Cotswolds Way Geocaching

[+Alkhalikoi]

Ahoy!

 

My wife and I are thinking about taking our two kids (then 5 and almost 9) to the UK next summer. We're pretty well traveled in the UK, including Bath, but were thinking about starting our trip out in the Cotswolds to do some walking, geocaching, castle-gawking and such, before heading to London for the tail end of the trip. The kids have never been to the UK, so there will be plenty of Tower of London/Buckingham Palace/Imperial War Museum stuff when we get to London herself.

 

I've found a few .KML files of the Cotswolds Way hike and wanted to do some sort of three-day walking/geocaching trip in there with the kids. We're not worried about about the distances -- the kids are, thanks to caching, really good (and tolerant) hikers -- but we were looking for (a) any generalized suggestions about which piece of the Cotswolds trail to take (we were thinking about starting out about 3 days/30 miles from Bath) and ( to see if any of you good folks could point us to a route .GPX of caches on the Cotswolds trail. My wife and I have been to Bath before so we'd love to go back, but not on our "don't miss" list.

 

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

 

-Andrew

More-or-less San Franciscoish, California.

[+drsolly]

Ahoy!

 

My wife and I are thinking about taking our two kids (then 5 and almost 9) to the UK next summer. We're pretty well traveled in the UK, including Bath, but were thinking about starting our trip out in the Cotswolds to do some walking, geocaching, castle-gawking and such, before heading to London for the tail end of the trip. The kids have never been to the UK, so there will be plenty of Tower of London/Buckingham Palace/Imperial War Museum stuff when we get to London herself.

 

I've found a few .KML files of the Cotswolds Way hike and wanted to do some sort of three-day walking/geocaching trip in there with the kids. We're not worried about about the distances -- the kids are, thanks to caching, really good (and tolerant) hikers -- but we were looking for (a) any generalized suggestions about which piece of the Cotswolds trail to take (we were thinking about starting out about 3 days/30 miles from Bath) and ( to see if any of you good folks could point us to a route .GPX of caches on the Cotswolds trail. My wife and I have been to Bath before so we'd love to go back, but not on our "don't miss" list.

 

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

 

-Andrew

More-or-less San Franciscoish, California.

 

My "Chiltern Hundred" series isn't on the Cotswold Way, but is in the Cotswolds.

[+Maple Leaf]

I can't comment on the caches or the route as I haven't done them, however there are several caches along part of the 'Monarch's Way' around Cotswolds/Bristol area (fairly close to Bath)

 

Monarch Way #1 (GC1G064)

 

Monarch Way South #1 (GC1T65T)

 

Information about Monarch's Way long distance path.

[+JimJinks]

I would suggest looking at the northern end of the Cotswold Way, Chipping Campden to Broadway to Winchcombe to Cheltenham for wonderful countryside, historical sites and some great caches as well.

[+redsox_mark]

I live in Bath, so at the south end of the trail. I've found several caches which are on the trail (again on the southern part), though I've never purposely walked an extended section of the trail, so can't advise - other than I would think further north you are more in the heart of the Cotswolds.

 

One thing which might help is the excellent map plug-in you can get from reading This thread It allows you to use the local OS maps, which show public footpaths. Long distance paths like the Cotswold Way are shown with green diamonds (in the 1:25K maps), and are also marked by name... so you can follow the path on the map and see where the caches are.

[+Griff Grof]

Hi there! Before I get to my Reccomendations, I needed to correct something.....

 

Ahoy!

 

My wife and I are thinking about taking our two kids (then 5 and almost 9) to the UK next summer. We're pretty well traveled in the UK, including Bath, but were thinking about starting our trip out in the Cotswolds to do some walking, geocaching, castle-gawking and such, before heading to London for the tail end of the trip. The kids have never been to the UK, so there will be plenty of Tower of London/Buckingham Palace/Imperial War Museum stuff when we get to London herself.

 

I've found a few .KML files of the Cotswolds Way hike and wanted to do some sort of three-day walking/geocaching trip in there with the kids. We're not worried about about the distances -- the kids are, thanks to caching, really good (and tolerant) hikers -- but we were looking for (a) any generalized suggestions about which piece of the Cotswolds trail to take (we were thinking about starting out about 3 days/30 miles from Bath) and ( to see if any of you good folks could point us to a route .GPX of caches on the Cotswolds trail. My wife and I have been to Bath before so we'd love to go back, but not on our "don't miss" list.

 

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

 

-Andrew

More-or-less San Franciscoish, California.

 

My "Chiltern Hundred" series isn't on the Cotswold Way, but is in the Cotswolds.

 

Chesham is not in the Cotswolds, by any means

 

Now for my own Reccomendations, living in the Cotswolds I've cached along parts of the Cotswold way too, and I agree with what JimJinks said:

 

I would suggest looking at the northern end of the Cotswold Way, Chipping Campden to Broadway to Winchcombe to Cheltenham for wonderful countryside, historical sites and some great caches as well.

 

But don't just consider the Cotswold Way, there are some absolutely fabulous circular walks in the Cotswolds too, there's a cacher called Wrighty in the Cotswolds, find any of his caches and you won't be disappointed - always a scenic or historical spot, and a big box at the end. If you would like to do a few circular walks as well as the Cotswold way, to explore our beautiful Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty further, then I'll also submit some Reccomended walks here.... Just post a reply asking if you're interested

 

Hope I helped!

[+Lydford Locators]

Don't be tempted to visit the River Thames at the source end unless you go prepared, it is lovely but can often be under several feet of water even in the summer.

 

My link

[+TheOldfields]

Not sure whether you're going to be spending any time in Bath itself, but if you are then http://coord.info/GC2P9MC should definitely be on your list.

[I!]

There's a bookmark list that might help.

 

I've found when walking with a five year-old that he'll forgive any amount of muddy trudging if he gets lunch in a pub. Not all pubs are equal though ... spend a bit of research time finding a good one first.

[+Alkhalikoi]

Thanks folks for the input. Hope that we can pull this trip off!