Cotswold Way Traveller Reviews

Lovely walk. Distances (16 - 18km/day) were about right for us (in our 60s). Enjoyed the variety of scenery and pubs a.ong the way.

This was our second walk with Mickledore and they did a great job again. Luggage transport was efficient, maps, etc. were clear. B&Bs were varied and ranged from decent to excellent.

Our holiday was perfect from beginning to end, and everything in between. The ordering, all the accomodations, the walk in it self, all the information.

Mickledore has been very professional and prompt in all matters.

This is a brief summary of the adventures of Tom and Ed and their ten-day walk on the Cotswold Way National Trail. First and foremost, we successfully completed the entire 103-mile trail in ten consecutive days from Tuesday, May 8th and finishing by walking into Bath on the afternoon of Thursday, May 17th. When I say, we walked into Bath I really mean we limped into Bath. Ed suffered from nerve issues in his toes and an injured knee. While I suffered from multiple blisters on my left foot. In addition, while the official distance of the Cotswold Way is 103 miles, Ed and I managed to walk it in just over 130 miles. Some of the extra miles were due to our bed and breakfasts being off the official Cotswold Way trail. However, most of the extra miles were due to my lack of navigational skills. We experienced highs and lows on our ten-day walk. Some of the highs were the beautiful scenery. We walked through ancient Beech Wood forests, through fields of bright yellow canola plants, and acres of wild garlic plants, blue bells & cowslip. I can still smell the garlic. We walked through valleys and pastures filled with wild flowers in full bloom. The colors were like a rainbow. We watched and talked with men sheering sheep, a stonemason building a traditional dry stonewall, and the owner of an estate near Ullenwood who shared some local history of the involvement of the area in the World War II D-Day invasion. We walked through battlefields, golf courses, and past historic monuments. We visited Abbeys, churches, and graveyards. Ed and I marveled at the ancient burial mounds like Belas Knap. We walked through miles and miles of sheep and cow pastures. Which means we walked through miles and miles of sheep and cow manure mazes. Ed managed to avoid stepping in the gifts left by the sheep and cows. I was not as lucky. On the tenth and final day of our walk, I stepped into a very deep and wet cow “pie”. While Ed failed to warn me about my pending mishap, he did support me after the fact by laughing uncontrollably for hours after my accident. We walked past outstanding examples of Cotswold sandstone architecture in the form of quaint stone farmhouses with thatched and stone roofs, beautiful Abbeys, and small town buildings. We stayed in Bed and Breakfasts in rural villages with marvelous hosts. We were served full “English” breakfasts and provided daily packed lunches for our walks. One of the greatest highs was meeting and getting to know other walkers. We met and came to know Nick and Lesel and Dr. Richard and Sally both couples from England, and Dr. Richard and Melinda from the USA. They out walked us nine of the ten days (passed us each day finishing early). However, Ed and I beat them to Bath on the tenth day entering the city like conquering heroes. While our highs greatly outnumbered our lows, we still had a few of the later. During our journey, Ed managed to lose his eyeglasses, his passport, his wallet, and his boots. While we never found his eyeglasses, Ed did find his passport and wallet in different pockets of his pants other than the pockets where he had originally placed them. After almost destroying his bedroom looking for his boots he was informed that he had left them, like all the B&B guests, in the foyer of the B&B. Another low was my left foot. Early on the walk, I developed some horrible blisters on my left foot. With the help of the doctors, we met on the trail and with Ed’s engineering skills; I managed to walk most of the trail with a bandaged left foot in moderate pain. Ed came up with the plan to cut holes in my shoe to relieve the pressure on the multitude of blisters on my left foot. The plan was much like drilling a hole in someone’s skull to relieve the pressure on the brain. It worked. However, this did precipitate the development of a reputation on the trail as the Alabama boys who had cut holes in their shoes. The walk on the Cotswold Way National Trail was one of the greatest experiences of my 66-year-old life. Ed and I completed a journey that will probably never be topped, at least in my life.

Mickledore handled all of our in-country travel arrangements. They did an outstanding job arranging our accommodations, daily packed lunches, and the transporting of our luggage from B&B to B&B.

We just returned from a Cotswold Way Walk organized by Mickledore Travel as a self tour. We had an excellent time hiking the entire 103 miles of trail from Chipping Campden to Bath. We chose the 9 day tour which averaged 10-15 miles a day. Mickeldore booked us into B&B's and Inns along the trail. The accommodations were first-rate and we had no problems at all with any of the accommodation, or the transfer of our luggage. Most accommodations were right off the trail, or only a short distance away. Every day was a fantastic journey, ending with luggage in the room, a hot shower, and a comfy bed.

This self guided walk, organized by Mickeldore Travel was excellent. The information we received such as maps, trail guides, services, and accommodations were well organized and extremely useful. They left nothing to chance. No complaints at all regarding any of the B&B's or inns. We enjoyed each one and its uniqueness to the community. I would definitely book another tour with Mickeldore. Thank you, Mickeldore for organizing a great walk (thanks for the great weather you provided also!). We could not have planned a more complete walking vacation without your wonderful service.

In June of 2017, four of us from the US walked the southern part of the Cotswold Way from Painswick to Bath using Micheldore Travel. We found them extremely easy to work with. They have an excellent website which give a good overview of each of the walks they service and a straighforward assessment of the difficulty of the hiking. The written materials they provide were also excellent and very helpful from the maps, guide to walking the Cotswolds as well as a complete list of restaurants and other establishments you might need. We found the accommodations generally quite acceptable and where they needed to make modifications due to the lack of ability, we felt that they "upgraded" our experience. We had difficulty with one inn keeper and Micheldore Travel handled the situation beautifully for us. My only suggestion is that you not give them the names of participants unless you are absolutely sure they are going. We had one person to drop out of our initial group early on and we would have had to forego that deposit if we hadn't found a replacement.

See above

For the fifth time we travelled with mickledore: Always perfect accomodations, beautiful paths and excellent organisation

Excellent

Great trip, good accomodations, excellent information.

Mickledore is very good. Several of the hosts in the B&Bs commented on the quality of service.

We had an amazing walking holiday in the Cotswolds, well organised and researched by Mickledore. A pack was sent to us, after booking, giving us necessary and useful information including advice, telephone numbers, restaurants etc. The accommodation was varied and of a good standard. The welcomes we experienced were always warm and the hosts accommodating. The actual walk was a manageable 10 miles a day, on average, which gave us time to explore places of interest on the way. The Cotswolds is quintessentially English, with pretty villages and rolling, green hills. We went at the beginning of May so it was fairly quiet and the countryside was coming into bloom. I would highly recommend this holiday.

I have used Mickledore twice now and been extremely happy with their organisation and preparation. Although the information packs that they send are comprehensive, they are quick to respond to any further questions and requests. We took the advice offered and made restaurant reservations in advance where suggested. The accommodation we experienced was of a high standard and varied and we looked forward to our overnight stays. Our hosts were warm and welcoming and understood the requirements of walkers. The walks themselves were clearly and accurately described and easy to follow. I feel that the holidays have been good value for money and I would have no hesitation in choosing Mickledore to organise my next walking holiday.

The path is easy to follow, winds its way through charming small towns and has its share of small hills to keep your blood pumping. April turned out to be a beautiful time to go as we had wonderful weather.

The choice of lodgings every night was excellent. Our luggage was always delivered on time. Our pre-trip questions were always answered promptly. Great customer service. I'd recommend Mickeldore to anyone.

Wonderful walk filled with spectacular views,glorious bluebells, wild garlic,and gamboling lambs. Accommodations were very comfortable in very picturesque villages.

Very responsive to all questions. Helpful with travel plans.