On our way down to Cornwall in June, we stopped off for a very quick walk at Broadway Tower in the Cotswolds. The drive from Yorkshire to Cornwall was a whopping 379 miles, so we didn’t stop for long, but what we saw was enough to convince me that we’ll definitely have to return to the Cotswolds for a longer stay at some point in the future! This was another walk which was recommended to me through Instagram and I really do think this is a fantastic way to find some cracking walks: if people who live nearby think they’re great, you’re onto a winner!
Our original plan was to park up in the pretty Cotswolds village of Broadway and to follow this 4 mile circular walk. However, when we arrived in Broadway around lunchtime, it was absolutely chocca and we couldn’t get parked in any of the car parks. So instead we headed straight up to the tower in the car and walked from there – this actually worked out better as we ended up doing a shorter walk and got to join the traffic jam on the M5 a few hours earlier!
There was plenty of parking in the field right by Broadway Tower (£3 to park all day, cash only). From here we followed the short circular walk which is sign posted around the tower and surrounding fields. The tower was designed by famous landscape architect Capability Brown and is the highest castle in the Cotswolds – although I do think describing it as a castle is a bit of a stretch!
The walk is very easy and took us around 45 minutes, with lots of stopping to take photos. The path is a mix of surfaced paths and grass, with no steep climbs or drops. Being so high up you get fantastic views over the Cotswolds for no effort at all – this probably contributes to the popularity of the walk as we did see quite a lot of people (mostly concentrated around the tower and the cafe).
There were plenty of other footpaths which connected to the wider estate and beyond – so if you’ve got more time than we had, I imagine you could spend hours happily exploring around here.
Dog friendly rating – 4/5. We saw plenty of people with dogs on our visit, including enjoying the sunshine outside the cafes we passed. I’ve just knocked off a point for this reason as we did end up in a few tight spots trying to squeeze Coal past a few dogs who were probably a bit too close for his comfort. However all other boxes are ticked: no road walking, no stiles, and most importantly happy dogs! Make sure you take along some water for your dog as there may not be any available on your walk, depending on where you go.
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