The Cotswolds is quintessentially English, with its rich cultural history, medieval 'wool' churches and charming domestic architecture of stone, slate and thatch. The book offers three options for walking in the heart of this wonderful area: a 94-mile (151-km) grand tour starting from Cheltenham, and two shorter circuits. These options cater for walkers who want to spend eight, six or four days. There are good rail links from London, Oxford and Birmingham and lots of welcoming pubs and B&Bs. This guidebook contains all you need to plan and enjoy your trip: detailed route description, plus summaries with distance, terrain and food/drink stops 15 pages of large-scale mapping at 1:50,000 planning information for transport and accommodation detail about Cotswold stone, sheep and wildlife the culture of the Cotswold region lavishly illustrated, with over 90 colour photographs rucksack-friendly format, printed on rainproof paper. The grand tour goes clockwise from Cheltenham, passing through the finest of the northern Cotswold villages of Winchcombe, Broadway, Chipping Campden, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold and Bourton-on-the-Water. From Bourton, the grand tour continues through Northleach, Cirencester, Painswick to end at Cheltenham. However the Cheltenham circuit returns direct from Bourton via Guiting Power for a 58-mile (94-km) circuit, and the Winchcombe circuit is shorter still at 45 miles (72 km).