spudley

We are still working on our itinerary for our trip to the UK, landing in LHR, which stands as follows:
3 days London
3 days Bath
7 days Fariford, Cotswolds (booked & committed), with a car
3 days London
4 days Dublin (booked & committed)

We are two, retired, active Canadians, planning on taking advantage of the many walks in the Cotswolds, and are travelling with some budgetary considerations, but "we will be thrifty, not cheap", as my Scottish friend told me!
We have previously visited London several times, and as such is a lower priority for this trip, although we did LOVE London! We are flying in from Canada so wanted to start slow, but were wondering if we should stay somewhere else, close to Bath?
Salisbury?
Stay for entire 6 days in Bath at the beginining of the trip?
Chippenham for 6 days?
Any thoughts or suggestion would be really appreciated.
Thanks & Cheers!

janisj

No one can really answer that for you. You can actually see all the main sites in Bath in one full day. But it is a beautiful place to stay if you just want some down time as well.

One thing I would suggest - find a way to put all you London days together. Packing and moving an additional time just causes more hassle.

How are you getting to Dublin? Is it already booked? There are other options besides flying out of London. i.e. you could fly to Dublin from Birmingham which is close to the Cotswolds. Or from Bristol which is close to both Bath and the Cotswolds.

So you could do London first for 6 days, then collect a car, visit the Cotswolds for your week, then Bath for 3 days and fly from Bristol to Dublin.

michele_d

We really enjoyed staying in Wells with its beautiful cathedral and greens. We took a day trip to Bath and thought it worked out great. Our B&B in Wells was right on the green. Lovely little town.

texasbookworm

Have you been to Oxford? Don't miss it, as you are headed in that direction. From Bath, I too highly recommend Wells, and Glastonbury is a bit touristy but the Abbey is well worth a visit. And if you haven't been to Stonehenge and to Salisbury, those are two of my favorite spots, so definitely put them on your "near Bath" itinerary.

So...not sure if any of those suggested sites would work, no matter what order you decide, but they are some of my favorites in the "near Bath" area (ok, Oxford's not really "near Bath"--but it's between London and Bath and not to be missed, IMHO!)

To me, there's something very attractive about having a base (like Bath maybe) from which to do day trips, as the time involved in returning "home" is better than the time involved in moving, checking in, unpacking, repacking, etc. I've done both--used someplace as a base AND drove loops with several 1-2 night stands. Each method has its perks, but in your case I'd say that you could definitely have a few bases and still be able to do lots of day trips to see plenty. Happy travels and do post a TR!

spudley

Thanks all for input.
We are booked for 7 nights in Fairford, Cotswold with Airbnb, and our flight London-Dublin is also committed, as we used FF points for our trip to and from Canada, and added Dublin for little extra expense.
Planning on renting a car from Fairford to do much of the "northern Cotswolds", i.e. Oxford, and then use trains/buses from Bath to do near-Bath towns.
Comments are kinda what I am asking if we combine one city for the first 6 days...i.e. Bath or Chippenham, and finish with 3 days in London, where is the best place to base out of?
Any more thoughts or suggestions is really appreciated, as I am going in circles trying to figure out what to decide.
Will definitely post a TR!
Thanks!

bvlenci

From Bath, you can take a day trip to Salisbury, as well as a day trip to Wells (which I agree is lovely). I wouldn't want to spend six days in Bath itself.

Salisbury is another good base, with day trip possibilities to Bath, Wells, Stonehenge, Avebury, and several other places.

janisj

>>Planning on renting a car from Fairford <<

Fairford is a very small town (be sure to check out the cat gravestone in the churchyard) Are you sure you can get here w/o a car and then rent one?

I knew your Fairford dates were set which is why I laid things out the way I did. But since you must fly out of LHR I'd do it this way:

6 days in London. Public Transport out to LHR to collect your car. Drive to Fairford for your week. Three days in Bath. Drive to LHR. Drop car and fly to DUB. Or you could drop the car in Bath (there are usually no drop off fees) and take the Express coach to LHR.

If you really don't want to do London first. Then Express coach to Bath. two days car-less IN Bath, then collect a car for your third day there, to explore Wells/Glastonbury/etc. Drive to Fairford for your week. Drop car in either Oxford (in the city is not the easiest place to drive) and train to London -- OR -- drive to LHR (longer but a straightforward/easy drive. A little over an hour unless it is a weekday morning w/ the commute traffic) and take the tube into town.

spudley

Thanks again for assistance.
Agree with most of the points, and decided to amend itinerary....
4 nights London
2 nights Oxford
pick up car and drive
7 nights Fairford
drop car off
3 nights Bath
train to LHR
4 nights in Dublin
I think this is a great plan for us, really appreciate all the suggestions!!!!

janisj

Looks good

only one teensy issue:
>>3 nights Bath
train to LHR<<

There is no train from Bath to LHR. You'll either have to take a train to Reading or to Paddington. From Reading a bus to LHR - from Paddington a train to LHR.

Easier, cheaper (and faster in the long run) is to catch the Express coach from Bath direct to LHR.

spudley

Thanks janisj, noted, will research the Express Coach!