Cotswold Way Walking Holiday Reviews

By Wee Jock.from Sydney, Australia. on 2011-10-07

Pros:  Well Organised,Saw the real country,Fun
Describe Yourself:  Walk addicted retiree,Avid Adventurer
Best Uses:  Holiday,Avoids the tourist crowds
Bottom Line:  Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about Cotswold Way Walking Holiday :

We expected to have pubs or such accessible for lunches or drinks, but the lower half of the Cotswold way bypasses or skirts towns in the main so we learnt the hard way to take at least 1 1/2 ltr of water each. Accommodation mainly excellent and baggage transfer trouble free. Way signage out of Middleyard (Kings Stanley) not ideal and very careful attention to guide book maps, which are very good, needed to avoid a wrong turn up onto the common which we took, adding some time and distance to the days walk.

By The Cambridge Twofrom Cambridge on 2011-09-17

Pros:  Well Organised,Beautiful scenery,Very friendly people,Very lucky with the weath,Great Accommodations,Fun
Cons:  No route signs Ebley Mill,One BB not very good
Describe Yourself:  Avid Adventurer,World Traveller
Best Uses:  Holiday
Bottom Line:  Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about Cotswold Way Walking Holiday :

Accommodation at King’s Stanley was disappointing, but warmth of welcome and quality of supper made up for it somewhat. Food at Malvern View, Cleeve Hill, was superb: they have a seriously good chef. Route near King’s Stanley is a mess: the guide book map is wrong, as way through Oil Mill has been closed off, and there are no alternative signs around the Stroud DC offices.

By sharonfrom saskatoon,saskatchewan,canada on 2011-09-22

Pros:  Fun,Once in a Lifetime Experience,Well Organised,Great Accommodations
Describe Yourself:  World Traveller,Avid Adventurer
Best Uses:  Trying Something New,Holiday
Bottom Line:  Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about Cotswold Way Walking Holiday :

just returned from the 10 day walking tour of the cotswold way.will use macadventures again and would recomend to anyone.the book supplied to us “trailblazer’s cotswold way’ became our bible for the ten days.being new at map reading it definitely kept us from getting lost several times.the national trail is well marked but there are a few tricky areas where the signs can be misread.it was mentioned more than once from the b&b owners that macadventures was a good company to deal with.because of macadventure one owner even gave us 2 bedrooms rather than moving in two twin beds into one room.the only criticism is macadventures has to give better directions to the accomodations.sometimes it was hard to understand the instructions.a walker we met alomg the way had very clear instructions with pictures and a map to the nights accomodation.this was the first time i have been to england,what a great way to see it for the first time. thanks

By FTfrom UK on 2011-09-02

Pros:  Well Organised,Fun,Great Accommodations
Describe Yourself:  Occasional Traveller
Bottom Line:  No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Comments about Cotswold Way Walking Holiday :

It was a lovely walk. The office was exceptionally nice and helpful. Having seen the price of the places we were staying at I wondered if it wasn’t rather expensive to have done it through a tour company rather than booking it ourself. Perhaps it is because we booked it at rather late notice that for a few nights it felt like we’d paid far too much for the tour.

Re: the comment below – I would recommend it to a friend who was very well off but not to others as I feel they could book it on their own with out too much trouble.

I would be interested in considering your overseas tours if you were to do long distance paths in Europe, as these would be harder to arrange oneself. However the tours you do all seem to be single linked walks which for a walker is a very different type of experience. I would recommend that you specialise in long distance paths overseas and develope some really good ones. There’s nothing like it.

Mac’s Adventure Response: Hi Flora,
I am sorry to hear that you did not feel your trip offered goof value. We will of course respond to your specific concerns personally. It is important to note that our service does include much more that just accommodation. Baggage transfer, guidebooks and information packs, financial protection, emergency support and the accommodation booking service.
I am glad to hear that you would consider another long distance holiday in Europe with us and appreciate that as someone based in the UK this would be more useful for you. Thank you again for choosing Macs Adventure Holidays . Best Regards. Neil Lapping

By Chuckfrom New Jersey on 2011-08-31

Pros:  Fun,Great Accommodations,Well Organised,Once in a Lifetime Experience
Best Uses:  Holiday,Relaxation
Bottom Line:  Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about Cotswold Way Walking Holiday :

Six Americans ranging in age from mid 50′s to early 60′s had a great experience. This was a very well organized trip with great accommodations and wonderful hosts, [...] The Malvern View Inn was particularly nice as was Valley Views. The pace of 7 days of hiking was comfortable for us, but if we were to do it again, we’d probably choose the 8 or 9 day hike so that we’d arrive at the B&B earlier and be able to enjoy the towns more.The fold up map was good, but the maps in the guide book were even better. Every morning I looked at them and read the notes along the trail “stately new home”, “lone oak”, “steps to road”, etc… These were helpful to me when I recognized them along the way just to make sure I was heading the right way. The Cotswold Way itself is very well marked. We only had a few times where we were confused. One improvement they could do in the marking is pointing to trails which go to towns the Cotswold Way skirts. Some of our party walked past both Cleeve Hill and Birdlip and had to backtrack a bit.One of the highlights of our trip occurred the second day while leaving Stanton. Just as we left town, a group of about 40 hunting dogs followed by 20 people on bicycles came charging down the road and flowed around us. The dogs were being taken for a run. An hour or so later as we were walking through a pasture, we saw the same group racing down a nearby road.The scenery was great and the walking was relaxing.We’ll be using Macs again.

Images shared by: Chuck

By Francisfrom Enschede Netherland on 2011-08-28

Pros:  Fun,Well Organised,No one good do better,Great Accommodations,Once in a Lifetime Experience
Describe Yourself:  Occasional Traveller
Best Uses:  Relaxation,Holiday
Bottom Line:  Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about Cotswold Way Walking Holiday :

We had a lovely time walking the Cotswoldway. We had really good accomodations and we met some nice people.We are Dutch people so we where not use to climb. It’s a walk up en down but we liked it.We started in Chipping Camden with rain en we ended the walk in Bath with rain. Between we had wonderful walking weather.Macs Adventure did a great job.

By Americans new to Englandfrom Colorado, USA on 2011-08-01

Pros:  Surprisingly Uncrowded,Great Accommodations,Once in a Lifetime Experience,Well Organised,Fun
Describe Yourself:  Experienced hiker,Occasional Traveller,Avid Photographer,World Traveller
Best Uses:  Navigating Gates Stiles,Trying Something New,Close-up Sheep Photos,Holiday
Bottom Line:  Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about Cotswold Way Walking Holiday :

My wife and I put our trust in Macs Adventure, and we will certainly use the company again when we plan our next walking/hiking trip. Everything went off without a hitch; we were able to focus all of our attention on enjoying ourselves because all of the arrangments had been taken care of for us. When we arrived at the B&Bs. people expected us, our luggage was waiting for us, and we were welcomed with tremendous hospitality. What a fantastic 10 days! What’s next: the lake District? Wales? Scotland? Italy? Whatever it is, we will be in touch with Macs!

By lads adventuringfrom South Africa on 2011-07-16

Pros:  Deeper level experience,Great Accommodations,Well Organised
Describe Yourself:  Occasional Traveller
Best Uses:  Relaxation,Holiday
Bottom Line:  Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about Cotswold Way Walking Holiday :

We toured the countryside but hiking took us to a deeper level wherein we met the locals and savoured all the countryside and architectural attractions.

By Michelefrom Wavre-Belgium on 2011-07-18

Pros:  Well Organised
Cons:  Rainy
Describe Yourself:  Occasional Traveller
Best Uses:  Holiday
Bottom Line:  Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about Cotswold Way Walking Holiday :

Great B&B ainswick (Tibbiwell), King Stanley(Old Chapel), Old Sodbury,Bath(The Henry)In Pennsylvania Old swan cottage is OK but the place is awfull along main road.In Wotton under Edge, (the swan hotel) [...] we had to wait 2 hours for our room, under the roof, bathroom shared with other walkers. The door cannot be closed.

Mac’s Adventure Response: Hi there,
Thanks for your feedback and Im glad you had a great walk. We will take note of your accommodation comments and get in touch to make sure this doenst happen again.
Many thanks

Images shared by: Michele

By Joel Castellanosfrom New Mexico, U.S.A. on 2011-07-20

Pros:  Fun,Well Organised,Great Accommodations
Cons:  Expensive
Describe Yourself:  Occasional Traveller
Best Uses:  Relaxation,Trying Something New,Holiday
Bottom Line:  Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about Cotswold Way Walking Holiday :

Coming from the U.S.A, I was very impressed with the layers upon layers of history both in the towns and in stops along the way. The map Macs sent us was well marked and we were able to find every branching path to the sites we wanted to visit.

I took the trip from the end of June through the beginning of July and was surprised by how chilly many of the days were.

I was also surprised by how few people we met along the way. Near some of the larger towns we often saw joggers and day hikers, but we only saw one or two parties of through hikers each day.

I recommend planning on lots of time for stops. The last leg of our trip was the longest: 17 miles to Bath. As that leg has less waypoints of interest and as we wanted to see many things in Bath, we walked without stops on that day and made it to Bath for a 1:30 PM lunch. However, even though we walk quickly, there was so much to see along the way on the other days that we usually arrived at the sleep house after 6 PM. This was fine as in late June/July, dark does not come to England until 10 PM.

I do not know if all accommodations along the way are so clean, historical, friendly and beautiful as those that Mac Adventures arranged for us, but I suspect they chose carefully.

My wife and I added an extra day hike to the start of the trip from Stratford upon the Avon to Chipping Campden. Even though this is not part of the Cotswolds, I think Mac should list it as an option (it would have been nice to have Mac carry our bags for this leg). Stratford upon the Avon is the birthplace of William Shakespeare, has many historical buildings with tours including Shakespeare’s birth home, and his wife’s birth home with fabulous, meandering informal gardens. There is also a building with two theaters: one large and one intimate and in the style of the Globe. The tickets are not cheap, but we are glad we went.

This was my first taste of England and it was wonderful.

By langaafrom denmark on 2011-07-04

Pros:  Well Organised,Great Accommodations,Hotels
Cons:  Exhausting,Very wel marked
Describe Yourself:  Experient walkers
Best Uses:  Trying Something New
Bottom Line:  Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about Cotswold Way Walking Holiday :

the Great western hotel were to far from the trail and not easy to find and we had to carry the luggage up many stairs, no lift and no help.