Limestone hills linking Somerset and Warwickshire
2,038 sq km/790 sq miles
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Southern England | Southwest England | West Midlands
This range of attractive limestone hills, Britain’s largest AONB and one of its most popular walking areas, extends northeast from Bath through Gloucestershire, just crossing the boundary into Worcestershire and Warwickshire near the Vale of Evesham, a distance of 126km/78 miles from south to north.
The West Midlands section of the AONB includes the viewpoint at Bredon Hill south of Pershore with its AE Houseman connections (no open access but many footpaths); Broadway Hill southeast of Evesham with its viewpoint, an open access area owned by the National Trust and a privately-owned park; the hills around Long Compton; and National Trust land at Farnborough Hall and Upton House.
Rail services connect London with Swindon, Bath, Bristol and south Wales; Swindon with Stroud, Gloucester; Cheltenham and Worcester; Bristol and Yate with Gloucester; London and Oxford with Moreton-in-Marsh, Worcester, Hereford and Birmingham along the Cotswold Line; and Didcot and Oxford with Banbury, Stratford upon Avon and Birmingham. Birmingham has services to most other parts of Britain. A series of linked circular walks connects all the stations on the Cotswold Line between Hereford and Oxford under the heading From the Wye to the Thames: see the Wye Valley Walk page.
Cotswold Line buses connect with Thames Trains services between Oxford and Worcester, with combined tickets available on the bus or at stations. A network of buses links centres at Bristol, Bath, Swindon, Oxford, Cirencester, Stroud, Gloucester, Cheltham, Northleach, Chipping Norton, Moreton-in-Marsh, Chipping Campden, Evesham and Stratford with many parts of the AONB.
The Cotswold Lion bus runs on summer Saturdays and Sundays from Cheltenham and Gloucester to Cirencester and then on a varying circular route linking Barnsley, Bibury, Aldsworth, Burford, Sherborne, Northleach and Chedworth Roman Villa. Single and all day tickets are available.
Booklets with network maps and walks suggestions, Cotswold Lion information and three separate timetable booklets covering North, South and Central Cotswolds, are available from the AONB partnership and can be downloaded from their website (below). [03/04]
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An extensive list is available on the website below.
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