Oxfordshire has a contrast of landscapes, and although the county has a visible unity to it, within that unity it has a mix of sights and landscapes. The county is bracketed in the west and the south-east by two quite distinct downlands: the Cotswolds, with their rolling, pastured, limestone hills dotted with honey-coloured villages, and the Chilterns, wooded, chalk hills with villages and random hamlets. Between these two sets of hills lies a low, green plain watered by innumerable rivers and brooks, all finding their way down to the Thames, which delimits Oxfordshire’s southern border, presided over by the City of Oxford. The sort of walk you are facing is very different in different parts of the county.
The Oxfordshire Way is a long-distance walk which explores the whole width of the county, from the Cotswolds, across the plain to the Thames at the foot of the Chilterns. There are many smaller, village walks and day walks though to be explored, which will be built up under this heading.