Joanel

Any know of a tour that takes you around the cotswold area and does it over several days. not interested in just a day trip or a private car (can't afford).

thanks

mclaurie

Somebody recently mentioned tourgems.com

vstanton

Having been to the Cotswold on 4 different occasions we found the best way was to rent a self catering cottage and rent a car. The cottages in Stanton were great and allowed us easy access to Morton on Marsh, Stow on the Wold, Upper & Lower Slaughter, Bourton on Water, Great Tew and many other wonderful Cotswold villages.

Joanel

not particularly anxious to drive!

tudorprincess

I'm with Joanel, I don't want to drive but want to see the Cotstwolds. Frames Rickards has a day tour that goes to Bourton on the Water, Stow on the Wold and Burford plus the gardens at Blenheim Palace. I asked on a previous thread about Cheltenham by train but got no responses. Would Cheltenham give you a good overview of the Costwolds or should I go for the tour? Also, is it as charming in February?

Joanel

DOn't want a day tour from London to the cotswolds. want to be able to stay somewhere in the cotswolds and take day tours from there around the cotswolds.

bettyk

Joanel, if you look at this website and click on Romantic Road on the lefthand side of the screen, there is info about a couple of single day tours you can take.

http://www.visitcheltenham.info/

You can also use public transportation to get around as shown in this website:

http://www.the-cotswolds.org/top/eng...transport.html

Here is a single day tour that departs from London:

http://www.people2places.co.uk/londo...wolds_tour.htm

Hope this helps.

kvadragon

Hi Joanel-

I'm not sure what your budget is but Genny from Tourgems (www.tourgems.com)offers several different tours around the Cotswolds. She has set tours or you can create your own. The site has some good info and/or you can e-mail her. Hope that helps!

kvmdragon

mclaurie

That was what I posted about at the top of the thread. Don't know if you mean you can't afford a private car to drive yourself or this option.

Here are some more cos.

http://www.visit-glos.org.uk/trade/TourOps.php?acctype=

taggie

For anyone considering a coach day tour from London to the Cotswolds, bear in mind that on most of them (like Evenevans or FramesRickards) the longest stop is about 90 minutes (in Bourton). The other 2-3 stops are only about 20 minutes. It takes a long time for all the passengers to get picked up in the morning.
I found a better option was to take the London Walks Explorer Day. You meet the guide, take a train, then a bus meets you to drive around the area. The walking part is not strenuous. I thought this was the next best alternative to a private guide. We spent a couple of hours in Chipping Campden (strolled down a country lane into the town). Later in the afternoon we walked between Upper and Lower Slaughter (on a path and across fields). We also drove through Stowe and Broadway, and past Snowshill. I've travelled fairly extensively in that area by car on a few occasions. This last trip I was not able to drive, but found the Explorer Day quite a good alternative given my circumstances.

tudorprincess - Cheltenham is a very nice town, but going there on the train will not give you any overview of the Cotswolds. You need something that will take you into the villages. And that means a car or a tour bus, since those are the only transport options for that part of England.

Here is a site that has links to many UK tour operators:
http://www.britainexpress.com/great_...s/tour-ops.htm

I have come across tours of the area that operate out of Moreton-in-Marsh, Cheltenham and Stowe-on-the-Wold in the past, but I haven't bookmarked them so I can't give you the links. However, I suggest contacting the Tourism offices in these areas - I'm sure they will help.
Try this site for Cheltenham:
http://www.visit-glos.org.uk/cities/cheltenham.htm

Also, here is an email address that might be helpful:
[email protected]

Of course in February it won't have quite the appeal of the spring/summer (gardens won't be in bloom), but it's still worth seeing.

adamsparks

The drive really isn't bad at all--in fact it was a snap. We enjoyed it and it gave us time to do what we liked to do.

tudorprincess

Thank you very much taggie. I'll look into your websites. We've already decided to us London Walks while in London. I'm still afraid to drive in England but I want to see the Cotswolds and not for 20min. I've been on those tours and I missed most of Stratford because of it.

nancy

Check out Rick Steve's England guidebook. Although he says (and I agree) seeing the Cotswold without a car is a pain, you can take a train to Moreton-in-Marsh and catch busses from there. Barring this idea, your travel agent ought to know of multi-day/overnight tours. You could enter Cotswold into Google and see what you come up with. The problem will probably be the price of a tour with overnights. I agree with others that day tours out of London are way too fast.

vstanton

Just to let you know as we sat in our dining room at our cottage in Stanton we watched the tour buses drive by. Too bad they didn't stop so you could walk through this tiny medieval town. Driving is OK & easier than I though because you sit on the opposite of the car, I had to get used to looking to the left to see the rear view mirror & to shift with my left hand, but it did not take long. Only way to go if you really want to spend some time in the villages in the area.

JaninSF

My husband and I took a tour of the Cotswolds with Backroads travel. There were only six people in our group. We spent four days. Stayed in a pub in one town and toured from there. It was wonderful. The group was congenial, the food was good and the mini-bus was comfortable.

cigalechanta

janin, that sounds great and staying at the pub appeals to me. Friends from England drove me there but it was not like driving on your own to stop at all the wonderful antique/junk shops.

mari5

My husband and I always have a car,,,HOWEVER it CAN be done on your own with the bus system. My friend, who has been to England 27 times stayed in Burford or Cheltenham??, I believe ,and took various day trips, using the buses and going to various villages. It worked out fine.,, and just involved some research.
Oh, the Cotswolds are wonderful,,,no matter HOW you go about visiting.

Joanel

Backroads appears to only have walking or biking tours? not what we want.
thanks anyway