Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire – Start of the Cotswold Way in the Cotswolds

Limestone streets, rolling hills, and escarpment views on the edge of the Cotswolds

Chipping Campden sits in north Gloucestershire within the Cotswolds National Landscape and marks the northern start of the Cotswold Way. The trail begins in the centre of the town near the Market Hall before climbing south onto the surrounding hills, linking Campden with Broadway Tower, Stanton, and the Cotswold escarpment.

The settlement is built from honey-coloured limestone and stretches along a broad high street at the foot of open farmland and rising slopes. Walking routes leave town along quiet lanes and field paths before ascending steadily onto grassland and ridge-top tracks. Ground conditions are generally firm, with a mix of pavements, pasture, and well-worn hillside paths.

Chipping Campden provides shops, cafés, pubs, and a range of places to stay, making it a practical place to begin or end longer routes. Local bus services connect the town with nearby villages and Stratford-upon-Avon, supporting linear walks along the escarpment.

From the centre, the Cotswold Way climbs south toward Dover’s Hill and Broadway Tower before continuing along the ridge toward Stanton and Winchcombe. Shorter circular walks also explore the surrounding valleys, farmland, and woodland edges.