Location: South West England.
Length:: 163km (102 miles).
Average number of days to complete:: 7.
Users:: 100% for walkers, 19% for cyclists and horse riders.
Highest point:: Cleeve Common 325m (1,066ft).
Start point: Bath Abbey, 10 minutes walk from Bath train station.
Finish point: Market Hall, Chipping Campden.
Landscape:: Follows the escarpment of the Cotswold hills giving panoramic views across the Severn Vale, passing through beech woods and open pasture with dry stone walls, picturesque villages with limestone cottages. 96% within the Cotswolds designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Highlights: World Heritage City of Bath, views over River Severn to Brecon Beacons in Wales, Malvern Hills and Forest of Dean. National Trust properties of Dyrham House and Horton Court; Broadway Tower and Somerset Monument tower follies; old mill towns of Painswick, Stroud & Dursley, Devils Chimney at Leckhampton Hill; Belas Knap Long Barrow, Sudeley Castle and Hailes Abbey.
Famous Associations: Writer Laurie Lee, artist William Morris, William Tyndale who first translated the Bible into English, Katherine Parr - wife of Henry Eighth, author Jilly Cooper.
Trail Officer's favourite part: Leckhampton Hill, because of the profusion of wild flowers and unspoilt views, with a sense of community involvement.
Nearest Towns: Bristol is 16km (10 miles) to the West. Birmingham is 58km (36 miles) to the North. Gloucester is 10km (6 miles), Cheltenham 3km (2 miles), Stow on the Wold 14km (9 Miles), Stratford upon Avon 19km (12 miles). Bath, Wotton-under Edge, Dursley, Winchcombe & Chipping Campden are on the Trail.
Access: Bath is 90 minutes by train from London Paddington and 15 minutes by train from Bristol. Birmingham is 45 minutes from Chipping Camden by train and bus. Stroud is 2 hours from London and 40 minutes from Bristol by train. Cheltenham is 45 minutes from Birmingham by train. There is also a station at Cam and Dursley.
Information available: National Trail Guide by Anthony Burton - Aurum Press ISBN 978-1-84513-519-5 Price: £12.99
Contact for all information and advice: James Blockley, Cotswold Way National Trail Office, Cotswolds Conservation Board, Fosse Way, Northleach, Gloucestershire, GL54 3JH. Telephone: 00 44 (0) 1451 862000. Email: cotswoldway@cotswoldsaonb.org.uk