Honey stone villages, escarpment views across three counties, and a circuit of welcoming member clubs where the green fee rarely clears 100 pounds. The Cotswolds is England's gentlest great golf trip, equal parts golf holiday and country escape. Here is who it suits, the courses to build around, a sample four night structure and indicative 2026 costs.
Photograph: Minchinhampton Golf Club, the Cotswolds, by Owen Smith via Google
A Cotswolds golf holiday suits the traveler who wants the round to be half the day, not all of it. The golf here lives on high, free draining limestone, downland turf, dry stone walls, beech copses and views that run to the Malvern Hills, and it shares the week with market towns, pub lunches and some of the prettiest villages in England. It is the natural pick for couples where one half plays more than the other, for groups mixing golfers and non golfers, and for visiting Americans bolting two or three relaxed rounds onto a London or Oxford itinerary, since the eastern edge of the hills sits around 90 minutes from Heathrow.
It is also, quietly, one of the best value trips on this site. Where an England golf holiday built on Open rota links can run to 350 pounds a round, the Cotswolds circuit tops out near 100 and starts at 25. None of these clubs make the championship lists, and that is the point: this is unhurried member club golf in remarkable countryside. If you want trophy scalps, pair this trip with the heavyweights in our guide to the best golf courses in England; if you want a week that the whole party enjoys, build it here.
The anchor of the trip. Two championship courses, the Avening and the Cherington, sit side by side near the village of Avening, with the club's historic Old Course up on Minchinhampton Common. Indicative 2026 visitor rates of 47 pounds midweek and 57 at weekends on the championship courses are remarkable value, and 36 holes in a day is the move.
The Cheltenham double act. Cleeve Hill, founded in 1891, is the highest golf in the Cotswolds at 1,083 feet, common land golf with views over the Severn Valley to Wales at an indicative 25 pounds midweek. Cotswold Hills at Ullenwood is the polished member club alternative, a 6,800 yard layout in two loops of nine, at an indicative 70 pounds midweek and 80 at weekends for summer 2026.
Founded in 1895 on the escarpment above the Vale of Evesham, with views to the Malvern Hills and the Black Mountains beyond. A well drained course that plays all year, ten minutes above one of the most visited villages in the Cotswolds, which makes it the easy pick for the day the non golfers come along for lunch.
The luxury round, on the southern edge of the hills. A Peter Alliss and Clive Clark design from 1992, par 72 and around 6,500 yards, wound through the valley beside Castle Combe, a village regularly called England's prettiest. Indicative 2026 fees run from 90 pounds Monday to Thursday and 100 Friday to Sunday, and the hotel in the grounds makes it the obvious stay and play night.
Founding dates, designers and layouts verified June 2026. Green fees are indicative club published or third party figures for the 2025 to 2026 seasons, vary by day and time, and change with demand. Always confirm directly before booking.
Drive in from London or Birmingham, check into a Cheltenham hotel or a village inn, and open with an afternoon round at Cleeve Hill. The views over the Severn Valley reset the week, and at an indicative 25 pounds it is the cheapest great walk in English golf.
The big golf day. Play the Avening in the morning and the Cherington after lunch, two championship courses from one clubhouse near Avening. Book ahead and carry a handicap certificate, which the club asks visitors to bring.
Head south for the marquee round on the Alliss and Clark course, then lunch in Castle Combe itself. Either stay the night at the hotel in the grounds or loop back north through Tetbury and Cirencester.
A morning round on the escarpment at Broadway, then give the afternoon to the village below and Chipping Campden next door. This is the day the non players join, and the pub booking matters as much as the tee time.
A closing round at Cotswold Hills above Cheltenham, or at Burford, the 1936 par 71 conveniently placed on the road back toward Oxford and London, before the drive home.
Drives between courses on this routing rarely top an hour, and most legs are 20 to 40 minutes. Several clubs restrict weekend visitor times, Burford for example admits weekend visitors from early afternoon in summer, so route the member clubs onto weekdays where you can.
| Style | Per person, 2026 | What it usually includes |
|---|---|---|
| Stay and play break | From around 119 pounds per night | Operator listed 2026 rate at the Cotswolds Hotel and Spa, Chipping Norton: one night with dinner, breakfast and two rounds on its par 72 course |
| Classic Cotswolds circuit | From around 400 to 700 pounds | 3 to 4 nights in inns or a Cheltenham hotel, rounds at Minchinhampton, Broadway, Cleeve Hill and Cotswold Hills |
| Manor house luxury trip | From around 1,000 pounds upward | 4 plus nights in country house hotels, the Manor House at Castle Combe stay and play, private transfers and dining |
Indicative third party figures for the 2026 season, excluding travel to the region, shown to set expectations only. We are a guide, not an operator, and never quote our own pricing. Always confirm directly before booking. Find a Cotswolds base.
May to September gives the longest evenings and the firmest turf, and because so much of this golf sits on free draining high ground, April and October play far better here than in most of England. The constraint is not the weather but the diary: these are member clubs with set visitor windows, weekend mornings are the first thing to go, and Cheltenham's hotels sell out entirely around the racing festival in March. For a summer weekend trip, lock tee times and rooms two to four months out; a midweek trip can often be put together inside a few weeks. Book the Manor House night first if it is on the list, then build the rest of the route around it.
We route the clubs around the visitor windows, hold the village inns and the Manor House nights, and book the tables that matter as much as the tee times. Tell us roughly when and who is traveling, and one concierge costs it to the head and replies within one working day, with no obligation.
Minchinhampton Golf Club is the anchor, with two championship courses, the Avening and the Cherington, beside the village of Avening, plus its historic Old Course up on Minchinhampton Common. The Manor House Golf Club at Castle Combe, a Peter Alliss and Clive Clark design from 1992, is the luxury round on the southern edge. Broadway Golf Club, founded in 1895 on the escarpment above the Vale of Evesham, and Cleeve Hill, the highest golf in the Cotswolds at 1,083 feet, supply the views, while Cotswold Hills near Cheltenham and Burford round out a strong week.
Green fees are gentle by trophy golf standards. Indicative 2026 visitor rates run from 25 pounds at Cleeve Hill and 47 pounds midweek at Minchinhampton up to around 100 pounds at the Manor House at Castle Combe. Operator stay and play packages for 2026 start from around 119 pounds per person for one night with dinner, breakfast and two rounds, while a classic three to four night circuit of the better clubs with inn or hotel stays typically lands in the hundreds rather than the thousands per person. We are a guide, not an operator, so always confirm directly before booking.
May to September brings the longest days and the firmest turf, and because much of the golf sits on free draining high ground, spring and autumn play well too. Weekends need the most planning, since several member clubs restrict visitor tee times to set windows, and Cheltenham fills completely during the March racing festival. For a summer weekend trip, book tee times and rooms two to four months ahead; midweek trips are far easier to arrange at short notice.
Three bases work well. Cheltenham puts Cleeve Hill, Cotswold Hills and Broadway within an easy drive and has the deepest bench of restaurants and hotels. A village inn around Stow, Burford or Chipping Campden gives the honey stone postcard setting with Minchinhampton and Broadway in reach. For one roof convenience, stay where you play: the Manor House at Castle Combe has the course in its grounds, and the Cotswolds Hotel and Spa at Chipping Norton pairs 114 rooms with its own par 72 parkland course.
Tee time releases, new openings and the booking windows worth moving on first. Every other week.
Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Indicative fees and package ranges verified June 2026. Last reviewed: June 2026.