Chipping Campden to Broadway Tower - Why Go?
Both Chipping Campden and Broadway are picturesque Cotswolds towns with Broadway being large enough to offer a variety of pubs, cafes and hotels to rest in and enjoy the special Cotswold vibe. The real star of the show though is Broadway Tower which is surrounded by the Broadway Estate and Broadway Country Park, offering two cafes, a herd of red deer and a nuclear bunker to explore.
Chipping Campden to Broadway Tower - What to Expect
This circular walk takes you along a mixture of paths, grazing land and some road sections. The paths can get muddy outside of the summer months so waterproof walking boots are recommended. Difficulty is moderate with a few steep climbs and a total of 562m elevation gain overall.
Chipping Campden to Broadway Tower - The Route, Part 1
17.3km / 4 hours
This quintessential Cotswolds walk starts and finishes in the market town of Chipping Campden after meandering its way through rolling countryside offering some expansive views.
After leaving Chipping Campden you immediately climb relatively steeply up towards Dover’s Hill, the site of the ancient Cotswold Olimpick Games where you can see the traditional events of shin kicking and wheelbarrow relay on the Friday after Spring Bank Holiday. If you don’t manage to time your walk with the event, you’ll still be rewarded with expansive views over the Vale of Evesham.
From here you drop down the hill and briefly follow a path adjacent to Kingcomb Lane before peeling off left through the fields towards Fish Hill with its picnic spot nestled in amongst wildflower meadows.
The walk then follows the ridgeline towards the famous Broadway Tower. The tower, a hilltop folly dreamt up by legendary 18th Century garden designer Capability Brown for his client, Lady Coventry, later played host to such luminaries as William Morris and the pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, before being used as the site of a Cold War bunker designed to monitor the nuclear fallout should the Soviet Union ever decide to attack.
It can now be accessed (for a fee) and there are three floors of exhibitions charting the history of the tower, as well as a viewing platform where you’re rewarded with a view typical of the Cotswold escarpment, taking in no less than 16 counties on a clear day.
Chipping Campden to Broadway Tower - The Route, Part 2
From Broadway follow the path steeply downhill towards the village from which the tower took its name. Broadway is a pretty Cotswold market town offering a range of pubs and cafes to refuel including the excellent Market Pantry on the High Street.
A stroll up the High Street leads to a left turn up Bibsworth Lane and over the A44. The walking moves gently uphill and then skirts the tees and fairways of Broadway Golf Club, eventually joining Campden Lane, where you turn right to head back towards Kingscomb Lane where you peeled off a few hours prior. Approximately 500m after re-joining the path beside Kingscomb Lane turn sharp right and follow the path back to Chipping Campden where you will find the start/finish point.
Want more Cotswold walks? Check out our full rundown of the best walks in the Cotswolds.
