Karen

We will be spending a week in London and then hope to drive around the Cotswolds and Bath the second week...Where would you suggest we pick up a car? Obviously out of London but Bath seems to be so congested...I wonder if that is smart...I know that December is not the best month to travel but would you suggest any other areas nearby....any good recomendations about B and B's in the Cotswolds...thanks so much...this forum has been such a help in planning, learning and dreaming....karen

Karen

Hi from one Karen to another!<BR><BR>Well, I am going to London/England in January, so I haven't done it yet, but based on research on this board and other places, this is what we are doing:<BR><BR>We are renting a car after spending a week in London, and picking it up at Heathrow. We will take the train out to Heathrow and just leave and head to Salisbury/Stonehenge from there (then to Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, and Oxford on the way back to London). People on this board pretty much agreed that this idea was much better than driving out from the city, and there are major highways right near the airport that lead toward Bath and Cotswolds. <BR><BR>(If you go to the British Airways website, they have a good deal on rental cars with Hertz, even if you are not flying them. It's cheaper than the Hertz.com website).<BR><BR>As far as B&amp;Bs go, we are playing it by ear because it won't be crowded in winter, but to research them, try the following websites:<BR><BR>http://www.travelengland.org.uk/<BR>http://www.smoothhound.co.uk/<BR><BR>You can search these sites by area, town, or price etc, and I have a bunch of options I am bringing with me. <BR><BR>Hope this helps!<BR><BR>Happy travels,<BR>Karen

JohnL

We took the train from London to Chentelham and rented a car there. Costwolds are lovely even in the cold but be aware some places to visit will be closed so check your guidebooks first.

Karen

Hi Karen...we not only share the name but our trips are looking very much alike...Most of the towns you mentioned we would like to visit also...they are some of the ones we missed on previous trips...Thank you for the advice to get our car at Heathrow and then head out...I was concerned that many of the B and B's would be closed in December but it looks good...your travel sites were great also...thanks so much for helping us... John...Cheltenham is lovely...thanks for the advice to check for availability...more homework to do...karen

Dan

We rented our car at heathrow and made for oxford. This was very easy and had a nice relaxing 1 hour to get used to driving on the other side of the road (and car)before braving smaller streets. Into and out of heathrow was pretty easy with the car.