Things to do
in Chipping Campden

Chipping Campden rewards slow exploration more than a checklist of sights. Court Barn, on Church Street, is a museum of craft and design that covers the designers and craftspeople who have worked in the north Cotswolds. Campden Gallery, on the High Street itself, holds art exhibitions if you want to see current work.

For views beyond the town, Dover's Hill, a National Trust hilltop about a mile to the north-west, looks out across the Vale of Evesham, and the Cotswold Way crosses it shortly after leaving town. Closer in, Old Campden House was begun by Sir Baptist Hicks in the seventeenth century and destroyed during the Civil War. What survives belongs to the Landmark Trust and opens to visitors only on occasional open days, so check before you go. Lady Juliana's Gateway, a listed gateway and bridge, was part of the same layout. On Church Street, Carriage-splash is an old cart wash: a pair of low listed walls around a paved hollow, probably of the same century.

When you want something under cover, the Cidermill Theatre, at Chipping Campden School on Cidermill Lane a short way north of the High Street, puts on live music, theatre, comedy and cinema; check what's on before you go. The museum and gallery are a few minutes' walk apart, and Dover's Hill can be reached on foot if you're happy with a climb.

Chipping Campden is one end of the Cotswold Way, a National Trail that follows the Cotswold escarpment between here and Bath, so you can walk a short stretch of it or use the town as a base for a longer stay. The nearest obvious target is Dover's Hill, about a mile north-west of the centre and uphill, where the ground opens out to give a wide view across the Vale of Evesham before you return to town. The hill belongs to the National Trust and has its own car park if you'd rather not walk up. If livestock are grazing, keep dogs on a lead.

Dover's Hill is also where the Cotswold Olimpick Games are held. The event is old but has not run continuously, so check whether it is on before you plan around it.

For a bigger day out, the Heart of England Way, a long-distance path across the Midlands, also comes through this area, and the Diamond Way, a circular long-distance route through the north Cotswolds, reaches its northern point around nearby Ebrington.

None of these need to be walked in full. You can follow one for an hour or two, then return to the High Street for lunch.

Most of Chipping Campden's places to eat are on or just off the High Street. Eight Bells on Church Street is an old inn that describes itself as a gastropub, and The Volunteer Inn is a pub on Lower High Street. Toke's, on the High Street, is an independent deli and wine shop selling cheese, meats and its own deli food, useful for a picnic before a walk. The Bantam Tea Rooms, also on the High Street, is a long-established family-run tea room.

For a sit-down meal, Michael's on the High Street serves Greek and Mediterranean food, and Cotswold House Hotel & Spa, on the Square at the upper end of the High Street, has its own restaurant and bar. Check opening days before you go, and book ahead for an evening meal.

Further out, the Bakers Arms is the village pub in Broad Campden, just under a mile south-east of the town. Check it is open before you set out.

Chipping Campden has a range of places to stay, from bed and breakfasts to a hotel with a spa, and the ones named here are all in the town itself. Cotswold House Hotel & Spa is on the Square at the upper end of the High Street, with The Kings Hotel close by. The Lygon Arms Hotel, further along the High Street, calls itself the oldest coaching inn in Chipping Campden.

If you'd prefer a room above a pub or a tea room, Eight Bells on Church Street has a handful of bedrooms, and The Bantam Tea Rooms on the High Street runs a small bed and breakfast alongside its tea rooms. Cornerways B & B is on George Lane, a short walk from the High Street.

The town is small, so book ahead and confirm directly with the property before you travel.

Chipping Campden makes a natural base for exploring the smaller settlements that surround it. Broad Campden is just under a mile to the south-east. It is a small village with a pub, the Bakers Arms, and no high street of its own, so it works as an extension of a day in Chipping Campden rather than a separate trip.

Aston-sub-Edge, just under two miles to the north, is a hamlet below the Cotswold edge and a quieter place again. Beyond these two, the wider area within about four miles includes Weston-sub-Edge, Saintbury, Paxford, Ebrington, Hidcote Boyce, Hidcote Bartrim, Blockley, Draycott, Willersey, Mickleton, Broadway and Aston Magna, each worth knowing about even if you don't plan to visit them all on the same trip.

These distances are measured in a straight line from the town centre, so allow more by road or footpath, and check a map before assuming a lane has a pavement.