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General
Information
Duration
of tour: 8 days (7 nights)
Season:
April to October. Starting
point: Stratford-upon-Avon End of tour: Winchcombe
Most
convenient major city and international airport: London (Heathrow or
Gatwick).
Breakfast:
in the UK will generally consist of sausage, bacon, eggs etc, cereals
and fruit will also be available. It is important for you to tell us if
you have any dietary requirements when you book your holiday so that we
can inform everyone that you are staying with.
Baths:
it is not normal for your room to have a bath, the main reason being
that it takes up a lot of space, some hotels/guesthouses may have a
separate room in the house where a bath is available to guests, but in
the main it is showers.
Single
Supplements:
are payable on most of our tours. 1) The single supplement
guarantees the privacy of your own room, however, rooms can at times be
small and in some places may not enjoy the same facilities as
double/twin rooms. 2) You are not just paying a supplement on the
room but the luggage transfer costs you are paying in full. The cost of
moving 1 bag or 2 bags etc remains the same. On some of our trips it is
possible to reduce the cost of the single supplement if you happen to be
a 3rd person travelling, or have chosen a date when other
clients are booked.
Luggage:
When staying in hotels, sometimes your luggage will have been taken
to you room awaiting your arrival. However don’t be surprised if your
luggage is waiting for you to take it up to your room.
Grade
We
grade this walk as Easy in relation to our other UK tours, the route is
hilly, but not mountainous, the weather is rarely too bad for walking,
and there are generally quite a number of villages enroute. Days of up
to 13 miles are not too long for most reasonably fit people. Trails are
footpaths (generally waymarked) and parts of the Cotswolds Way
(generally well waymarked). However an ability to use maps is important
to trace the route on the ground as it crosses fields and woodlands (a
compass is also useful to have as well). One feature of the tour are
plenty of stiles (little ladders over fences).
Getting to the Start
Outward
journey from London to starting point:
By train from London Paddington to Stratford.
Taxi to hotel.
Inward
journey to London at end of tour:
Bus/taxi from Winchcombe to rail station at Cheltenham to London.
National
Rail website is www.nationalrail.co.uk
if you want to look at the journey involved.
Your Accommodation
q
Night 1: Your
accommodation tonight in Stratford upon Avon is a very welcoming
guesthouse which is located close to the town center and train station.
q
Night 2: Your accommodation tonight is conveniently
situated in the village of Mickleton. This elegant house, built in the
Georgian period benefits from large airy rooms that are all ensuite.
q
Night 3: Our accommodation this evening offers a
full range of facilities, including a TV, a telephone and full en suite
bathroom in every room. The
building dates back to 1575, and is built in a traditional style from
Cotswold stone and timber.
q
Night 4: A small B&B which provides us
with comfortable en suite facilities tonight.
All rooms are equipped with a TV, and tea & coffee making
facilities. The B&B is very
quiet, being situated on the edge of the village away from the main
roads.
q
Night 5: Your hotel tonight is family run and who
take great pride in providing all guests with a warm welcome on arrival
and every care is then taken to assure a comfortable and pleasant stay.
q
Night 6: Our accommodation for tonight is situated
in a small and isolated typical Cotswold village that has allowed time
to pass it by. Our accommodation, formerly an inn, is now an attractive
guesthouse in a picture postcard setting, offers every comfort and a
particularly welcoming atmosphere.
q
Night 7: We use a variety of guesthouses in the
busy village of Winchcombe.
PLEASE
NOTE: It is generally normal practice when staying in hotels that you
check-in on or after 2pm and checkout by 10am the following morning.
Guesthouses/bed & breakfast establishments are normally check-in on
or after 4pm and checkout by 10am.
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Outline
Itinerary
q
Day 1 Stratford: Travel to start point (the birth
place of a certain William Shakespeare). Stratford-upon-Avon is
accessible by direct train from London Paddington via Reading and
Oxford.
q
Day 2 Mickleton: Stratford to Mickleton. We suggest you stop off at Hidcote gardens en-route
- not open every day but highly recommended (12 miles 5 1/2
hours)
q
Day 3 Broadway: Mickleton
to Broadway via Chipping Campden Fish Hill and Broadway Tower. Lots of
antique shops in the market town of Broadway. (9 miles 4 hours)
q
Day 4 Blockley: Broadway to Blockley via Buckland,
Laverton, Stanton and Snowshill (12 miles 6 hours)
q
Day 5 Bourton: Blockley to Bourton on the Water via
Batsford, Stow on the Wold and Lower Slaughter (13 1/2 miles 7 hours). Bourton is well known for its footbridges over the river
Evenlode and for the scale model of the village.
q
Day 6 Guiting Power: Bourton to Guiting Power. A
tiny gem of a place tucked in the hills (9 miles 4 hours)
q
Day 7 Winchcombe: Guiting to Winchcombe via Hailes
Abbey and Sudeley Castle (12 1/2 miles 6 hours)
q
Day 8: End of tour
What’s Included
Bed
and breakfast with private (mostly en-suite) facilities. Luggage
transfers from Inn to Inn. Full
route notes and map package.
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