Walking the Coltswold Way with My Sis

It's done! The big plan with my sister, Vicki, that I was so afraid I'd jinx by even talking about is now in our rear view. And what a trip it was! Near perfection. I'm so grateful for all the work Vicki put in pre-booking the buses and trains to get us from here to there; I commented several times that we'd surely be dead if we attempted to drive ourselves anywhere. (Have you seen the roundabouts in the UK?!)

But of course "on foot" travel was what we were there for. Vicki came up with this idea when she wanted to go on a hiking adventure with me...without all that backpacking nonsense. The British call this a Walking Holiday and you can book them through several different travel companies. 

We used Mickledore, which I was pleased with despite one encounter I'll expound on in my usual Trail Log below. They were more affordable than I expected, though if you have your mind set on luxury accommodations, this is not the holiday for you. 

For me, a quaint old B & B with a bed and shower is a huge step up from a sleeping bag and tent - even if the place does have sloping floors, crazy steep/skinny stairs, and low hanging beams you are continually bonking your head on. That all just adds to the rustic charm, right? ;)

Maybe it's a bit mushy or sappy to conclude by saying the best part about this whole escapade was getting to experience it together - but it's true! Having a sister that loves you and that you love back is one of the biggest blessings in life, and one that should never be taken for granted. Happy "family bonding" trails! 

Trail Log: (Or a video mash up here if you don't feel like reading.) 

Day One: Travel day, because getting across the pond is no easy task. We stayed at "Premier Inn Heathrow Airport Terminal 4" -- and though it took us a good 40 minutes of walking and train riding, you do get there without ever officially leaving the airport - which is the 5th largest in the world! 

Day Two: A pre-booked bus (that was completely full, so thank you Vicki) took us to Warwick where we planned on visiting the tomb of our distant relative, Warwick's 13th Earl, Richard Beauchamp. After our dad died, we found a book in his belongings that traced our lineage back here; which is the main reason we chose the Coltswold area. (We also toured The Lord Leycester, which I would highly recommend.)

One of the most elaborate tombs you'll find anywhere

The Lord Leycester felt like a movie set

Day Three: Castle day! Because of above stated ancestry, we claimed Warwick Castle as our own...though as hard as I tried to make jokes about getting a family discount, nobody was amused. It was totally worth the entrance fee though - it's like a Castle Disneyland! Maybe a little over the top touristy; but we ate it up - along with all the treats from our high tea splurge. 

Sammie thought booking the tea was worth the extra pounds

Day Four: More public transport to Chipping Campden where we would stay two nights. Ideally you would walk to each night's accommodations, but often this is not possible as many of the towns only have a handful of rooms to offer. Therefore it is common for the travel company to book two nights and then arrange transport back and forth from the trail.

I loved all the old towns, but I think Chipping Campden was my favorite

Day Five: (First hiking day) 10 miles from Chipping Campden to Stanton. A wonderful way to start off our walk - so beautiful. We walked the grounds around Broadway Tower, but didn't do the paid tour. 

I already ordered this as a new canvas for my work kitchen

Day Six: 7 miles from Stanton to the White Hart Inn in Winchcombe. Our shortest day, but whenever you have a mindset of "this will be easy" it always turns out harder than you expected. Stopped mid-day for our first ever Scotch Egg...can't say we were big fans. 

British food is not our fav

Huh?!? Thankfully we never saw him

Day Seven: 11 miles from Winchcombe to Dowdeswell. Our biggest mile day, though the large section of golf course walking was a good distraction. Not like any golf course you'd find in America, that's for sure! (The video explains.) We had to take a cab into Cheltenham for our night's stay, which was a crazy ride and more proof of why trying to drive ourselves would have probably proved deadly. 

Winchcombe...I couldn't get enough of the cute towns!

Day Eight: The best part about using a travel company is they transport all your luggage from place to place for you. Except we spaced and brought our luggage out to the curb while we waited for our cab...can you imagine if it hadn't clicked before he got there and we actually put it all in the car? Thankfully we didn't have to hike these 10 miles with our suitcases in tow, as this was a very hilly day. Met some really nice people on trail, and they even forgave me for convincing them to take a "cheat" to avoid some elevation...which actually resulted in even worse elevation.

Hard to appreciate steepness in a pic; but the railing is so you don't fall to your death ;)

You should follow the signs and not the Alltrails App...well, except for the last mile; which either one will guide you into Birdlip on a very dangerous road. We avoided this by going completely off trail and climbing a dangerous hill instead, ha ha. All around a pick your poison kind of day. 

After the "thrill hills" we were glad to have a real hotel this night...another crazy staircase would have done us in! ;) 

Day Nine: This was stated online as being a 9 mile day, but I'm pretty sure we didn't even hit 7.5. We got very fixated on finding our midday pint, and ended up going on a bit of a goose chase to get to the golf club (yes we were hiking through yet another course) only to find afterward that we would have basically ran into it if we would have just stayed on trail.

"A pint a day keeps the doctor away" was my motto for this trip

Eventually ending our walk in the quaintest town of Painswick at the adorable Saint Ann's B & B really seemed so perfect...until the proprietor made a rude comment about "right leaning" folks while checking us in. This made my sister feel unwelcome and a bit suspicious - so she checked his reviews and found two recent ones from Jewish people who had been refused lodging. We did bring this to the attention of Mickledore, who took it seriously and if proven true said they would stop using this establishment. I know we are living in extremely decisive times, and each side feels strongly they are standing on the higher ground. I personally am not following politics closely because I just can't - but even if I'm more "left leaning," I'm sure I could never grasp how discrimination like this is justified.  

I took a "beautiful church" pic in every single town - very hard to choose just one

Day Ten: The Cotswold Way ends in another 56 miles at the City of Bath, which we really wanted to see but were out of walking time - so we took the train. We spent our first day there pampering ourselves in it's famous ancient waters at the Thermae Bath Spa - an absolute must do if you are going there. (No cameras allowed inside...bellow is the Roman Baths, which nobody is going in obviously.)

Day Eleven: We had just enough time to tour the Roman Baths then stop for one last tea before catching our bus back to Heathrow where we would fly out the next day. I could write a whole blog entry on my nightmare travel day home of 34 hours - but instead I'll just be leaving some nasty reviews wherever I can about Icelandair.  

Our last tea, right on the famous Pulteney Bridge

One of only four bridges in the world to have shops across it's full span on both sides.