Walking Short Breaks

Tewkesbury and Severn Vale 

Go with the flow

Based in a town largely bypassed by the 20th and 19th centuries where the skyline is dominated by the Norman tower of the abbey church and the streets are an essay in the Tudor and Georgian styles. Walking along the narrow alleys that lead off these streets is a journey back into medieval times and, together with the old mills and the impressive stonework of the church, makes a good day out itself. It is also a fine base for a selection of riverside walks that visit a battlefield, a Saxon chapel, a village green (with cricket pitch) and a vast selection of inns.

Attractions : John Moore Countryside Collection, Town Museum, southern England’s oldest Baptist chapel, boat trips on the rivers.

 

Cornwall

Mystery and History

One of the best sections of the Coast Path follows the rugged cliffs, sheltered coves and beaches of the Lizard and is the basis of this break. With wonderful views across Mounts Bay, a glorious variety of wild flowers and seabirds and haunting stories of the sea, these walks are full of interest and spectacular scenery. They also take you inland through special marshland habitats and onto the ancient Goonhilly Downs while your base in Mullion has a beach nearby, ideal for a refreshing dip.

Attractions : Goonhilly Earth Station, Kynance Cove, Lizard village and Lighthouse, Predannack Downs

Bath

A Hot Spring in your step

Bath’s elegant terraces, parades, crescents and squares make this Britain's finest Georgian city, amongst the most beautiful in Europe, with the amazing remains of the Roman town of Aquae Sulis and the hot baths just below. Today it is a vibrant and cosmopolitan place with a wide range of cultural events and entertainment as well as thriving shops, but remains compact and intimate with everything within walking distance. The surrounding green hills are never far from sight and offer some good walking with fine views across the city and wealth of interest from pre-history to the industrial revolution.

Attractions : Costume and Building Museums, Abbey, boat trips on the R. Avon, 18th century aqueducts and pumping Station, Solsbury Hill, Beckford Tower

Cotswolds

Wanders of the Wolds

Bourton is the best known and most popular destination in the Cotswolds and, in the mornings and evenings when the crowds have gone, a pleasant and picturesque village. These walks will quickly take you out into peaceful, unspoilt countryside. A rich, rolling patchwork of pasture, crops, woods and meadows full of rare wildlife, winding river valleys with ‘lost’ medieval villages, handsome farms and manor houses and, of course, other delightful villages of honey coloured stone cottages away from the crowds.

Attractions : Bourton Model Village, Birdland, Dragonfly Maze Cotswold Pottery, Motor and Toy Museum, Perfumery, the Slaughters, Folly Farm Domestic Fowl, Old Mill Museum.

Cotswolds 

The Wonderful Way

This elegant spa town is a lively and pleasant base from which to explore some of the best of the Cotswold Way. Hilltop grassland, shady woods and the dramatic slopes of the escarpment include many special protected habitats that shelter a variety of rare flora and fauna as well as the relics of the areas historic inhabitants from prehistory to the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. From the top of the escarpment wide views stretch across the Severn Vale to the Malvern Hills, the Royal Forest of Dean and, beyond that, into the Welsh mountains. Note : Some walks may start with a bus journey.

Attractions : Belas Knap long barrow, Crickley Hill Fort, Sudeley Castle, Cleeve Hill, Leckhampton Hill, Cranham Woods

Lake District

This Boot is made for Walking

The Lake District has long been a Mecca for serious hikers but this break has more leisurely walks around its western edge that still allow you to enjoy the best of the spectacular landscape. From the craggy flanks of Scafell Pike, Harter Fell and Whin Rigg down through woods to green pastures they encompass the full range of Lakeland scenery from rugged to rural without climbing all the way up and down it and will also keep you clear of the crowded honey pots. A trip to the coast at Ravenglass by steam railway adds even more variety.

Attractions : Muncaster Castle and Owl Centre, Muncaster Mill, Hardknott Pass and Roman Fort