Bill Boaden, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Hook Norton and Great Tew: a day by car, with a brewery tour
A day by car from Banbury: the 10am tour of Hook Norton's Victorian tower brewery, lunch in its Malthouse Kitchen, the walk to the viaduct piers, then an afternoon in Great Tew and a meal at the Falkland Arms. Every day of the week, if you book the tour.
- 1 day by car, one driver
- Any day: book the 10am tour
- Brewery tour £25 (2026)
- About 25 miles (40km) driving
- Not for under-12s
Hook Norton and Great Tew
Day 1 · A brewery tour and lunch, a walk among the piers, then thatch and a pub on the green
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9.30am
9.30am Things to do 30 minutes here
Hook Norton Brewery
About 20 minutes from Banbury by car, by the A361 through Bloxham, then the brown signs to OX15 5NY. The shop opens at 8am, or 9am on Sundays. Wear flat, closed shoes.
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10am
10am Things to do 2 hours here
The brewery tour
£25, up to 10 people, about two hours: 90 minutes round the brewery, then half an hour's tasting. Over 100 open steps and no other route. In November 2026 the booking system showed 10am slots on every day we checked.
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Midday
Midday Things to do 20 minutes here
The museum and the Shire horses
The horses are in the brewery stables from Wednesday to Sunday, and in the fields behind on Mondays and Tuesdays, unless out at events. See the steam engine of 1899. The site publishes no separate museum hours.
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12.30pm
12.30pm Things to do 45 minutes here
Lunch at the Malthouse Kitchen
At the brewery. Lunch from midday, until 4.30pm, or 3.30pm on Sundays. Book on 01608 730384 at a weekend. The Sun Inn on High Street opens at midday, or 10am from Friday to Sunday, if you want a pub.
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1.15pm
1.15pm On foot
Hook Norton village and the viaduct piers
Walk from St Peter's down Bridge Hill, then out to the tall stone piers of the old railway viaduct, east of the village. The place guide has the route.
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2.15pm
2.15pm Village 15 minutes here
Great Tew
About 20 minutes by car. Use the car park the estate's map marks north of the Falkland Arms, and do not park on the verges. Download the three free walk maps before you leave home.
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2.30pm
2.30pm On foot
The shortest of the estate's three loops, from the Square along the track, down the side of the park and back up New Road past the turning for the church. The map gives no distance or surface, so wear boots.
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3.45pm
3.45pm Village 45 minutes here
St Michael's and the village
A long path leads up to the church. Quince and Clover's café is in the Old Post Office, but we found no published hours, so treat it as a bonus.
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5.30pm
5.30pm Eat and drink 1.5 hours here
Food at the Falkland Arms
On the green. The bar opens at 11am, and the kitchen reopens at 5.30pm every day until 8.30pm on weekdays, 9pm on Saturdays and 7.30pm on Sundays. Last table seating is 15 minutes before it closes.
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7pm
7pm Market town
Home to Banbury
About 25 minutes by car. The Falkland has seven rooms, if you would rather stay.
In more detail
These two ironstone villages lie a few miles apart, west of Banbury, and they fit well into one day, even though no bus connects them. Hook Norton has the brewery, which is a working Victorian tower with a steam engine of 1899. Great Tew has thatch, an estate and the pub on the green. Neither is in the Cotswolds National Landscape, though both get called Cotswold: is Banbury in the Cotswolds sets that straight. You drive about 25 miles (40km) by a routing engine's figures, and nobody from this guide has done the day for this page.
Which day, and booking the tour
This day works on any day of the week, because the first tour is at 10am and everything else fits around it. When we read the brewery's booking system (opens in a new tab) on 5 November 2026 it showed tours at 10am and 2pm on a Monday and a Thursday, on the hour from 10am to 3pm on a Saturday, and from 10am to 2pm on a Sunday. Some Saturday afternoon slots had already sold out two days ahead, so book first and plan after. These are November's slots: check yours. If you can only get a later tour, turn the day round, with Great Tew and lunch at the Falkland first. Its kitchen serves from midday to 2.30pm on weekdays, 3pm on Saturdays and 3.30pm on Sundays.
Hook Norton Brewery also has a gentler option for anyone who cannot manage the stairs: the Steep Brewery Experience, at 11am on the last Wednesday of each month, with a film, a Shire horse and a tasting. Its beer festival is another reason to pick a day, though not a quiet one.
Can you do it without a car?
Half of it. Stagecoach's 488 and 489 run from Banbury Bus Station, bay 7, to Hook Norton, with a stop named The Pear Tree Inn, in about 35 minutes. In November 2026 the 9.10am on a weekday and the 8.40am on a Saturday reach the village in time for the 10am tour. On a Sunday the first useful bus is the 9.40am, arriving about 10.10am, so book a later tour. The last back is about 6pm on weekdays and Saturdays and 5pm on Sundays.
Great Tew is the problem. Its only bus is the OurBus service to Chipping Norton on Wednesdays, so going between the two villages means a taxi, booked in advance, and another home. Most people without a car should do Hook Norton alone, and stay for a pint at the Sun Inn.
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Great Tew in the afternoon
The village is an estate with people living in it, so keep to the estate's three walks and the green. Read the ironstone villages story for why these houses are this colour. The Falkland Arms is a sixteenth-century Wadworth pub, with flagstones and an inglenook. The gap between its lunch and supper services is the thing to plan for, because on most days the kitchen shuts from 2.30pm or 3pm until 5.30pm. On a Sunday night food stops at 7.30pm, so come early.
If it rains, and what to skip
In the rain: the tour is indoors, as are the museum and the kitchen, so the morning does not change. Cut the walks, drive to Great Tew for an early supper or a pint, and go home. Chipping Norton Theatre is about 5 miles from Great Tew if you want an evening out.
What to skip: Soho Farmhouse, about a mile and a half from Great Tew on the map, is for members. You cannot look round, so walk the village instead, and read our guide to it if you are curious. Do not drive down the lanes looking for a better view of the cottages, and keep off the verges and cottage fronts, because people live here.
On a longer day: carry on to the Rollright Stones, normally open all year, £2 for an adult, or see the best pubs near Banbury for another stop on the way home.