Overview
We’ve combined the idyllic villages of the Cotswolds and the wild seascapes of Wales’ spectacular Pembrokeshire Coast Path for this delightful adventure. Following the most scenic sections of the 102-mile-long Cotswold Way, we’ll hike between honey-colored 17th century wool villages tucked among ancient forests and emerald-green meadows. After exploring Jane Austen’s beloved city of Bath, we hike right into Wales to reach romantic Tintern Abbey, then across the rolling green landscapes of the Brecon Beacons and cliffside paths of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Overnights are in historic manor houses, a Georgian townhouse, and traditional inns, and our culinary delights range from locally sourced Cotswold lamb to Welsh mussels straight from the sea.
Itinerary at a Glance
Days 1-2
Broadway / Cotswold Way
Meeting in the beautiful Cotswold village of Broadway, we begin hiking on the Cotswold Way through Chipping Campden, with its grass-fringed main street lined with golden limestone buildings dating to the 16th century, and to the archaeological site of Belas Knap, a Neolithic chambered tomb that was first excavated in 1863. Our hotel is a historic coaching inn with a delightful restaurant featuring seasonal local cuisine.
Days 3-4
Wotton-under-Edge / Painswick
On the trails of the Cotswold Way, we hike through magical English forests to a farm where rare Old Gloucester breeds of cows are raised. We’ll visit a prize-winning cheesemaker here, sample his Double Gloucester cheese, then hike to the wool village of Wotton-under-Edge, the edge referring to the steep escarpment under which the town nestles. Our hotel is in the hilltop village of Painswick, a center of the wool trade since the Middle Ages.
Day 5
Weston / Bath
The village of Weston, so ancient that it is recorded in a 10th century land survey, is the goal of our morning hike, after which we head to the World Heritage city of Bath. With its monumental Georgian architecture and original Roman baths, it’s easy to see why this city inspired Jane Austen.
Days 6-7
Wye Valley, Wales / Tintern Abbey
A hike across the Anglo-Welsh border brings us to the tranquil Wye Valley and then to magnificent Tintern Abbey, where a monk-historian leads us through the haunted halls. In Brecon Beacons, we hike through heather-cloaked hills then visit the book-lover’s mecca of Hay-on-Wye.
Days 8-11
Laugharne / Pembrokeshire Coast Path / Carreg Cennen
At Laugharne, we visit the home of the poet Dylan Thomas with a historian, and from the cathedral town of St. David’s, spiritual center of Wales, hike the dramatic Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, keeping watch for seals basking on the rocks below. Our final hike circles Carreg Cennen, one of Wales’ most spectacularly located castles, and our Farewell Dinner is a banquet in the majestic Cardiff Castle itself. Depart from Cardiff on Day 11.
Hiking the Cotswold Way and Wales
