From: Cheltenham
Started: 20150409
Finished: 20151218
I ran the Cotswold Way in twelve stages in Spring/early Summer and Autumn/Winter 2015. To make the exercise more interesting, I got to the start and back from the finish of each stage by public transport. In some cases this entailed extra mileage to reach bus/train connections. Total distance covered was 180 km (compared with the “official” distance of 163 km).
I found the trail well marked and generally easy to follow, although I did make a few minor route finding errors. The path is well maintained, although after the heavy rainfall towards the end of the year some sections were very muddy and water-logged. The trail is quite hilly: I logged a total elevation gains of 4,100 m (equivalent to nearly three times the height of Ben Nevis!).
I used the Trailblazer guide, and found that tearing our the map pages and using those for route finding made it unnecessary to carry cumbersome ordnance survey maps.
An excellent trail with superb views and varied terrain – strongly recommended.