The beautiful market town in the Cotswolds that's a UK 'walking capital'
The market town has been dubbed a "walking capital" and even hosts an annual walking festival.
A stunning market town is the "walking capital" of an area that has a centuries-old reputation for its hiking trails.
The Cotswolds have been inhabited since the Stone Age, with hill forts and ruins visible among the area's stunning and seemingly endless rolling countryside.
The rough-hewn landscape has gifted Britons incredible hiking routes for more than a century and famously inspired 20th-century composer Herbert Howells, who regularly enjoyed walks in the area with friend and colleague Ivor Gurney.
The area is naturally crisscrossed with dozens of trails, some stretching hundreds of miles into neighbouring areas and between traditional idyllic towns scattered en route.
One of those towns is Winchcombe, a community with several thousand years of history that has its own standout reputation for local walking.
Dubbed a "real hidden gem" by Travel + Leisure, Winchombe, in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, is one of those quintessentially British towns dominated by stone-hewn buildings that gently protrude from lush countryside.
Framed by fields and trees, the town has naturally become home to many well-trodden walking routes.
The range of available local walks - self-guided or otherwise - has led Winchcombe Welcomes Walkers to dub the area the "walking capital of the Cotswolds".
Seven footpaths on offer are long-distance routes that take people across the Cotswolds and Gloucestershire.
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The seven long-distance routes crossing Winchcombe include:
- The Cotswold Way
- The Gloucestershire Way
- The Wychavon Way
- St Kenelm's Trail
- St Kenelm's Way
- The Warden's Way
- The Windrush Way
Winchcombe has become such a favourite for walkers that it now holds an annual walking festival.
The Winchcombe Cotswolds Walking Festival takes place every May and brings like-minded walkers together for a variety of 21 walks led by "knowledgeable local leaders".
The festival has been billed as an opportunity to learn about Winchcombe's local history and gain "insight into the history, flora and farming of the area".