along the coaching inns of Oxford Street and Market Street to the Town Hall and the Hensington Gate, and back through the churchyard.
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Kingham, Daylesford and the Evenlode
Walk · Starts in Kingham · 1 hr, 30 mins · Circular · Dog-friendly
A flat 4.4-mile (7.1km) circular walk of about an hour and a half from Kingham: north-west on bridleways across Daylesford's fields to the Evenlode, back down the river meadows and over the Cotswold Line on the level. Walkers report it wet and often flooded in winter.
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Burford's lanes and fields
Walk · Starts in Burford · 1 hr · Circular
A 1.7-mile (2.7km) circular walk from Burford's free riverside car park, easy and about an hour, mostly on pavements and lanes. It climbs Witney Street and Barns Lane to a field west of the town, then comes back down Sheep Street and Priory Lane to the church.
Sights in and around the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
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Adlestrop railway sign and seat
Sight · Monument · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
The Great Western Railway sign and bench from Adlestrop's lost station stand in the village bus shelter, where they were set up in the early 1970s. Edward Thomas's train stopped here in June 1914, and his poem Adlestrop made the name famous. Grade II; free to see.
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Burford Bridge
Sight · Bridge · Burford
Burford Bridge carries the road over the River Windrush at the foot of Burford's High Street: four low arches with pointed cutwaters, medieval in origin and heavily remodelled in 1791. Grade II*, on the way in and out of the town.
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Burford Priory
Sight · Historic building · Burford
Burford Priory is a Jacobean mansion on the site of a medieval hospital in Burford, remodelled by Speaker Lenthall in the seventeenth century, with his chapel of 1661 to 1662 beside it. Grade I; a private house, seen only from Priory Lane.
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Butter Cross, Witney
Sight · Historic building · Witney
The Butter Cross is Witney's open market house in the Market Square, built soon after 1606 on 13 stone pillars, probably round an older cross, with a clock turret and sundial added in 1683 by William Blake of Cogges. Grade II* and scheduled; free to walk under.
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Column of Victory, Blenheim
Sight · Monument · Woodstock
The Column of Victory is the fluted Doric column of 1727 to 1730 that carries a lead statue of the first Duke of Marlborough dressed as a Roman general on the high ground of Blenheim's park. Seen from Woodstock and the park's public paths.
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Queen Pool, Blenheim
Sight · Lake · Woodstock
Queen Pool is the northern arm of the lake Capability Brown made at Blenheim from 1764, above Vanbrugh's Grand Bridge, with Rosamund's Well just west of the bridge and the Column of Victory above. Reached free on public footpaths from Combe; the lakeside road is permissive.
Stories about the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
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Edward Thomas and Adlestrop
Story · History · 8 minute read
The express that stopped at Adlestrop in June 1914, the poem Edward Thomas made of it, the station that closed in 1966, and the sign and bench in the village bus shelter today.
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The best pubs with rooms in the Cotswolds
Story · Guides · 13 minute read
The best pubs with rooms in the Cotswolds, region by region: the Kingham Plough and the King’s Head at Bledington, the Lion at Winchcombe, the Falcon at Painswick and the Red Lion at Lacock, with the rooms, the food, the dog rules and the walk from the door.
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Where to stay in the Cotswolds: the best base
Story · Guides · 13 minute read
Where to stay in the Cotswolds, by region, by kind of place and by trip: Moreton-in-Marsh or Kingham without a car, Stow, Chipping Campden or Burford with one, Tetbury or Painswick for the quieter south, Winchcombe for walkers, and what a night costs in 2026.
Getting to the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
