This Broadway tower walk is a fantastic family walk. It’s a relatively short walk (although half of it is all uphill and it’s not pram-friendly) and you can combine it with a look around Broadway, a very pretty Cotswold village. There is an amazing kid’s playground in Broadway village too which is a great end to the walk. If you’re looking for things to do in the Cotswolds with kids, then you can’t go far wrong. Find more Family walks here.
This lovely walk starts in the village of Broadway in the heart of the Cotswolds. It took us around 90 minutes to complete the walk which is just under 3 miles from the car park to Broadway castle and back. I’d definitely put longer on your parking as you’ll want to explore this pretty village, perhaps have a meal or snack in one of the gorgeous eateries, browse the shops, look inside Broadway tower, visit Broadway museum and art gallery or play on the incredible playground.
Where is Broadway
First though you need to know where Broadway is, how to get there and where to park.
Broadway is a village in Worcestershire in the heart of the Cotswolds’ area of outstanding beauty.
Where to park for Broadway village
There is a long stay car park (Leamington road – Broadway WR12 7ET) and a short stay car park (4 Church Cl, Broadway WR12 7AH). We found a space in the short stay where we paid £3 for 4 hours. When we visited May bank holiday there was also an all-day temporary car park in a field in the middle of the village which was £5 all-day parking.
There are toilets in the short stay car park that we parked in. They were very clean too.
Broadway village to Broadway Tower
From either the short stay or all-day parking you need to turn right and head up the high street to the very top of the village where on the right side of the road you will find a post marker that says Cotswold Way, Broadway Tower 1 1/4 mile. Ignore all the other footpath signs prior to this, you need to find the Cotswold way.
The path heads down between a couple of properties before you get to a gate into the first field. From here the route up to the tower is marked with waymarkers. It’s very easy to follow, pretty much straight up. It’s highly unlikely you’ll have this popular walk to yourself anyway so you’ll easily spot someone to follow.
The walk takes you up through fields to the top of the hill. The full 1 1/4 miles is uphill and took us about an hour with our kids who were 4 and 8 at the time. It’s not suitable for pushchairs due to the gradient, frequent kissing gates and uneven ground. As long as your kids are OK with hills, they’ll manage this walk as there are no scrambles, ledges or anything like that.
When we visited late May, the fields were full of buttercups and grazing sheep. The views all the way up are simply stunning.
Beware there is a fake summit just over halfway up where you’ll see a flat part and benches. My kids thought this was the top but we’re very disappointed when they realised we had to keep climbing! You’ll know you are getting to the top when you can see the tower. You’ll also see signs for the Castle circular walk.
We were short of time (and had little legs that said they couldn’t walk any further) so we just went straight to the castle and then straight back down the hill. I’m not sure how much more the castle circular walk adds on.
Right below the tower was a herd of deer behind a large fence which my kids enjoyed seeing.
Once you get to the top you can stop for a break before heading back down, enjoy the castle circular walk or you could book to look around Broadway tower. If you look around the tower built in 1798 by Capability Brown, you will find out all about this eccentric folly and enjoy views from the top over 16 counties. You can pre-book tickets to tour the tower here.
You may also choose to look around the nuclear bunker (no children under 10 allowed) or eat in the cafe, you could even hire a bike if you want to travel further.
Once you are ready to head back to Broadway, head back the way you came and retrace your steps. It’s a lot easier going downhill with kids so it only took 30 minutes. The promise of a trip to the parks also helped.
Broadway activity park
Broadway has an amazing kids’ play area just behind the museum. Find it on your map by looking for Broadway activity park. My kids would have stayed for ages if we had time! As it was we had to bribe them away with the promise of doughnuts. The doughnuts from Guilt Trip are amazing by the way.
Back to the playground though. There are areas for kids of all ages with lots of great features like a crawl tunnel between areas, a huge slide built into the hill, a climbing wall and so much more.
Find more great UK family days out and holidays here.
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More things to do in the Cotswolds with kids
- Just under an hour from Broadway is Slimbridge Wetland Centre which is an amazing family day out with play areas, walks, 6 species of Flamingo and so much more.
- Don’t worry if you don’t drive there are loads of ways to explore the Cotswolds by public transport.
- High on my list for our next visit to the Cotswolds is visiting Adam Henderson Cotswold farm park. We may even camp there.
Love the walk up to Broadway Tower from Broadway. If you are ever doing it again highly recommend turning it into a circular route and walking back down the other side of Fish Hill (be careful crossing the road with little ones though) so that you can pick wild garlic and enjoy the bluebells in the spring.
On a different note, you have an advert on the left hand side of the screen that obscures a good inch of text when on a laptop and I can’t work out how to make it disappear. Thought I’d mentioned it in case others are struggling too.
Thanks for the tips. Also thank you for mentioning the ad issue, I will look into it