Cotswolds hiking vacation in England

Planet

The Cotswolds has a unique landscape which needs to be protected; it is an enchanting mixture of parkland, cultivated fields with dry-stone walls of Jurassic limestone and patches of unspoilt woodland. With almost all of the cottages, farmhouses and villages passed on the trail made of stone, the scenery blends with the buildings creating a delightful fusion of natural and man made beauty. This landscape is best visited on a low impact walking vacation where you can explore in a sustainable manner and tread lightly as you go.

We believe that walking trips are the best way to experience a destination; because you have more time to appreciate the changing landscapes and get to know locals in the villages and towns that you pass through. Traveling on foot has minimal impact on your environment, but we encourage clients to stay on the marked trails to avoid erosion.

We are aligned with “Leave No Trace”, an international organisation that has set the global standard for outdoor ethics. Through targeted education, research and outreach, its mission is to ensure the long-term health of our natural world while maintaining sustainable recreation in nature

Our Waste Management Policy encourages our travelers to take their own reusable water bottles, coffee cups and reusable stuff sacks to avoid single-use plastics. We follow this same philosophy in our office as well as on the trail: in our London office we have banned single use coffee cups and water bottles. We use recycled paper in our office and we are working towards reducing the amount of paper we use, as well as recycling all of our paper and plastic waste

People

Our preferred accommodations we use on this trip are locally owned and not part of big international hotel chains; this way we ensure your tourist spend is staying within the area and benefiting local people, including properties like the family run Swan Inn in Moreton-in-Marsh, and the family run Landsdowne Guesthouse in Bouton on the Water.
Many serve local food in their restaurants and at breakfast. For example, when available we book Wesley House in Winchombe, a 15th century merchants house, which uses local suppliers and organic produce whenever it can.

In 2000 we developed the award winning Responsible Travel Guidebook, which presented our Travel Group’s comprehensive policies on sustainable travel. Over the years our Responsible Travel Guidebook has evolved to meet the ever-changing landscape of sustainable travel. In March 2018 The Thoughtful Traveler booklet was launched, which is an easy-to-read document that empowers travelers with suggestions about how they can be part of the solution and collectively make the world a better place when they travel. Everyone is encouraged to read the Thoughtful Traveler ebook before departure.