Biking the Cotswalds

Chance of Rain in the Cotswolds in September/October is 50%. Dress in Rain proof Technical Gear. Go for hikes inside of some of the Historic places. Visit some Pubs. You still have a 50% chance for some bright days. We were in England, Wales and Scotland that time of year and it wasn't raining all the time, but was overcast which actually kept it warmer. I'm from Seattle so it was normal for us. If your bikes don't have splash guard fenders you might get muddy. When Hiking dress for Windy Days; wear boots that can get muddy on the footpaths.

We did a bike tour of the Costwolds in September 2022 and had a marvelous time. We used Macs Adventures. We gave them our dates and they set up a 5 day/4 night trip which included the hotels, bikes, routes, and luggage transfers. They do not provide guides and we did not need any assistance but I felt confident that the bike rental folks would be able to assist if we had needed them. The Cotswolds are fairly populated so you are never far from help. Brits are very friendly and they speak English! I used an e-bike, which i needed because its a hilly place. My husband did a regular bike but he bikes frequently. After our bike trip we went on to Bath and joined a Rick Steves tour that showed us the rest of England. But truly my favorite part was the biking. Do remember they drive (and thus you bike) on the left side of the road, took a bit of getting used to. 90% of the roads were small country lanes with little traffic.

Also, weather for our trip was great. No rain to speak of though I would be prepared with some rain gear.

Are you thing a guided tour or self-guided (lodging is booked for you and you are provided maps and route descriptions to ride on your own)? Mac’s Adventures would be a good choice for this. Here is a sample of their standard Cotswolds tour itinerary, from a base in Moreton-on Marsh:

https://www.macsadventure.com/us/tour-1302/cycling-in-the-heart-of-the-cotswolds/

This has 5 days of cycling, Ut if on any given day it is pouring rain you could choose to hike that day instead. And of course they could customize the itinerary to suit your group. Meals are on your own.

The one drawback I can see with this is that the lodging they book tends to be small B and B’s which might not have room for your whole group, so you would be split up. But they may have places large enough for all of you as well.

For a guided tour, here is a good option with Saddle Skedaddle, a UK cycling tour company:

https://www.skedaddle.com/uk/cycling/holiday/Leisure_Cycling/UK_-_Cotswolds_-_Bourton-on-the-Water_-_Guided_Leisure_Cycling_Holiday/826/view.rails?_gl=1*2vb87*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTc3MjgzNzAwNC4xNjk4ODYxNDc4*_ga_MK0WLVZNPL*MTY5ODg2MTQ3OC4xLjAuMTY5ODg2MTQ3OC4wLjAuMA..

They offer 3 days of guided cycling in their standard itinerary, but for your group I am sure they would be happy to customize. The lodging is a large manor house in Bourton-on-the-Water managed as a hotel by HF Holidays. (This is a member-owned cooperative that owns or leases such houses all across the UK, focused on walking holidays (“hiking” to North Americans)). Full board is included, with breakfast and dinner at the hotel, and a packed lunch provided to order.

We have stayed with HF Holidays on walking holidays in two of their country houses, in the Lake District and the Jurassic Coast. The quality of the accommodations and food was excellent in both cases.

For your hiking, you could either move to a different village or lodging and plan the hikes on your own. Or you could time your cycling to connect with one of the HF Holidays walking programs based at the same location:

https://www.hfholidays.co.uk/holidays-and-tours/3-night-cotswolds-guided-walking-holiday?format=pdf&vid=3177

Here is more information on Harrington House and the surrounding area, together with a link to holiday program options at this house

https://www.hfholidays.co.uk/country-houses/locations/bourton-on-the-water-cotswolds

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while September can often have better weather than August, at least the first half of September, by the time you get into October the days have shortened significantly and often you start to get storms. They may be early or late, or like this year, constant.

The Cotswolds ("o" not "a") is such a beautiful area it would be a shame to see it after the weather turns.

I hope that all of you have a really memorable (in a good way) trip...

This organisation promotes cycling in Britain:> https://www.sustrans.org.uk/national-cycle-network

The odds of better weather would be higher in June.

We used Cotswolds Walks for hiking but they have biking tours as well. We loved working with them.