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Hiking the Cotswold Way? 10 Crucial Mistakes to AVOID (#9 is very important!)

Chris

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Learn from our mistakes! If you are planning to hike the 102 mile Cotswold Way, avoid these 10 common mistakes, from only depending on the famous trail markers to find your way (some signposts are overgrown, damaged, or are hard to spot!), to depending on the wrong app to keep you on the trail (hint: Google maps is wildly inaccurate on the trail!). I tell you what apps help you stay on the trail, why you have to book your accommodations months in advance, where you are going to run into problems getting food on the trail, why Sunday's are particularly tricky on the trail, what key clothes to bring, why a luggage transport service is KEY to enjoying your hike, and so much more.

HELPFUL LINKS AND RESOURCES
Some links below are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission that helps support this channel. Thanks!

Trail Maps and Information
Book: Cotswold Way: British Walking Guide: Planning, Places to Stay, Places to Eat; Includes 44 Large-Scale Walking Maps
By Tricia Hayne and Bob Hayne
https://amzn.to/4fmwhOL

APPS
All Trails App
This app keeps you right on the trail--no guessing when the famous acorn signposts are nowhere to be found. Has a free 7-day trial. Can be used in Airplane mode to save your phone battery. Google maps does not work well on the trail!
https://www.alltrails.com/

What3Words
Free Geo Locator app to download to your phone
https://what3words.com/products/what3...
Free Geo Locator app to download to your phone

ESims
https://saily.com/
https://esim.holafly.com/
https://www.airalo.com/

US to UK type G power adapter
Make sure you purchase a type G
https://amzn.to/45t5SsA

Phone Battery Pack
You will be hiking anywhere from 5 to 10+ hours a day, using your phone for navigation, music, audiobooks etc. The battery pack as a back up on the trail is a must-have.

https://amzn.to/4gZlKdx
https://amzn.to/4bbIwv3

Wool Hiking Socks
Make sure you're purchasing socks that have at least 50% wool content. Wool socks are typically mixed with synthetic material to help them keep their shape and hold up to washing:
Darn Tough
SmartWool
REI, and others

Luggage Transfer Service
If you purchase a tour (they book your accommodations and include a luggage transfer service along the way), or if you book your accommodations yourself, you can hire a luggage transfer service which makes life on the trail a joy! The Cotswold Way is well traveled and the luggage services know every inn/B&B/hotel stop along the way. Below are just a few. Our bags were always waiting for us when we arrived at our accommodations. We did tuck an AirTag in our luggage to keep an eye on their location. Tracking the AirTags at the end of the day helped us navigate to our accommodations which was a plus!

https://www.sherpavan.com/cotswold-wa...
https://www.carryabag.co.uk/

Air Tags
Air tags not only help you track your luggage as it is transferred between accommodations, they will also serve as a beacon to help you navigate to your accommodations at the end of the day on the trail.

Apple Air Tag
https://amzn.to/4fml7JV

Android Air Tracker
https://amzn.to/3TFcxxg

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3 Comments

@Theorem3 1 month ago

I was just booking our trip when I found your video. Good info. I am going to book a luggage transfer service. Kind of pricey, but I guess we’ll be glad to have it about 5 miles into the hike.

@johnbiden2692 2 months ago

This was pretty much my exact experience. I had to book a couple of hotels off the trail a bit, but it worked out fine. Also, the All Trails app was key. I had one day of off-and-on rain and luckily a cheap rain poncho was fine, but if it was a heavy rain with winds I would have wanted a proper rain jacket with hood. Great trip tho and I’d do it again—next time w the luggage transfer.

@GateC-23 Creator 2 months ago

Probably the most important "take away" in the video is to use the All Trails app while on the trail (you can get a free 7-day trial. Nope, not sponsored). We made two mistakes: 1. Thinking the famous Cotswold Way Acorn signposts would be enough to guide us. While that was true about 90% of the time, some of the signposts are hidden by overgrowth, or in a few cases seriously damaged so we missed them which added a couple of miles of going out of our way on our hike; and 2. Using Google Maps to help keep us on the trail. UGH! Big mistake. Google Maps is great in the villages, but terrible on the trail. Sometimes Google Maps indicated we were 200 yards off the trail, when we were on the correct trail, but we wasted time trying to match up with what Google Maps was indicating. Once we downloaded the All Trails app on our 3rd day on the trail, the entire trail became simple to follow. So, spare yourself the frustration of making your "best guesses" at the few tricky spots on the trail and just follow what All Trails indicates--that and checking your progress against the funky hand-drawn maps in the guide book Cotswold Way. You'll be golden!