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One day in the Cotswolds: a North Cotswolds day trip by car
A one-day Cotswolds trip by car for first-timers: Bourton-on-the-Water and the Slaughters before the crowds, lunch in Stow, Chipping Campden in the afternoon and Broadway Tower at the end of the day. About 22 miles of driving.
- 1 day
- By car
- About 22 miles (35km) driving
- 6 miles (9.7km) on foot
- Start by 8.30am
Bourton, the Slaughters, Stow, Campden and Broadway
Day 1 · Water villages in the morning, wool towns after lunch, the escarpment at the end of the day
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8.30am
8.30am Village 30 minutes here
Park in Bourton-on-the-Water
Rissington Road car park is free before 10am. Pay from 10am for the time you will be away. Walk the river while it is empty and find the Narrow Bridge, dated 1756.
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9am
9am On foot
Walk to Upper and Lower Slaughter and back
A 6-mile (9.7km) circuit from Rissington Road with a few stiles: up a lane to Upper Slaughter, down the River Eye past the mill at Lower Slaughter, and back to Bourton. Take care at the two crossings of the Fosse Way (A429).
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9.45am
9.45am Village 20 minutes here
Upper Slaughter
Cross the Eye by the footbridge at the ford and climb to St Peter's churchyard for the view back over the village. There is nothing to buy here.
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10.15am
10.15am Village 20 minutes here
Lower Slaughter
The red-brick mill with its waterwheel stands at the top of the village; a coffee kiosk serves walkers from April to October. No toilets, so use Bourton's.
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11.30am
11.30am Things to do 20 minutes here
The Model Village
Bourton at one-ninth scale as it was in the 1930s, behind the Old New Inn. Adult £4.95, child £4 (2026); open from 10am, cards only. Pushchairs cannot go in.
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12.15pm
12.15pm Places to stay 1 hour here
Lunch in Stow-on-the-Wold
About 15 minutes by car up the A429. Park free at the Fosseway car park. The Porch House serves lunch from noon daily; the Old Bakery Tearoom, shut on Thursdays and Sundays, is the small alternative.
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1.15pm
1.15pm Market town 30 minutes here
Stow's Square and St Edward's church
The medieval market cross on the Square, then St Edward's, where more than 1,600 prisoners were held after the battle of 1646. Find the north door between its two yews.
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2.15pm
2.15pm Market town 1.5 hours here
Chipping Campden
About 25 minutes by car north. Walk the High Street from the Market Hall of 1627 past Grevel's House to the almshouses and St James's, the wool church.
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3.15pm
3.15pm Eat and drink 30 minutes here
Tea at the Bantam Tea Rooms
Opposite the Market Hall, open daily from 9.30am to 5pm.
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4pm
4pm Things to do 1 hour here
Broadway Tower
About 10 minutes by car. James Wyatt's tower of 1798 on Beacon Hill. Adult £14.82 online (2026); last admission 4.45pm from April to October, earlier in winter. Car park £3 for four hours.
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5.15pm
5.15pm Market town The evening here
Broadway
Five minutes down the hill. Park at Milestone Ground, walk the long High Street as the shops close, and eat at the Lygon Arms or Russell's.
In more detail
If you have one day in the Cotswolds and a car, spend it in the North Cotswolds: the water villages of Bourton-on-the-Water and the Slaughters in the morning, the hilltop market town of Stow-on-the-Wold at lunch, Chipping Campden in the afternoon, and Broadway Tower as the light goes. It is about 22 miles (35km) of driving, under an hour at the wheel, and 6 miles (9.7km) on foot.
Why this route
This loop puts the places most people come for into one day without spending it in the car. The four stops are never more than about 25 minutes apart, so the time goes on walking, not driving. It is also the right way round: Bourton and the Slaughters fill up by late morning, and Chipping Campden's High Street and the views from the tower are at their best later in the day.
How to beat the crowds in Bourton and the Slaughters
Arrive in Bourton before 10am, when the Rissington Road car park is free and the river is quiet. Gloucestershire County Council puts the village's visitors at around 10,000 a day at peak times, and it is at its busiest from late morning on. Neither Lower nor Upper Slaughter has a car park, and Lower Slaughter bars coaches, so the way in is on foot: the 6-mile walk from Bourton to Upper and Lower Slaughter takes two to two and a half hours. Short on time or legs? Walk the field path to Lower Slaughter and back, about 3 miles, then do the riverside stroll from Lower to Upper Slaughter while you are there. On the full circuit, walkers on AllTrails name the two crossings of the Fosse Way (A429) as the hazard to take care over and report mud on the bridleways after rain, and about a mile into Upper Slaughter is on a lane with no pavement.
Look for the Old Mill at the top of Lower Slaughter, St Peter's church above the ford at Upper Slaughter, and back in Bourton the Narrow Bridge, built in 1756.
Stow and Chipping Campden
Stow is the place to eat, because it is halfway and it has the choice. The Porch House on Digbeth Street serves food every day from breakfast; the Old Bakery Tearoom makes everything on the premises but is closed on Thursdays and Sundays. After lunch, see the market cross and St Edward's church, whose north door stands between two yews.
Chipping Campden's High Street of honey-coloured stone is the reason to come, and the best of it is free to see from the pavement. Start at the Market Hall, built in 1627 by Sir Baptist Hicks, walk past Grevel's House with its two-storey bay window, then up Church Street past the almshouses of 1612 to St James's, the wool church. Market Square car park gives you 20 minutes free and then charges £1 an hour; Back Ends is better for a longer stay.
Broadway Tower and Broadway
Broadway Tower is a folly of 1798 on Beacon Hill, at the top of the escarpment about a mile from Broadway; William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones stayed in it. The ticket covers the museum inside, the roof platform and a park with red deer. A separate tour goes down into a Cold War nuclear bunker on weekends from April to October, reached by ladder and not for under-10s. If you have the legs left, park in Broadway instead and walk the 4-mile circuit up to the tower, which climbs past St Eadburgha's church; allow two and a half to three hours.
Swaps for rain or a quieter day
On a wet day, cut the Slaughters walk to the short stroll between the two villages and give the time to Broadway Museum and Art Gallery on the High Street, or to Court Barn in Chipping Campden, the museum of the Guild of Handicraft (closed on Mondays). Our guide to the Cotswolds on a rainy day has more.
For a quieter afternoon, skip Stow and drive the lanes below the escarpment to Stanton, whose village cross stands on the Cotswold Way, and on up to Snowshill for Snowshill Manor, Charles Wade's house of collections; its season and times change through the year, so check the National Trust's calendar. Our guide to the Cotswolds without the crowds has more quiet alternatives.
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Where to stay the night
Stay in Broadway and you finish the day on foot. The Lygon Arms, first recorded in 1377, is the historic choice on the High Street, with a spa and pool and room for the dog; Russell's of Broadway has eight rooms above its grill, with breakfast included. If you would rather wake up in Campden for a morning on Dover's Hill, see the places to stay in Chipping Campden.