Private day trip from Bath
The Cotswold Edge
The escarpment, the valleys behind it, and the views most visitors never find.
£585 for one guest · £615 for two · lunch included
- Duration
- 8 hours
- Party size
- 1 to 4 guests
- Pickup
- Bath hotel or station
- Lunch
- Included
- From
- £585
The western edge of the Cotswolds drops several hundred feet to the Severn Vale in one go. Along the top there are Iron Age hill forts and views across to Wales; in the valleys behind it there are mill towns, manor houses and lanes that see almost no visitors.
This is the day Frazer knows best, because most of it is within a few miles of where he lives. It trades famous names for landscape and quiet, and it is the route to choose if you want to walk a little.
Lunch is a set meal at a country pub on the route.
What you are paying for
What your £585 includes
The car and guide are charged once for your party. Only lunch scales with numbers, at £30 a guest.
A private car, for your party only
A five-seat car with air conditioning, carrying no more than 4 guests. There are no shared seats and no strangers, so the day can change shape if you want it to.
Pickup and return in Bath
We collect you from the front of your hotel, or from Bath Spa station, and bring you back to the same place. No parking, no single-track lanes, no return timetable to watch.
Frazer, for the whole day
One person drives, hosts and answers the questions, and he has lived here for more than 25 years. There is no rota of drivers and no script.
A set lunch at a country pub
Lunch is booked ahead and included in your total at £30 a guest, at a pub in the valleys below the escarpment.
The viewpoints, and time to walk them
Coaley Peak and Uley Bury are the reason this route exists, and the itinerary leaves enough time to walk the ridge rather than photograph it from the car park.
One price, settled before you travel
The car and guide are charged once for the party and lunch is charged per guest. Nothing else is owed on the day unless you order it yourself at the bar.
Your day, hour by hour
Where we go, and when
Times are how the day normally runs. Frazer adjusts them as it goes if somewhere is worth longer, or if the weather makes a different order better.
9.00am
We collect you in Bath
From your hotel or from Bath Spa station, confirmed with you the day before.
The Royal Crescent, Bath, where we collect from hotels across the city 55 minutes driving
North along the scarp
The longest single drive of the day, and the one that sets it up: north through Bristol’s edge and up onto the Cotswold escarpment, with the Severn opening out on your left.
10.15am
Owlpen, at the end of its valley
Owlpen Manor sits in a fold of the hills with a church and a mill for company and almost nothing else.
The setting is the point. You come round the last bend and the whole group of buildings appears at once. The house and gardens open seasonally and admission is not included, but the valley itself is the reason to stop.
Owlpen Manor 20 minutes driving
Up to the top
A short climb through beech woods onto the ridge, gaining most of the escarpment’s height in about two miles.
11.30am
Coaley Peak and Uley Bury
From the top of the escarpment you can see across the Severn to the Forest of Dean and the Welsh hills beyond. On a clear day the Black Mountains are visible.
A short level walk leads along the edge of Uley Bury, an Iron Age hill fort whose ramparts still ring the hilltop. This is the one stop where the ground is grass and earth rather than pavement.
The Cotswold escarpment, near Birdlip 30 minutes driving
Along the ridge
North along the top with the vale below, dropping into a valley for lunch.
1.00pm
Lunch at a country pub
A set lunch on the route, included in your total at £30 a guest. Tell us about dietary requirements when you book so we can pass them on in advance.
2.30pm
Painswick, and its ninety-nine yews
Painswick is built from a paler limestone than the villages further south, which gives the whole town a silver-grey cast quite unlike the honey colour people expect.
Its churchyard is famous for the yews planted in the eighteenth century and clipped ever since, and for the table tombs among them. The streets around it are worth a slow wander.
New Street, Painswick 25 minutes driving
Down into the valleys
South through the Stroud valleys, where the cloth mills were, following the water down.
4.00pm
Nailsworth and the Stroud valleys
These valleys powered the Cotswold cloth trade, and the tall mill buildings are still standing along the streams.
Nailsworth has grown into one of the best small food towns in the region, which makes it a good last stop before we turn for Bath.
The Golden Valley, near Stroud 50 minutes driving
Back to Bath, by 5.30pm
South down the edge of the escarpment and back into the city.
The route
A loop, not a line
Drawn from the real positions of each stop, so the shape of the day is honest.
- BathWe collect you in Bath
- OwlpenOwlpen, at the end of its valley
- Coaley PeakCoaley Peak and Uley Bury
- PainswickPainswick, and its ninety-nine yews
- NailsworthNailsworth and the Stroud valleys
What makes this day different
It is the only one of the three days built around views and landscape rather than towns.
Almost all of it is within a few miles of where Frazer lives, so the local knowledge is first-hand rather than researched.
You will share these places with far fewer people than you would at Castle Combe or Bibury.
Good to know
Not included
- Admission to Owlpen Manor and its gardens, which open seasonally
- Admission to Painswick Rococo Garden, if you would like to visit it
- Drinks and anything ordered beyond the set lunch
Before you book
Tell us about dietary requirements and anything that affects walking when you book, not on the day. The pub needs notice and the route can be planned around it.
Access and terrainQuestions about this day
How much walking is involved?
More than the other two days, but still modest, perhaps a mile and a half in total. The Coaley Peak walk is level but on grass, and Painswick is hilly. Tell us if that is a problem and we will plan around it.
What should I wear?
Shoes you do not mind getting damp. The ridge is exposed and can be ten degrees colder than Bath, so bring a layer even in summer.
Is the view actually worth it?
On a clear day you can see into Wales. In low cloud you cannot see the Severn at all, and Frazer will tell you that in advance and offer to swap the order of the day.
Can we visit Painswick Rococo Garden?
Yes, if you want to and it is open. Admission is not included and it needs about an hour, so we would drop something else to make room.
Prices
What your party pays
| Party size | Car and guide | Lunches | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 guest | £555 | £30 | £585 |
| 2 guests | £555 | £60 | £615 |
| 3 guests | £555 | £90 | £645 |
| 4 guests | £555 | £120 | £675 |