Cotswold Way Traveller Reviews

Fantastic walk, very well organised by Mickledore. All the B&B's (+one hotel) were good to excellent. We liked to be able to walk from B&B to B&B, so much more rewarding than using shuttles some other travel agents use. Mickledore took care of our luggage too, absolutely no stress or hiccups. The information supplied (three months before the actual walk) was more than adequate.

Mickledore responded quickly to our questions and made the booking process easy and fun.

Walking the Cotswold way

Just simply great service, all the B&Bs and hotels were very nice and our bags were always waiting for us

We walked the Cotswold Way

Mickledore are a very professional operation, everything ran so smoothly that we had nothing to think about just walk

We thoroughly enjoyed our Cotswold Way walk. We are in our mid 70's so the 10 miles a day we averaged was just about perfect. The scenery along the way was great and the walk was hilly enough to give us plenty of exercise. The Cotswold Way was extremely well marked so we couldn't get lost.

The was our second walking vacation with Mickledore and both of them have been excellent. The luggage was always at our destination waiting for us when we arrived. Our packed lunches were excellent and were always ready for us in the morning. We encountered friendly hosts and clean rooms at every one of the B&Bs.

5 days trail in the Cotswolds

Very helpful and trustful

The Cotswold Walk goes through beautiful countryside , is demanding, but the daily distances can be covered. The accomodation was excellent , the villages really lovely and on top of it, the weather was superb.

The tour operator was reliable and competent

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.