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Cotswolds Info

Pub walks in the Cotswolds

These are our pub walks in the Cotswolds, each with a pub at the start, at the finish or a short step off the route, named on the walk's page. They run from the Slaughters and Chipping Campden to Burford and Kingham, the edge above Winchcombe and Wotton, and the villages round Castle Combe and Tetbury.

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Pub walks in the North Cotswolds

The shortest pub walk in the North Cotswolds is the 2-mile path from Lower Slaughter to Upper Slaughter and back, which starts at the Slaughters Country Inn. From Bourton-on-the-Water, the 6-mile loop by both Slaughters ends at the Willow, a Fuller's pub on the High Street that opens from 10am.

The 10-mile day from Bourton passes the Slaughters Country Inn and the Black Horse in Naunton, a Donnington Brewery pub a short way off the route. In Guiting Power, where a 6.3-mile loop starts, the leaflet names the Farmers Arms, a Donnington pub with a skittle alley. In Blockley, the Great Western Arms, a Hook Norton pub, is about 200m from the walk through Batsford Park. Our guide to Cotswold pubs has more on the breweries.

In Chipping Campden, the Dover's Hill loop and the 9-mile walk to Blockley both finish at the Noel Arms on the High Street. In Broadway, the Lygon Arms, an early seventeenth-century inn with a grill, is back in the village after the walk to Broadway Tower, and on the Cotswold Way to Wood Stanway the one stop is the Mount Inn in Stanton, a Donnington pub about 90m from the path.

In Moreton-in-Marsh, the stile-free loop to Batsford starts on the High Street, where the Redesdale opens at 8am. The loop to Maugersbury passes the Porch House in Stow-on-the-Wold, and the walk to Hampnett ends at the Wheatsheaf, a seventeenth-century coaching inn in Northleach.

The Oxfordshire Cotswolds and the Coln valley

In the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, the 4.3-mile loop from Swinbrook starts and ends at the Swan Inn beside the Windrush. The flat walk to Daylesford and the Evenlode starts by the Wild Rabbit in Kingham, which serves dinner from Wednesday to Sunday.

In Burford, the Lamb Inn on Sheep Street is at the end of the 1.7-mile town walk and of the 6-mile loop by Fulbrook and Widford. The Minster Lovell walk finishes at the Old Swan, and walkers report stopping at the Lamb in Crawley halfway, which opens from Wednesday to Sunday. The town walk round Woodstock passes the Punchbowl, a family-run Arkell's pub with rooms.

In the Coln valley, the 6.5-mile loop to Bibury starts and ends by the New Inn in Coln St Aldwyns, open daily from noon. From Lechlade-on-Thames, the flat riverside loop passes the Trout Inn by St John's Lock, which its listing says began as a hospital for the men who built the bridge, and finishes at the New Inn Hotel on the Market Place.

The Cotswold Edge and the Five Valleys

On the Cotswold Edge, both walks from Winchcombe to Belas Knap end at the White Hart Inn on the High Street: the 5.5-mile loop and the 9.2-mile day over Cleeve Common. The 7.5-mile loop from Kingscote starts and finishes at the Hunters Hall Inn, a sixteenth-century coaching inn.

The 8.5-mile walk from Wotton-under-Edge finishes about 170m from the Royal Oak in Wotton; the two pubs out on the route, at North Nibley and Waterley Bottom, may be closed. Above Painswick, the Beacon loop ends at the Falcon Inn on New Street, and in the Five Valleys the Vine Tree Inn at Randwick is about 350m off the Haresfield Beacon walk.

Pub walks in the South Cotswolds

In the South Cotswolds, the 4.5-mile loop from Ford starts at the White Hart Inn there and reaches Castle Combe halfway, where the White Hart is a fourteenth-century Wadworth pub that opens at 9am. The Biddestone heritage trail passes the White Hart at Ford too, and the White Horse is on the green in Biddestone.

In Malmesbury, the river walk passes the Three Cups in Westport on the way back. The town walk in Tetbury passes the Priory Inn and ends near the Royal Oak, which reopened in 2013 after restoration, while the 6.5-mile loop to Ashley has the Trouble House just off the route. For the pubs themselves, see the best pubs in the Cotswolds.

For two days of them, our pub walks weekend is based at a pub with rooms in Guiting Power, with the Naunton loop to the Farmers Arms on the Saturday.

Wisteria in flower across the stone front of the inn
The Swan Inn, Swinbrook

Four walks with a pub worth the walk

An inn at the Slaughters, two old inns on the Thames, three pubs on the way to Castle Combe and a village pub on the Coln.

All walks starting here

Six more pub walks to try

Day loops and short strolls with a pub on the way, from the Slaughters to Tetbury.

The pubs at the start and finish

Pubs and inns that begin or end a walk on this page. Opening hours change, so check before you set out.

All places

Questions

What is the shortest Cotswold pub walk?

The Woodstock town walk, at about 1.1 miles (1.7km), which passes the Punchbowl and the King's Arms. The Burford and Tetbury town walks are each 1.7 miles, ending at the Lamb Inn and near the Royal Oak.

Are there pub walks without stiles?

Yes. The walks from Broadway to Broadway Tower, from Moreton-in-Marsh to Batsford, from Northleach to Hampnett, from Stow to Maugersbury and from Bourton to Wyck Rissington have no stiles. They start or end near the Lygon Arms, the Redesdale, the Wheatsheaf, the Porch House and the Willow.

Which pub walks follow the Cotswold Way?

Several. The section from Broadway to Wood Stanway has one stop, the Mount Inn in Stanton. The Winchcombe walks to Belas Knap go up by the Cotswold Way and end at the White Hart Inn, and the Painswick Beacon loop comes home along it to the Falcon Inn.

Do the pubs on these walks welcome dogs?

Many do, but check first. The White Horse at Biddestone, the White Hart in Castle Combe, the Willow in Bourton, the Three Cups in Malmesbury and the Royal Oak in Tetbury all welcome dogs. At the Slaughters Country Inn, dogs stay in some rooms but are not allowed in the restaurant or lounges.

Is there a pub walk to Castle Combe?

Yes. The 4.5-mile loop from the White Hart Inn at Ford goes up the By Brook valley into Castle Combe, where the White Hart and the Castle Inn are halfway round, and back through the woods to Ford in two to two and a half hours.

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