The second weekend in September is certainly one to circle in the calendar if you’re considering a weekend to Broadway, as it’s packed with two classic village events.
The Saturday sees the a lovely display of locally grown fruits, vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants, plus baked goods, jams and craft items at the Broadway Horticultural and Craft Show
Sunday 12 September sees the seventh annual Broadway Food Festival with local artisan producers, cooking demonstrations by chefs from the excellent local hotels and restaurants, as well as tasting sessions pairing local food and drink products.
With delicious food to go, discover the best of local food and drink on the beautiful village green. Stallholders and stands are carefully selected from a deluge of applicants, where a careful eye is given to quality, variety, & innovation, meaning you’ll get to choose from only the best.
With free admission, it’s a great day out for all the family pottering around a pretty Cotswold village with all sorts of lovely foodie treats.
If you appreciate real beauty in nature and have a love for old towers, Broadway Tower is one of the best places to visit and also one of the most popular. It’s one of England’s outstanding viewpoints, standing at 1,024 feet above sea level, and the second highest point on the Cotswold escarpment.
If it’s great views you love, make sure to go to the roof of the tower to take in the breath-taking scene of panoramic rolling countryside. At the top, try to see how many English counties you can spot…
Across the three floors of the tower you can learn all about the interesting history, which reveals a time when the tower housed a printing press, and once kept one of the largest personal collections of rare literature and books in the 19th Century.
Broadway Tower is also conveniently located on the Cotswold Way so makes for the perfect place to begin a walk or hike. If you prefer not to do much, it’s a great excuse to take the family outdoors to enjoy a scenic picnic. There’s a good chance you’ll spot wild red deer roaming around. Don’t forget your camera when you do visit Broadway Tower, as you’ll be witnessing one of the best views in the Cotswolds.
Shopping in Broadway is an experience you’ll always remember. The Cotswolds offers the perfect retail therapy for shopaholics with its impressive selection of fashion boutiques, homeware stores offering local handmade crafts and souvenir gift shops.
For the serious spenders, strewn across Broadway High Street you’ll find an eclectic mix of high fashion outlet stores, Michelin star restaurants, antique art galleries, and a luxury perfumery; all are within short walking distance of one another making it suitable for those with disabilities.
The majority of shops in Broadway are independently owned, and with that, you’ll find they offer a unique and personal shopping experience that will become an unforgettable part of your stay in the Cotswolds.
To discover exactly what shops you can expect to find awaiting you in Broadway, browse the various categories on the official guide website for visitors.
Feel free to browse through the categories below to discover all the exciting shops that await you in Broadway.
If you are looking for an educational and cultural experience, there are many fascinating museums in Broadway which give you the opportunity to relive its rich history. In its infancy as an ideal stopping place for hunter/gatherers, the village played a starring role in the development of early British settlement.
For the passionate arts historian, you can visit the spectacular Broadway Museum and Art Gallery where you’ll travel back in time through the centuries, beginning at the seventeenth leading up to the present day, or you can take a trip to the Gordon Russell Museum and marvel at the beautiful period furniture that once encapsulated the Arts and Crafts movement in the village. There is so much to learn about Broadway that you will need to come back just to find out more!
Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 August is the weekend for car lovers to descend on the village as the annual car show weekend returns.
It feels like a marriage made in heaven when combining super and classic cars with the beautiful Broadway setting. Thankfully, others think so too which is why Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 August hosts the Broadway Car Show Weekend.
Saturday will be devoted to modern supercars so visitors can expect a display of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Bentleys, Morgans and Aston Martins with Sunday displaying classic sports cars.
Exhibitors embark on an optional drive through the Cotswolds culminating with a parade of supercars through the village before parking up on the High Street and The Green.
Aside from the cars, The Lygon Arms will host a lunchtime charity fashion show by Slate Clothing and there’s plenty happening on The Green with street food on sale, a jazz band playing and memorabilia on sale.
For those wishing to get ‘hands-on’, how does taking a Morgan sports car for quick drive around the surrounding area sound, or instead be driven by one of their professional drivers?
You’ll need popcorn for this one! Following the success of our open-air cinema screening last year, we are delighted to confirm they will be back again and this year, they are coming to Broadway! This year, we’ll be giving you the chance to have your say on what film is shown, so keep an eye on our Facebook page.
Why not make an evening of it and go for a meal in the town before the film starts? Broadway has plenty of eateries to choose from no matter whether you fancy fish and chips, Indian or a seasonal British menu – to name just a few. Get a flavour for Russell’s Restaurant by reading our interview with Andrew, the man behind the business.
The open-air cinema will come to Broadway on Friday 27 August on the Village Green. To learn the dates and locations of our other open-air cinemas, keep an eye on our website www.valeandspa.co.uk
On Good Friday, 30 March 2018, the golden age of steam rail returned to Broadway, 58 years after the last train pulled out of its picturesque old station. Broadway’s station was demolished by British Rail in 1963 and since 2009 volunteer workers of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (GWR) have been painstakingly rebuilding the station and restoring it to its former glory.
Today, visitors can now enjoy steam and heritage diesel trains between Cheltenham Racecourse and Broadway through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Cotswolds. The line commands wonderful views of the nearby sleepy hamlets and villages, with outstanding outlooks across to the Malvern Hills and beyond.
With themed events running and driver experiences available, the short walk from the village centre up to the station is an absolute must!
If you’re thinking of suggestions for somewhere to take the kids for the afternoon, Broadway has a fantastic and well-equipped activity park for all ages to enjoy.
The recreation park, located at the top of the high street, attracts people from all over to bring their kids for a day out. There are lots of great facilities on offer – a large climbing wall, an all-weather surface cage for football, basketball and netball, swings, and plenty of other climbing apparatus to explore. If you have energetic children who love running around, this is a great way to tire them out whilst they have fun!
Kids will love the zipwire, navigating themselves through the space net, and the grass pitch to run around on. There’s also a smaller play area for younger children to play on. With ample seating all around, you can watch over them while they play as you sit and enjoy some peace in the beautiful surrounding countryside.
The picnic areas and benches all around make it an ideal place to bring a family packed lunch to make a real day of it. It’s free to visit so there’s no better reason to come. Bring the family and watch your children have an actioned packed day of fun at Broadway Activity Park.
For those who prefer the slow-paced thrill of travelling on foot; the Cotswold Way is a 102 mile (164 km) long distance footpath that runs along the Cotswold Edge escarpment, offering breath-taking views of the quintessential English countryside. The Cotswold Way begins in Bath and runs northeast through Broadway, before making its final descent into Chipping Campden.
First suggested over 50 years ago by local Ramblers, it wasn’t until May 2007 that the Cotswold Way became recognised as a National Trail. Since then, it’s become the best way to experience most of the Cotswolds, not to mention it costs nothing!
The towns that are accessed on the trail are: Bath, Old Sodbury, Wotton-under-Edge, Dursley, Stroud, Painswick, Cranham, Leckhampton, Cheltenham, Winchcombe, Stanway, Broadway and Chipping Campden. Whether you are a seasoned walker or not, it’s a fantastic way to see many of the beautiful Cotswold towns and villages. It can even be broken up into shorter routes so that everyone, regardless of walking ability, can enjoy the Cotswold Way.
For inspiration about what to do along the way, make sure you pop into the Broadway Tourist Information centre. The friendly volunteers will ensure you get the most out of your time in the area.
If you’re looking for something to take away from your visit to Broadway, then it’s certainly worth considering stopping by Bloomery to undertake one of their florist workshops in their lovely light, bright and airy studio just outside of Broadway on the Farncombe Estate. It’s a great environment where you can discover the enjoyment of creating a beautiful arrangement with their expert help.
With new classes introduced for 2021 and also sessions teaming with other local artisans, guests will be spoilt for choice. Workshops include dried flower wreath, moss art, vase arrangement, dried flower cloche, dried flower bouquet, summer hand tied arrangement, summer wreath, terrarium, flower crown, and field to vase and floristry workshop – wow!
Don’t be fooled into thinking there’s just 10 things to do in the village. If you’re looking for even more inspiration, check out these 50 reasons as to why the proud people of Broadway feel you should visit.
