Posted by Andy Cohn on November 24, 2009 at 5:03pm
After exploring Tuscany from inn to inn in 2008, this past summer my wife and I hiked the length of the Cotswold Way, a 104 mile national trail across (naturally) the Cotswolds in the southwestern part of England. The trail starts in Chipping Camden and ends up in Bath (or vice versa). This is Jane Austen country, as picturesque a landscape as exists in Great Britain. Most of the hike follows an escarpment, so the views are often panoramic. Although one never ascends very high, the trail itself is constantly up and down, with a 10,000 or 13,000 foot elevation gain (depending on which web site you trust). We did the length of the trail in 7 1/2 days, but if I had known how much climbing was involved I might have stretched the trip out another day or two. The trail passes through many towns and hamlets that seem like they haven't changed at all in 200 years. Figuring that accomodations might be scarce, I reserved b&b's well in advance. Unlike Italy, where you have to really dig for your information, everything you could possibly want to know about this hike, including accomdations, can be found on the official web site (and its links), which is: http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/Cotswold/index.asp
We enjoyed the walking tremendously, and each town we stayed in always featured at least one pub, with good pub food and lots and lots of good beer. My wife's photos (of the last 5 days only) are at http://web.mac.com/seekate/iWeb/The%20Cotswold%20Way%202009/Cotswold%20%20Way%201.html
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