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.