Cheese Trail Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Have questions? We have answers!
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Nope! Visiting the Cheese Trail is like travelling wine country – but cheesier! You choose the stops you want to visit during their regular hours. Cheesemakers often have samples out for customers to try, cultural stops are by donation, and you choose what you would like to purchase including artisan goods, meals, unique experiences, and tasty treats to bring home.
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Pack a cooler to bring your delicious treats home with you. For clothing it depends on your stops. If going to rural stops you will encounter gravel parking lots and opportunities for outdoor fun so wear comfortable shoes and clothing appropriate for the weather.
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The Cheese Trail does not run on a particular day and is available year-round. These are businesses that are open with regular hours and their cheese offers are available for purchase. The trail is best explored Thursday – Saturday as most stops are open during that period.
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The time you spend at each stop depends on what activities you choose to do. If trying samples or visiting an artisan shop plan on 30-45 minutes. If enjoying a tour or other pre-booked experience they often range from 1-2 hours in length. Most people visit 5 stops in a day.
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Visitors typically have time to visit 5 stops in a day if travelling to businesses close to each other. With 32 stops on the trail that means you can make multiple trips to explore the region! When you look at the Cheese Trail brochure stops are in order travelling east to west and are further broken into hubs; Blandford-Blenheim, Woodstock, Gunn’s Hill, Tillsonburg and Ingersoll. You can visit one hub or combine two of them as the travel time between hubs is short. This minimizes your driving making the most of your day!
- Starting at Blandford-Blenheim (Thames River Melons), it takes 12 minutes to drive to the next hub, Woodstock (Brickhouse Brewpub).
- Woodstock, Ingersoll, and Gunn’s Hill hubs are all within a 15 minute drive from each other.
- Gunn’s Hill (Jakeman’s Maple Farm) to the Tillsonburg hub (Red Dragon Dairy) is a 12 minute drive.
- Tillsonburg (Red Dragon Dairy) back up to Ingersoll (Elm Hurst Inn) is a 7 minute drive.
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You can explore the Cheese Trail any day but several stops are closed on Sundays and Mondays. It’s always best to check with a business before visiting as the Cheese Trail does include some smaller entrepreneurs whose hours can vary. See which stops are open on Sundays here.
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If someone in your travel group has a dietary restriction you can still have fun on the trail touring museums, meeting farm animals, dining at restaurants, picking your own veggies, felting soap and exploring artisan shops. If they have a limitation for specific types of dairy you will want to check out the variety we have. You will find sheep, goat, and buffalo milk and cow dairy items along the trail. If someone in your group is lactose intolerant be sure to visit Habitual Chocolate who does offer dairy free chocolate, hot chocolate and ice cream (we all deserve a treat!).
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The Cheese Trail is a self-guided tour of 32 stops featuring cheese, dairy and related offerings for visitors to experience. Visit cheese makers, restaurants, local food producers, museums, artisans and boutiques for a pleasant afternoon, day or weekend in Oxford.
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No, there is not a tour guide for the Cheese Trail. It is self-guided with you choosing who you would like to visit. That said our team is available to provide advice for you plan a memorable trip.
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Cheese tours are offered regularly by Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese (book online) and Mountainoak Cheese (call to book). If you are looking to book one of our experiences, we encourage you to check out the Cheese Trail Experiences below:
- Soap & Solace Experience; Wild Comfort Body Care
- A Taste of Farm Life; Goat Recess, Alpaca picnics and more; Udderly Ridiculous Farm Life
- Chocolate Bark Experience; Habitual Chocolate
- Chef’s Table; SixThirtyNine
- Churn Back Time; Norwich & District Museum & Archives
- Harvest Brunch, Meet the Bees; Thames River Melons
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Absolutely! We’re in the office Monday-Friday between 8am and 4pm. Send us an email letting us know when you are coming, proposed arrival time that day (we suggest 9am-10am), and what your group enjoys doing. If you give us a week’s notice before your trip it really helps us provide the best guidance. We want you to have a GRATE time!