Winchcombe, Gloucestershire – Cotswold Way Town in the Isbourne Valley

Limestone streets, wooded slopes, and valley paths beneath the Cotswold escarpment

Winchcombe sits in the Isbourne Valley in north Gloucestershire within the Cotswolds National Landscape, directly on the Cotswold Way. The trail passes through the centre of the town before climbing onto surrounding hills, linking Winchcombe with Stanton and Broadway to the north and Cleeve Hill and Cheltenham to the south.

The settlement lies on lower ground between rounded limestone hills and open farmland. Walking routes move out of town along quiet lanes, riverside paths, and field tracks before rising onto grassland and escarpment slopes. Ground conditions are generally firm, with a mix of pavements, pasture, and well-worn hillside paths, with longer climbs onto higher ground.

Winchcombe provides shops, cafés, pubs, and places to stay, making it a practical stop along this section of the route. Local bus services connect the town with Cheltenham and nearby villages, allowing shorter or linear walks along the escarpment.

From the centre, the Cotswold Way heads north toward Stanton and Broadway or south past Sudeley Castle before climbing steadily onto Cleeve Hill, the highest point on the Cotswolds, and continuing toward Cheltenham.