Beautiful Oxfordshire must be one of the most charming counties in the whole of the British Isles. As well as being our flying area, it offers fantastic and varied walking. Oxfordshire encompasses walks in the ironstone villages of North Oxfordshire, the clay vale of Aylesbury, the beech woods of the Chiltern Hills, the open downland of the area close to Berkshire, Cotswold villages, and the riverbank of the Thames.

Try the wonderful Thames path, which meanders through our area on its way down to the coast. The Path is one of England's newest National Trails and one of the most varied and accessible of the country's long-distance paths. The Countryside Agency's acorn waymarks lead the walker through tranquil water meadows, past the dreaming spires of Oxford. Further downstream, the Thames at Henley also makes for enjoyable and fascinating waterside walking.

Oxfordshire is a large county, and you can walk in parts of the Cotswolds, Chilterns and North Wessex Downs, all Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Within its boundaries you will also find ancient forests, areas of wilderness, ironstone uplands, peaceful vales and a host of delightful villages. All are well watered by the tranquil Thames and its charming tributaries: Cherwell, Evenlode and Windrush.

Perhaps our favourite area is the Oxfordshire Cotswolds in the north of the county. Here, in England's heartland, are rich green undulating wolds, which turn to gently waving golden fields of wheat in summer before the harvests. This rich colour is reflected in the warm attractive limestone from which many of the lovely sleepy villages are built, although the stone in Oxfordshire has a silver grey hue compared to the rich honey colours of the Gloucestershire Cotswolds. Nestling in the folds of the hills these welcoming villages often provide a pleasant surprise, as they are hidden until you descend from the hillsides into the valleys of streams such as the Evenlode and Windrush.

To the north east of Burford lie the remnants of the once impressive royal hunting forest of Wychwood. Overlooking the beautiful Evenload Valley this is excellent walking country and the picturesque villages of Shipton-under-Wychwood and Milton-under-Wychwood are well worth visiting. Southern Oxfordshire reaches down to the Vale of White Horse and the Berkshire Downs in the west and the Chilterns near Henley-on-Thames in the east. The open downland of rolling green hills and big skies makes for exhilarating walking. Uffington, with its famous White Horse and Letcombe Regis are good locations for walking in the Berkshire Downs area. In the Chilterns Pishill, Stonor Park, Watlington Hill and Christmas Common are attractive locations.