Maybe you’re quitting the booze, or just looking to enjoy a fitter lifestyle, but January always seems to be the month to escape the city and explore the great outdoors. Looking for the UK’s best winter walks? You only have to drive an hour to reach Broadway Tower in the Cotswolds.
One of 11 of The Guardian’s “best winter walks all ending at a cosy pub”—including Bath in Somerset and the Peak District’s Bakewell to Little Longstone—the four-mile-long circular walk takes about 2½ hours. An official National Trails route, too, it’s fairly easy to follow, as you take in “big, billowing views”
What is the route?
Starting and ending at the War Memorial in Broadway High Street, this winter walk (described as ‘moderate’ difficulty, with some steep sections) takes you past the charming honeyed houses of the ’Jewel of the Cotswolds’, aka Broadway, and up to the second-highest point in the Cotswolds, Broadway Tower.
Designer William Morris, who sparked the Arts and Crafts Movement, often drew inspiration from Broadway Tower (affectionately called the Lighthouse of Wisdom by Sir Thomas Phillips). But this hike will just as easily please the puppies in your life as it will the artists, while history lovers have plenty to unearth, too, from the Romans to Cromwell.
Leave behind the 16th-century limestone architecture of the local coffee shops and knitwear boutiques, for the rolling green hills, open blue skies, and spectacular views across the Severn Vale into Wales. From the 1790s hexagonal folly, return on the historic tracks for a pint at the 17th-century Crown & Trumpet—a regular in the Good Beer Guide.
How do I get to Broadway from Birmingham?
Just directly south of Birmingham, you can drive to Broadway (with three carparks in the Cotswolds village) via the A435, A46 and A44 to Leamington Road in Broadway. Alternatively, it is accessible by bus from Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon.