If you are after a dog friendly Broadway Tower day out, you are in for a treat. Perched on one of the highest points in the Cotswolds at 313 metres above sea level, this quirky little folly gives you views across sixteen counties on a clear day, and your dog gets to enjoy every bit of the walk up to it. It is one of those places that looks like a fairy tale castle dropped onto a hilltop, and it happens to sit close enough to Tewkesbury that it makes an easy half day or full day trip, whether you are staying locally or just passing through the area.
We get asked a lot in the shop about where to take dogs that are used to plenty of space and fresh air, and a dog friendly Broadway Tower trip comes up again and again. It is not a manicured garden where you feel like you have to keep your dog glued to your side the whole time. It is open hillside, deer park and woodland, the kind of place a dog can properly stretch their legs.
Why a Dog Friendly Broadway Tower Visit Is Worth the Trip
Broadway Tower was built in 1798 as a folly for the Countess of Coventry, and over the years it has been used by William Morris as a countryside retreat and even by the Royal Observer Corps during the Cold War, when there was a secret nuclear bunker built right next to it. You can still go inside and see it today. The tower itself sits inside a small country park with a deer herd, café and gift shop, and the surrounding hilltop connects straight onto the Cotswold Way, the 102 mile national trail that runs the length of the Cotswold escarpment.
A dog friendly Broadway Tower visit really does mean dogs are very welcome around the grounds and on the circular walk around the deer park, on a lead to keep everyone, deer included, comfortable. The one place dogs cannot go is inside the Tower Museum itself, which is fair enough given the narrow stone stairs and the exhibits inside. Both cafes on site, Morris and Brown and the Tower Barn, allow dogs in their outdoor and covered seating, so you are not left standing outside with a lead in one hand and a flask in the other while everyone else warms up.
Getting to Broadway Tower, Parking and Practical Details
Broadway Tower sits at postcode WR12 7LB, and it is roughly 35 to 40 minutes’ drive from Tewkesbury via the A46 and A44, an easy run through some genuinely pretty countryside. There is plenty of on site parking at the Tower itself, run on a pay and display basis at £3 for up to four hours or £6 for the full day, open from 8am to 5pm.
If you would rather start your walk from a free car park and approach the tower on foot, the Fish Hill picnic area car park at postcode WR12 7LD is a popular starting point just off the A44, with toilets on site. From there it is a well used stretch of the Cotswold Way up to the tower, mostly grassy path with a bit of woodland, easy enough for most fitness levels and most dogs, though it is not stile free in places so older or smaller dogs may need a lift over the odd barrier.
One thing worth knowing before you go: livestock can graze this land at various points in the year, so it is worth keeping dogs on the lead unless you can see the ground ahead is clear, and always following any signage on site. There are no bins or water points along the open hillside stretch, so it is worth carrying your own water and bringing bags to take rubbish home with you.
Something to Do While You Are There
Beyond the tower and the views, there is a genuinely nice half day walk to be had simply following the Cotswold Way south from Fish Hill towards Broadway village itself, dropping down through Broadway Coppice before looping back. It is around 3.2 miles if you do the Fish Hill circuit, roughly an hour and a half at a relaxed dog walking pace, and it gives you a proper taste of the escarpment without committing to a full day’s hiking. If your dog is the sort that needs a proper run rather than a lead-only stroll, there are sections where you can let them off, though do check current signage for livestock first, as conditions change through the year.
Broadway village itself is a ten minute drive further on and worth a wander too, full of honey coloured Cotswold stone buildings, tea rooms and a good handful of dog friendly pubs if you fancy finishing your dog friendly Broadway Tower day with a proper sit down.
For the full official picture on opening times and current admission prices, Broadway Tower’s own website (https://broadwaytower.co.uk/location/) is the best source, and the National Trail website has a downloadable route map (https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/app/uploads/walk_2_broadway_tower_circular_walk_final.pdf) for the Cotswold Way circular walk from the tower if you want to plan the route properly before you set off.
Stopping at BTB Dog Supplies on the Way
If you are heading up towards Broadway from the Tewkesbury direction, or coming back down afterwards, we are a couple of minutes off Junction 9 of the M5 at Unit A, Newton Farm, Tewkesbury, GL20 7BE, directly opposite the Cotswold Designer Outlet. It is an easy stop to build into the day, whether that is on the way out to top up on treats for the walk, or on the way back if you have realised halfway round the hill that you are lower on food than you thought.
We are a dog only shop, so everything on the shelves is there because it is genuinely good for dogs, not just because it sells well. Come in, have a chat with the team, let your dog have a sniff around, and we will help you find whatever you need before you carry on with your holiday or head home. You can only feed the best you can, and a five minute stop off the motorway is a pretty painless way to make sure you have got it sorted before your next Cotswolds adventure.
