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.
This tour is specially designed as a private departure and can be operated on a date of your choice. Please contact our sales team for prices and more information, or visit our Private Group Adventures page.
Highlights
Walk in the footsteps of intellectual juggernauts on a tour of Oxford
Explore the 2,000-year-old Roman spa complex in Bath
Walk through Bibury, named the most beautiful village in England by William Morris
Discover the riverside village of Bourton-on-the-Water, nicknamed the Venice of the Cotswolds
Visit Bampton, where the village scenes in Downton Abbey were shot
Key Information
Accommodation: 5 Classic nights (hotels)
Five days of road cycling plus a canal path ride into Bath
Private Group size 6 to 16
Option to travel by train to your adventure
E-bikes available for an additional cost
Countries visited: United Kingdom
What's Included
Five nights in hotels
All breakfasts, two dinners
Luggage transfer
Support vehicle
Two leaders for groups of six or more
Entrance to the Roman Baths
Standard bike hire
What's Not Included
Single Supplement
Flights
Insurance
Visas
6Days of Cycling
Day 1
32 km / 19.9 miles
Day 2
56 km / 34.8 miles
Day 3
56 km / 34.8 miles
Day 4
64 km / 39.8 miles
Day 5
56 km / 34.8 miles
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 hereand 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.
With our partners, Rewilding Apennines, we rewild 100 square meters (1,075 sqft) of land per passenger who travels with us.
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.
Itinerary
Oxford
Bath
Day
1
Oxford tour; cycle to Burford
We meet at Oxford Train Station at 11am, where you can store your luggage in our vehicle. Please wear cycling clothing but not shoes, they can be changed later.
We then take a walking tour of Oxford, where we visit one of the prestigious colleges, stop at the historic Turf Tavern pub, and watch the punt boats drift along the river. We also pause for lunch before transferring to Bampton, where the Downton Abbey village scenes were shot. From here, we cycle to Burford, gateway to the Cotswolds, a centuries-old town on the River Windrush where ancient shops line the steep main street. This evening, we get to know each other a little better over a welcome dinner at our accommodation.
Accommodation: The Prince of Burford
Distance covered: 20mi (32km)
Ascent: 499ft (152m)
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Day
2
Circular ride from Burford via Cotswold villages
Today we take a loop from Burford into the heart of the Cotswolds. We can stop for coffee at the riverside village of Bourton-on-the-Water, known as the Venice of the Cotswolds, and visit Stow-on-the-Wold, where the final battle of the first English civil war occurred in 1646, to explore the market square. We also pass through the small, privately owned village of Daylesford – stopping at the most exclusive farm shop in the country – and the twin villages of Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter before returning to Burford.
Accommodation: The Prince of Burford
Distance covered: 35mi (56km)
Ascent: 1,998ft (609m)
Meals included: Breakfast
Day
3
Bike into the south Cotswolds
Today we cycle to Bibury, named the most beautiful village in England by designer William Morris. We stop for a short walk past a row of 17th-century weavers’ cottages that, for good reason, has become a much-photographed tourist attraction.
We then cycle to Cirencester, where ancient Roman roads show just how important the city was to the empire. From here, we pass through Minchinhampton Common, a 452-acre (183ha) expanse of grassland and a biological and geological site of special scientific interest in Gloucestershire. From here, we head to the nearby village of Rodborough where we check into our next hotel.
Accommodation: The Bear at Rodborough
Distance covered: 35mi (56km)
Ascent: 1,499ft (457m)
Meals included: Breakfast
Day
4
Bike into Bath
We have an earlier start this morning to give us plenty of time to explore the city of Bath. We bike through Tetbury, home to the Highgrove estate (the residence of King Charles), before heading down into Bath along the Fosse Way, built in the second century by the Romans, and a canal path. This afternoon, we visit the eponymous Roman baths to see the 2,000-year-old spa complex and view archaeological relics from the pre-Roman and Roman Britain ages.
We then have free time to explore the city. There is so much to see in Bath, including the Royal Crescent, a sweeping row of 30 flawless Georgian homes, and the Jane Austen Centre, which delves into the work and life of the celebrated writer.
Accommodation: Hampton by Hilton Hotel
Distance covered: 40mi (64km)
Ascent: 1,499ft (457m)
Meals included: Breakfast
Day
5
Circular ride via Lacock and Bradford-on-Avon
Today we enjoy a looped ride from Bath, taking in the village of Lacock and the town of Bradford-on-Avon. In the former, we see a 13th-century abbey built by Ela, Countess of Salisbury. In the latter, we enjoy a stop among the canals and historic buildings. After returning to Bath, we head to a restaurant for our farewell dinner where we can relive our adventures.
Accommodation: Hampton by Hilton Hotel
Distance covered: 35mi (56km)
Ascent: 1,345ft (410m)
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Day
6
Trip ends at Bath Spa Railway Station
We enjoy one last breakfast this morning before a transfer to Bath Spa Railway Station for our onward journeys.
Meals included: Breakfast
Essential Info
Is this trip for you?
This trip has been graded Activity Level 2 (Easy & Moderate). For more information on our trip gradings please visit the Activity Level Guidelines page. If you have any queries about the difficulty of the trip please do not hesitate to contact us.
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.
Joining Instructions
Key information
Start point: Oxford train station Recommended arrival time: Meet the leader at 11am
Getting to the start point
Direct trains to Oxford operate from London Paddington every hour and take one hour. If coming from London Heathrow, take the Heathrow Express train to London Paddington (20 minutes) and then the Oxford train.
Return journey
There’s a group departure transfer to Bath Spa Railway Station at 9am on the final day of the trip, where there are trains to London Paddington every 45 minutes. Alternatively, the station is just over a five-minute walk from our end hotel.
If you would like further information on these transfers, please speak to your sales representative.
Full joining instructions including local emergency numbers will be sent to you as part of our Final Joining Instructions. If you do not receive these at least a week before departure, or require them earlier please contact our office or your travel agent.
Location start: Oxford Location end: Bath
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.
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.
Two old inns and a contemporary hotel in Bath
Stay in a trio of accommodations on this cycling trip: two centuries-old inns and a well-positioned modern hotel in Bath.
Burford: The Prince of Burford (nights 1-2)
Begin the adventure in this 18th-century coaching inn turned 16-room hotel. It’s got a lovely spot on the northeast border of the Cotswolds, and offers English country house-style rooms, which come with rain showers and local toiletries by Bramley. Elsewhere, the gastropub serves seasonal dishes and ‘hearty pub classics’ plus award-winning beer from their own Butcombe Brewery, which you might want to enjoy post-cycle in the garden.
Rodborough: The Bear at Rodborough (night 3)
Right on Rodborough Common, this 17th-century coaching inn has a privileged spot within National Trust-owned land. Rooms are decorated in a classic English style, and come with artisan tea and coffee, plus Molton Brown toiletries. The Library restaurant serves a seasonal country menu, while the bar has a tempting selection of beers and cask ales, which can be taken into the beer garden.
Bath: Hampton by Hilton (nights 4-5)
Finish the adventure at the Hampton by Hilton; just a five-minute walk from the Roman Baths and even less to the Thermae Bath Spa, it’s ideally placed for our explorations. It also has a fitness center stocked with Technogym equipment, plus a contemporary bar with plenty of space to gather with the group.
First of all, our tour guide, Dan was fabulous! And we were impressed by the beautiful accommodations that we had, and the scenery was amazing. We liked being able to have some time to ourselves in the evenings, and explore the towns that we were staying in.
Most Inspirational Moment
Just seeing the countryside and being able to spend some times with my biking buddies.
Thoughts on Group Leader
We all loved him! he was very easy to work with and he was knew the answers to all of our questions. He was also flexible and was concerned for our wellfare.
*Please note any date & price adjustments will be displayed on the next step of booking. You will be able to revert back to booking without flights if the options aren't suitable for you.