Cycle the Cotswolds: Oxford to Bath

Pedal through a rural paradise, passing timeless villages and picturesque pubs on the way

Discover Oxford, the Cotswolds and Bath, three picture-perfect illustrations of quintessential Englishness, on this culture-filled cycling adventure. We start in the university city of Oxford, where more than 30 prime ministers and 55 Nobel Prize winners attended world-acclaimed colleges, before beginning our cycling from beautiful Burford. It’s then into the Cotswolds, a rural idyll cradling a nostalgic mix of historic villages, rolling countryside and, of course, centuries-old pubs. We end our cycling in Bath, where we tour the 2,000-year-old Roman spa complex and admire the iconic honey-stone Georgian buildings.

People, Places & Planet

We work hard to create trips that have a positive impact on the people and places we visit and look after the planet we explore. Learn more about our sustainable travel ethos and practice here and find out about the work of the Exodus Travels Foundation here.

Some sustainable travel highlights of this trip include:

People

How this trip helps improve life for local communities.

• Local guides keep you well informed about local traditions and cultural-social sensitivities.
• This trip brings income and opportunity to the destination community through the inclusion of locally owned hotels, restaurants, and other enterprises, and by championing locally produced food wherever possible.
• Read more about our other initiatives

Places

How this trip helps protect and conserve local landscapes and nature.

• By travelling in a small group, we ‘tread lightly’ to minimise our impact on local resources and the environment.
• We work with our partners on the ground to proactively reduce waste; this includes eliminating all single-use plastic water bottles by providing refills for reusable bottles.
• The payment of entrance fees to natural reserves and archaeological sites generates income used to upkeep and develop these important sites.
• We rewild 1,075sqft (100sqm) per passenger to compensate for all trip and flight emissions.
• Read about our commitment to nature protection and restoration here, including our rewilding commitment for every customer who travels with us.

Planet

How we seek to keep the carbon footprint of this trip low.

• Accommodation and restaurants in the itinerary use locally sourced food which has not been transported long distances.
• Cycling trips like this have very little detrimental impact on the environment and the locals, as it is a quiet, low-impact activity requiring comparatively few resources to support.
• Read about our climate action here, including our carbon reduction and compensation commitments.

Tips for sustainable travel on this trip

• Leave no trace: We do all we can to ensure we leave no rubbish in the wild and beautiful places we visit; we ask that you do the same. If there are no recycling facilities in-country, consider bringing recyclable materials home with you.
• Plastic waste reduction: Please bring a reusable water bottle on this trip, also consider avoiding single-use hotel toiletries, which generate a large amount of plastic waste.

Is this trip for you?

This trip has been graded Activity Level 2 (Leisurely/Moderate). For more on our trip gradings, visit our Activity Level Guidelines page.

A reasonable level of fitness is required; however, regular cyclists will not find this itinerary challenging. There are six days of cycling, mostly on small country roads and sometimes on rolling terrain.

Vaccinations and Health

United Kingdom

There are no required vaccinations. However, you may want to consider vaccinations for polio, tetanus and rabies (bat lyssavirus). Please confirm with your doctor or travel clinic.

Visa

United Kingdom

Travellers from the US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter the United Kingdom. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/europe/united-kingdom
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/united-kingdom
• USA: www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/UnitedKingdom.html

Food & Drink

All breakfasts and two dinners are included.

Weather

Rain can fall at any time of year; however, the temperatures typically rise from around 12C (54F) in April to the high 20Cs (around 80F-85F) or above in September. Like most of the UK in recent years, there have been some hotter days in the middle of summer.