Bath/Cotswolds
 

We have 5 days in mid-September in the UK before heading home. Do you think 2 nights in Bath and 2 nights in the Cotswolds is doable without a car? I looked into a bus tour from London and it seemed to be more time spent on the bus than anywhere else!

We will be arriving from Paris either by the Eurostar or by air. Do we need to go to Paddington to pick up a train in either case?

Many thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Sandra

Check www.nationalrail.co.uk for train schedules- Yes Paddington for Bath - short Tube ride from Eurostar station at St Pancras Int'l or short 20-minute train from Heathrow (but don't fly - Eurostar trains are faster all in all.

Check the National Rail site above for discounted tickets that can be much cheaper than just showing up and buying (always possible however as there are so many trains) - I'd go to Bath first then Cotswolds - for lots on British trains check www.seat61.com -www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com -book those Eurostar tickets way early to to save tons of money- www.eurostar.com.

For Bath you need to use Paddington. For the few stations in the Cotswolds it would be Paddington. For Oxford you can use Paddington or Marylebone.

To get to the Cotswolds from Bath the easiest is train to Cheltenham (though I would not stay in Cheltenham)

While Bath and the Cotswolds are relatively near each other, they are not that easy to manage car-less. Both are easily reached from London.

Are you dead set against driving for at least a few days? Because touring the cotswolds by car is very easy. You don't need or want a car in Bath, but you could pick up a car as you leave Bath and drive around the Cotswolds for a couple of days then drive back to LHR, drop the car and fly home.

Public transport is limited in the area of the Cotswolds but not nonexistent. What do you have in mind for the 2 nights?

If walks appeal to you I can suggest some around Bath to spend the nights elsewhere, then return to Bath. Mid-September would be a nice time to walk and you can leave your luggage at your Bath hotel, just carry essential in a day pack. The very best way to see the countryside, IMO.

Or there are ways to get to other parts of the Cotswolds though may be time consuming. For instance, there are trains from Bath to Cheltenham, then onward local buses (I wouldn't recommend Cheltenham as a destination itself).

Rather than bore you with details if walking doesn't appeal, ask if it's of interest and I'll add possibilities.

janis - are there bus tours of the Cotswolds from towns with rail service- like Stow-in-the-Wold, a cute historic Cotswold wool town?

Oops I meant Moreton-in-Marsh not Stow which may not have a rail station.

Anyway - if not wanting to rent a car which Cotswolds town with rail access would have group excursions around Cotswolds -does Rabies do Cotswold tours?

As corrected, the closest station to Stow is Moreton-in-Marsh, about 5 miles away. I prefer Chipping Campden to either of those towns and it's accessible by train from Honeybourne station (1 change at Reading from Bath) if a taxi into town is arranged.

If we knew more about what interests you in particular in the Cotswolds it would be useful for suggesting a location and how to get there. As mentioned, walking, for instance, or gardens, historic houses (more difficult without a car). If your interest is general then that would be good to know too.

Or, I don't think 3 nights (or even all 4, only 3 full days) would be too much in Bath.

You could spend the entire time in Bath and use Mad Max for a day trip or two. Great tours. http://www.madmaxtours.co.uk And you don't waste dime on the coach driving out from London like most tours.

If you want to get to rural Cotswolds villages/towns and stay as opposed to just touring through on a coach, you are either going to have to drive or rely on the limited bus service from rail heads. Moreton in Marsh for the east side and Cheltenham over on the west. . . . OR fork over £££ for a private driver.

Not that you want my opinion, but those Mad Max tours from Bath look very good.

Those tours might very well be the solution (especially failing interest in more active pursuits) and no need to move from Bath, a very nice place to stay put for 4 nights.

>>And you don't waste <B>time</B> . . . <<

As Janisj suggests, you could do Mad Max from Bath.

It was a long, but lovely day, with plenty of time in several places for nice walks and a good stop for lunch. You get on that tour in Bath, so stay an extra night in Bath, no change of hotels. I felt we saw a lot and walked a good bit. Probably the easiest way to get a tast of some of the Cotswolds villages. It is not a coach tour. They use a mini bus, so it is small groups.

I don't know what they offer now. We did one that went to Stonehenge first thing in the morning (for DH) and Cotswolds by early lunch and the afternoon for villages. If they offered one that just does the Cotswolds villages, I would take that and skip Stonehenge. However, even though that was not my interest, it was still a great day.

It is certainly easier than returning to London for a tour.

They have expanded the options and now do an all day tour JUST to the Cotswolds, among others. If you stay the entire time in Bath you 1) wouldn't have to pack and move, 2) would have easy assess from/to LHR by Express coach, 3) not have to schlepp multi trains/buses to get around, and 4) would have time for maybe two of the day tours.

I just looked over the link Janisj posted. I think they have changed the tours a bit since we did one, but we did one similar to number 1. If you wanted to see Stonehenge, it is great, but sorry to say, I have little interest in stones, no matter how important they are, so would prefer number 2 with more time in villages. I do highly recommend Mad Max tours.

If you want to fly from Paris to Bath, it would be better to fly to Bristol Airport, which is around 15 miles from Bath. While Eurostar is the best for Paris to London journeys, flying is a reasonable alternative if you are travelling to parts of the U.K. outside London, on both price and journey time grounds.

There is a regular direct bus from Bristol Airp;ort to Bath, or you could get a taxi.

>>If you want to fly from Paris to Bath, it would be better to fly to Bristol Airport, which is around 15 miles from Bath. <<

That's true -- if you don't want any time in London, no need to fly into LHR.

I can vouch for Mad Max. DH and I had a wonderful time on a Mad Max tour in May 2016. We booked one that visited only the Cotswolds and highly recommend the company if, like us, you do not want to drive. As it turned out the Badminton Horse Trials were going on at the same time so the itinerary changed a bit to avoid that. Colin, our driver/guide, took us to Bampton which was used for some Downton Abbey exteriors and we missed Tetbury. Fortunately we were still able to visit Castle Coombe, Bibury and Burford, with time for lunch at Burford.

We spent 4 nights in Bath which gave us 2 full days there and the 3rd day was the tour. It worked out very well. We booked Taxi2Flight to drive us from Heathrow to Bath with a stop at Stonehenge. That was a place we could visit jet lagged and enjoyed it but I wouldn't have given up time in the Cotswolds for it.

Thank you all for your wonderful recommendations! We will use Bath as our base and Madmaxx's tour in Wednesday of the Cotswold.

Any hotel and restaurant recommendations would be welcome in addition to must-see sights. I have read Persuasion, which is what sparked my interest in Bath. We are also aware of the Roman baths��.

Thanks again for your valuable help!

Sandra

There are a number of walking tours in Bath. Some are sponsored by the city. They are free and wonderful! They are done by the Mayor of Bath Honorary Guides. Look on line for the times, usually mid-morning and afternoon. They meet in front of the pump rooms (mentioned by Austen) in the Abby church yard. I generally do not like tours, but IMHO, this was a "do not miss" tour/walk. You might want to tip the guide.

A nice combo was the walk in the morning and the baths in the afternoon. The Abby and pump room are right there, so you can see them at the same time. The Abby is spectacular.