There are many Chipping Campden walks near our very English market town and neighbouring villages for you to enjoy. Chipping Campden is the ideal centre if you are looking for good walking, both for the casual as well as the more experienced walker and provides access to beautiful countryside and historic sites.
If you want to go walking during your holiday or just to get out and about in the Cotswolds, then the many Chipping Campden walks you have to choose from make Chipping Campden a great place to start. We have a range of books and booklets ins hop and available from our online shop which detail the many great walks around Chipping Campden and in the Cotswolds as a whole.
There are short walks, long walks, Pub walks, Dog walks, National Trails and European Long Distance Walks. As a base to explore the North Cotswolds, you will find everything you need here from Accommodation and Places to Eat to “How to get Here”
Cotswold Way National Trail
The Cotswold way runs for 102 miles (164 km) from Chipping Campden all the way to Bath along the western edge of the Cotswold escarpment, so you will have wonderful views all around but especially towards Wales. The walker will get a taste of a quintessentially English landscape that has been shaped by a man from prehistoric times. Throughout its length, the way is bursting with history, from neolithic burial grounds to ancient hill forts.
With any number of Roman villas, historic houses, churches, and abbeys. For those of you making the trip in one go, the official start/finish to the route in Chipping Campden is the Market Hall, where there is a commemorative plaque on the pavement. You will find a similar plaque in Bath outside the Abbey. We have a supply of the most popular guidebooks to the Trail on sale in our online shop together with some maps and also a DVD if you would like to experience the Trail from the comfort of your own armchair.
Diamond Way
A roughly diamond-shaped 66-mile walk visiting many small villages using quiet footpaths. It is a very creative and scenic route through the North Gloucestershire countryside, created by the then North Cotswolds Ramblers Association in 1995 to Celebrate the 60th Jubilee. The route takes in Chipping Campden, Northleach, Bourton-on the -Water and Guiting Power, but there are other smaller hamlets along the way.
The path crosses undulating farmland and woods, dipping into steep valleys, and passing through numerous sleepy villages of honey-coloured stone. Much of the route explores quiet areas of the Cotswold Hills where you may reflect on their beauty in solitude. Spend some time en route exploring the busy market Towns of Chipping Campden and Northleach you will find it time well spent.
Monarchs Way
The Way is based on the long route taken by King Charles II (Bonny Prince |Charlie) during his escape after defeating Cromwell in the final battle of the Civil War at Worcester in 1651 when for six weeks the 21-year-old was hotly pursued by Parliamentary troops. It runs from Boscobel (where the Royal Oak Tree can be found) through Stratford upon Avon down through the Cotswolds, Somerset’s Mendip Hills and finally to the South Coast, Charmouth to Shoreham. Along the way, you will come across many historic buildings and points of historical interest.
The route also connects with other long-distance walks. There is a lovely booklet describing the route, from Stratford-upon-Avon to Bristol, available in the Chipping Campden Visitor centre.
Donnington Way
Based on the Cotswold brewery of Donnington in Stow-on-the-Wold, the Way’s theme is the brewery and its 15 pubs. The Donnington Way is a 62-mile walk linking the pubs of the Donnington Brewery in a circular path through rural Gloucestershire. Some of the main locations you will find en route will be Stow-on-the-Wold, Longborough, Lower Swell, Naunton, Snowshill, Willersey, and Moreton-in-Marsh, to name but a few, but there are other smaller fascinating hamlets like Kineton, Ford & Guiting Power.
Some of the Donnington’s Pubs you will find en route will be able to offer B&B facilities enabling you to plan your walk. But in these changing times, it is recommended that you phone ahead to ensure a bed for the night. All the Rights of Way have been thoroughly tested to ensure they are still accessible and are walked regularly. Click here to find a current list of the pubs en route, with one exception – the Coach & Horses at Gainsborough is now a private House.
Heart of England Way
This trail starts in Cannock chase in Staffordshire, crossing Warwickshire from Northeast to Southwest and finishes In Bourton on the water. This 102-mile trail was created as a private venture back in the 1970s and provides a fascinating view through the back door of the region’s history, people, buildings, and landscape. It also forms part of a longer walk known as the European Long-Distance Footpath E2, which starts in Stranraer, Scotland and finishes in Nice, France.
A guide booklet is available in our shop and online and contains a complete description of the route as well as 32 linked circular walks to do if unable to complete the whole trail in one go.
Local Footpath around Campden
Many walks of varying lengths around the town and footpath maps showing where they all are, can be found in the Visitor Information Centre opposite the Market Hall. For our opening hours click here.
Guided Walks
However, if you appreciate some help in choosing which footpath’s to take then we have that covered too. Together with the local Cotswold Wardens, we have published a series of guided routes, starting and finishing in the Town. There are 2 books in the series, aptly named “shorter walks” and “longer walks” the latter comes with inbuilt shorter versions, just in case you find you have “bitten off more than you can chew”.
They vary from 1.5 to 2 hours for the short and 6 to 10 hours for the longer (not forgetting the shortcuts). They are fully described with O.S. mapping for your convenience. You can purchase these in our shop, opposite the Market Hall. They will shortly be available from our online shop.
Walks Near Campden
The Cotswolds are a wonderful location for walking, the scenery and views are breath-taking and constantly changing and many are suitable for a Sunday afternoon stroll as well as for the more experienced walkers.
We have many guidebooks in our High Street shop which cover walks all across the length and breadth of the Cotswolds, we have a smaller selection available from our online shop, click here for a look. One such fine example is the
The Winchcombe Way
This is a 42-mile gem starting and finishing in the nearby town of Winchcombe and it passes through an area of varied landscapes and sleepy villages and pops up with unexpected vies every now and then. It takes in history and architecture from Belas Knap Long Barrow to Stanway Manor, with its 300ft gravity-fed fountain. A route is a form of a figure of eight with Winchcombe in the centre, although you can break it down into easily digestible options. We stock a small booklet that details the route in depth.
Circular Walks in Worcestershire
Although, not part of the Cotswolds, the nearby county of Worcestershire has a number of very fine walks from Broadway (with nearby Broadway Tower) and Tewkesbury in the south to Kidderminster in the north all described in a booklet we currently stock called “Circular walks in Worcestershire’s Heritage garden”.
Dovers Hill
A favourite of the Chipping Campden walks, this fabulous walk will take you through the English town of Chipping Campden, shaded woodlands and past scenic views. An incredible introduction to the Cotswolds, and an ideal starting point for the Cotswold Way visible via the marker stone with some breathtaking views.
Dover’s Hill is believed to have been the site of the first games of the English Olympic Games, a tradition that originated in 1612 and it forms a natural amphitheatre to watch the games. You can also experience some beautiful bluebells nearby too during spring.
Download the national trail walk here.
Chipping Campden Walks with Dogs
Not forgetting our canine friends. Chipping Campden is a very dog-friendly town. Most of the eating and drinking establishments welcome well-behaved pooches. As you walk along our renowned High St., many’s the dog bowl you will find outside all types of premises in the hot weather. With the proviso of keeping your dogs on a lead in fields of animals, you can take them anywhere and indeed there are many walks where they can run free. We currently stock a very popular guidebook entitled “Countryside Dog Walks” as well as an even more popular “Dog-friendly Pub Walks” (strange that!!).
All these and more are available in our High Street shop and our online store here.
