Broadway, Worcestershire

Broadway's accommodation splits fairly clearly into three groups. On the High Street itself, historic coaching inns and boutique guest houses put you within walking distance of every shop, restaurant and the village green, with the added appeal of staying inside a genuinely old building rather than a modern extension of one. Above the village, on the wooded Farncombe estate, a cluster of country house hotels and spas takes advantage of the views back down over the Vale of Evesham, and this is where Broadway's reputation for a proper spa weekend comes from. A short drive further out, in villages such as Buckland, smaller manor houses offer a quieter, more rural alternative again.

At the top end, expect four and five-star country house hotels with spas, Michelin-recognised restaurants and grounds designed for a genuinely restorative stay; several have been welcoming guests in one form or another for centuries and have simply modernised the comfort levels while keeping the character. In the middle range, Broadway has a strong run of boutique hotels and restaurants with rooms, many occupying converted historic buildings on or near the High Street, offering individually decorated bedrooms and good, often locally sourced, food without the country house price tag. At the more affordable end, the village's guest houses and inns, some dating back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, offer straightforward, well-run bed and breakfast accommodation, usually with a friendly bar or breakfast room downstairs and a genuine sense of the working village around them.

Booking ahead matters more in Broadway than in many Cotswold villages, since it draws both day-trippers and longer-staying visitors throughout the year, and the smaller guest houses in particular have limited room counts. Dogs are welcomed at several of the country house hotels as well as the more traditional inns, which is worth checking if travelling with a pet, since policies and any surcharges vary considerably between properties.

Broadway itself has one long-established touring site right on the edge of the village, within walking distance of the High Street, which makes it the obvious first choice for anyone wanting to explore on foot without a car. Beyond the village boundary, the flatter ground of the Vale of Evesham to the north and the villages towards Chipping Campden to the east hold a further handful of well-regarded touring parks, typically a short drive rather than a walk from Broadway itself.

Facilities across the three sites featured here range from a simple, well-maintained touring park with electric hook-ups and a modern shower block, through to a larger family holiday park with a heated pool, bar and on-site shop. None of the three are wild camping or basic field sites; all are established, licensed touring and camping parks used to seasonal visitors and offering the hook-ups, hardstanding and amenities that most caravan and motorhome owners expect. Pitch availability for tents varies between the sites, so it's worth checking pitch type before booking if you're travelling without a caravan or motorhome.

The surrounding countryside, a gentle mix of orchard, arable land and the rising Cotswold escarpment, suits cycling and walking as much as it does touring by car, and several of the parks lie close to National Cycle Network routes as well as the Cotswold Way itself. Given Broadway's popularity through the spring and summer months, booking ahead is strongly advised for all three sites, particularly around school holidays and the late-spring Cotswold Way walking season.

Broadway rewards slow exploration on foot, but there is also plenty to fill a full day or a long weekend.

• Broadway Tower is the eighteenth-century folly built for the Earl of Coventry, standing at 312 metres above sea level with sweeping views across the Vale of Evesham towards Wales on a clear day; the country park around it has picnic areas and a small deer enclosure.
• The Broadway Museum & Art Gallery occupies a striking modern building on the High Street and tells the story of the village's Arts and Crafts connections through paintings, textiles and design pieces.
• Gordon Russell Design Museum celebrates the furniture designer who transformed Broadway's economy in the early twentieth century, with original workshop pieces and changing exhibitions on British design.
• The Cotswold Way passes directly through the village on its 102-mile route from Chipping Campden to Bath; the climb up to Broadway Tower is one of the most rewarding short sections, with the return route offering a natural half-day walk.
• Snowshill Manor and Garden, a National Trust property a few miles south of the village, houses the eccentric Charles Wade's vast collection of craft objects, musical instruments and armour inside a Cotswold manor house with an Arts and Crafts garden.
• Broadway Deer Park and the surrounding beech woodland offer quieter walking routes away from the main village, with grazing fallow deer visible from the paths in early morning or late afternoon.
• The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway now runs heritage steam services from Broadway station, restored after decades of closure, connecting through to Cheltenham Racecourse and Toddington.
• Independent shopping on the High Street covers antiques, contemporary art galleries, artisan food shops and clothing boutiques, giving Broadway one of the more interesting retail offers in the Cotswolds.

Worcestershire's orchards define much of the local food scene, and the Vale of Evesham around Broadway is known for its asparagus, grown on the light soils of the valley and celebrated with a dedicated season each spring when local menus fill with it. Local cider and perry, made from Worcestershire's traditional orchards, also turn up regularly on pub menus and at farm shops in the surrounding villages.

The village's dining ranges from Michelin-recognised country house cooking at the hotels above the village to unpretentious pub food in its historic inns. Russell's of Broadway, based in the former Gordon Russell furniture showroom on the High Street, has built a reputation for steaks and seafood in a design-led dining room, while the Broadway Hotel's Tattersalls Brasserie holds AA Rosette recognition for its more classic approach.

For a simpler pint and honest food, the Crown & Trumpet on Church Street is a genuine seventeenth-century village local with real ales and folk music nights, and several tea rooms along the High Street serve cream teas through the day. A farmers' market and farm shops in the surrounding villages sell Worcestershire produce, including local cheeses, orchard fruit and game in season, making it easy to put together a picnic for a walk up to the Tower.