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Three days in the Cotswolds: a north to south itinerary by car
A three-day Cotswolds itinerary by car from Chipping Campden to Westonbirt: the escarpment villages on day one, Bourton, the Slaughters and a Roman villa on day two, Bibury, Cirencester and Tetbury on day three. Based in Northleach.
- 3 days
- By car
- Base: Northleach
- About 90 miles (145km) driving
- North to south
Day 1: Chipping Campden, Broadway, Stanton and Snowshill
The wool town, the tower and the villages under the escarpment
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9.30am
9.30am Market town 1.5 hours here
Chipping Campden
Walk the High Street from the Market Hall of 1627 past Grevel's House to the almshouses and St James's. Market Square parking is 20 minutes free, then £1 an hour.
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11.15am
11.15am Things to do 1 hour here
Broadway Tower
About 10 minutes by car. A folly of 1798 on Beacon Hill, with a museum, a roof platform and a deer park. Adult £14.82 online (2026); opens 10am (10.30am on weekdays from November to March).
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12.30pm
12.30pm Market town 1.25 hours here
Lunch in Broadway
Five minutes down the hill. Park at Church Close or Milestone Ground. Tavern by James Martin, at the Lygon Arms, serves lunch from 12pm to 3pm.
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2pm
2pm Village 45 minutes here
Stanton
About 10 minutes by car. A village restored from 1906, with a medieval cross and a Grade I church with Comper glass. Use the car park by the cricket ground.
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3pm
3pm Things to do 1.5 hours here
Snowshill Manor
Five minutes up the hill. Charles Wade's house of collections. Adult £18 to 1 November, £13 after (2026); the manor's times vary by date, so check before you go.
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5pm
5pm Places to stay The evening here
Check in at Northleach
About 35 minutes south by car. The Wheatsheaf, a seventeenth-century coaching inn on West End, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, has its own car park and takes check-in from 3pm.
Day 2: Bourton, the Slaughters, Stow and Chedworth
The water villages on foot, the hilltop town and the Roman villa
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9am
9am Village 15 minutes here
Bourton-on-the-Water
About 15 minutes by car. Rissington Road car park is free before 10am; leave the car for the morning.
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9.15am
9.15am On foot
Walk to Upper and Lower Slaughter
A 6-mile (9.7km) circuit with a few stiles: up to Upper Slaughter's ford and church, down the River Eye past Lower Slaughter's mill, back over the fields. Walkers on AllTrails report mud after rain; take care at the two Fosse Way crossings.
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12pm
12pm Market town 1.5 hours here
Lunch in Stow-on-the-Wold
About 15 minutes by car. Park free at the Fosseway car park. See the market cross and St Edward's church; the Porch House serves food every day.
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2pm
2pm Things to do 1.5 hours here
Chedworth Roman Villa
About 30 minutes by car. Mosaics, two bath suites and a water shrine, found in the winter of 1863 to 1864. Adult £15 (2026); hours change through the year. Assistance dogs only.
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4pm
4pm Market town 45 minutes here
Northleach church
About 10 minutes by car. The wool church of St Peter and St Paul, open 9am to 5pm, with its brasses to wool merchants. Park in the Market Place.
Day 3: Bibury, Cirencester, Tetbury and Westonbirt
Arlington Row early, Roman Corinium, the Market House and the arboretum
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9am
9am Village 1 hour here
Bibury and Arlington Row
About 15 minutes by car. Arlington Row before the coaches, then St Mary's, a church with Saxon work in its nave and chancel. Little roadside parking; the trout farm's car park is £10 (2026).
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10.30am
10.30am Things to do 1.5 hours here
Corinium Museum
About 20 minutes by car to Cirencester. Roman mosaics from a town and district where more than 90 are known. Adult £8.70, child £4 (2026); open daily 10am to 4pm.
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12pm
12pm Market town 1.5 hours here
Cirencester
Cross the Market Place to St John the Baptist, the wool church, free to visit, then lunch. Council car parks charge £2 for an hour and £3.80 for two (2026); Queen Street is free.
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2pm
2pm Market town 1 hour here
Tetbury
About 25 minutes by car. Park free at the Old Railyard, climb the Chipping Steps to the Market House of 1655, and see St Mary's Gothick interior.
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3.15pm
3.15pm Things to do 1.5 hours here
Westonbirt Arboretum
About 10 minutes by car. About 15,000 trees and shrubs and a 300m treetop walkway. Adult £14 to £22 by season and day, child £5 (2026); last admission 4.30pm.
In more detail
Three days lets you see the Cotswolds from top to bottom: the escarpment villages of the North Cotswolds on day one, the Windrush valley and a Roman villa on day two, and the wool towns of the South Cotswolds on day three. Base yourself in Northleach, in the middle, and no day ends more than about 35 minutes from bed. You drive about 90 miles (145km) in all and walk 6 miles (9.7km).
How to use this three-day itinerary
Each day runs from north to south, so the driving follows the map, and each puts the most popular place first thing. The days stand alone: if you have two days, drop one, or follow our two days in the North Cotswolds, which spends both on the north. If you prefer to move bases, sleep the first night in Broadway and the second in Cirencester.
Day one: Chipping Campden to Snowshill
Start in Chipping Campden, where the Cotswold Way begins beside the Market Hall. Walk up to St James's, the wool church, past the almshouses of 1612. Then drive to Broadway Tower, a folly of 1798 where William Morris stayed, and drop into Broadway for lunch.
The afternoon is quieter. Stanton is a spring-line village on the Cotswold Way, restored by Sir Philip Stott from 1906, with a medieval village cross and St Michael's church, which has a rood loft and east window by Sir Ninian Comper. If you are a walker, the 6.6-mile loop from Stanton to Snowshill and along the edge replaces the drive. In Snowshill, Snowshill Manor holds Charles Wade's collections, from bicycles to armour; the car park is about 450m from the house, with a volunteer buggy.
Day two: Bourton, the Slaughters, Stow and Chedworth
Be in Bourton-on-the-Water by 9am, when the car park is still free and the river is quiet. Walk the 6-mile circuit to Upper and Lower Slaughter, past the Old Mill at Lower Slaughter and the ford at Upper Slaughter. Neither village has a car park, so walking is the easier way in.
Lunch in Stow-on-the-Wold, at the Porch House or the Old Bakery Tearoom (closed Thursdays and Sundays). Then drive south to Chedworth Roman Villa, found in the woods in the winter of 1863 to 1864, which has no practical bus. End the day at Northleach's wool church, St Peter and St Paul, and the Old Prison, a house of correction of 1791, before dinner. Read our guide to the Roman Cotswolds before you go.
Day three: Bibury, Cirencester, Tetbury and Westonbirt
Go to Bibury first: press reports put visitors at up to 20,000 on a peak weekend, and before 10am you will have Arlington Row almost to yourself. See St Mary's, with Saxon stones in the chancel, then drive to Cirencester for the Corinium Museum and St John the Baptist, the wool church on the Market Place.
After lunch, Tetbury has the Market House of 1655 on its stone pillars and St Mary's, a tall Gothick hall rebuilt from 1777; the town walk links them in 45 minutes. Finish at Westonbirt, the National Arboretum, at its best in the autumn colour season.
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Swaps for rain or a slower trip
On a wet day, give more time to the museums: the Corinium Museum, Court Barn in Chipping Campden and Broadway Museum and Art Gallery. For a slower third day, drop Tetbury and walk the River Coln from Bibury, a 4-mile loop of about two hours. Our guide to when to visit the Cotswolds says which months suit which places.
Where to stay for three days
Northleach lies by the A40 and the A429, about halfway between Chipping Campden and Tetbury, and quieter than Bourton or Stow. The Wheatsheaf is a seventeenth-century coaching inn with 14 bedrooms, a garden, an on-site car park and food from breakfast to dinner, and welcomes families and dogs. For a central base with more choice, see places to stay in Stow-on-the-Wold or in Cirencester.