My friend and I are traveling to London the last two weeks of June 2018 and wanted to do a walking tour of the Cotswolds for 4 days, walking inn to inn. Does anyone have reviews or information on the company Cotswold Journey? Or is there something better?
Thanks!
Rick Steves has some suggestions, check out his travel guide.
Also, I found a great guidebook called Back Roads of Britain that you might check out.
We will be walking on the Cotswold Way in late May 2018. However, we are doing it on our own and not through a tour company. We've got a guide book called Cotswold Way by Trailblazer Publications that gives detailed descriptions and really great maps of the trail and the towns along the way. So many of the tours we found did too many miles in a day; we wanted to kept it shorter as we are in our early 70s. So we picked a couple of the "best" (we hope), quintessential towns where we only have to walk 5-6 miles a day and will hop in between either by bus or train.
Note that you can find private companies to transport your luggage from lodging to lodging, thus only carrying your day pack for the walking.
I made most of our lodging reservations in November. A lot of the small towns have limited accommodations. The B&Bs are small, with only two or three rooms, so get filled up fast.
Not familiar with the company Cotswold Holiday, but the name implies their range is limited to the Cotswolds, which could be a good thing if they are really specialized and provide "insider" tips and information. OTOH it could mean they are relatively inexperienced with walking trips.
Another company you might want to check out is Footpath Holidays http://www.footpath-holidays.com/ They offer a wide selection of guided, self-guided, and bespoke walking trips. I have not done a vacation with them, but I'd like to one day.
I have used Cotswold Walks, it is a reliable company. The maps are up to date and detailed. The walk I took was "The Cotswold Line", which takes advantage of the train. It can start in Cheltenham Spa and end in Moreton in Marsh. I began in Winchcombe, which worked better for my timing. Here is a link for the site. They have a variety of guided and self guided walks to choose from.
We walked the Cotswold Way, I planned it all and made all the reservations myself. If you purchase one or two books about the Cotswold Way, decide which aread you would want to walk and book your room, by doing this you would save hundreds of dollars. We used The Volunteer Inn to transfer our luggage from B&B to B&B, they were great!!!!
morrowbabette mentioned a good book in their post above. Another good book is Cotswold Way by Tricia & Bob Hayne.
We stayed at the Volunteer Inn at Chipping Campden and it was very nice. Also, great price at 80 GBP per night. They have a super Indian restaurant there as well as a great pub.
Check out Cotswold Walks (http://www.cotswoldwalks.com). This company specializes in the Cotswolds, is very easy to deal with and may customize a tour for you. Four years ago we did a four-day walk to/from Bath with them and it was the highlight of our trip. They make the inn reservations, take one bag for you from inn to inn each day, and we rented walking sticks from them. Each day was like a treasure hunt following the directions to your next stop. Walking the English right-of-way should be on everyone's bucket list.
Cotswold Walks also worked well for us. We could have done all the organization but when it needed to be done we just didn't have the time. It was just easier to have someone else do it for us.