Walking in the Cotswolds: 30 Classic Hill and Valley Routes

This guide offers 30 walks in the idyllic Cotswolds, including 14 circular routes on the Cotswold Way National Trail. Many are along the Edge (the most prominent part of England's largest continuous geological feature) and take in splendid sights, from the wildflower-dotted Cleeve Common grasslands to the dramatic Uley Bury hill fort. The gentle hills and honey-hued villages give the Cotswolds a quintessential Olde England feel, while the stout hills and secret valleys described in this guide give plenty of satisfying remoteness and authentic wilderness. The Cotswolds hill chain is sometimes dismissed by veteran walkers, but there are testing gradients here, and the views from the tops are wide-ranging. If you want to visit spectacular locations without too much strenuousness, it's easily done with this guide. If you want a thigh-burning hilly workout, that's easily done too. Set the clichés to one side. This is hill country.