Plus - the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway will be filled to the gills . . .

doesn't that apply to everywhere on a bank hol?

bet there'd be a bit of room on Camber sands!

oops -- That's what I get for hijacking someone else's thread...

Our trip's not until July.

Thanks for the suggestions, though!

Thanks so much for all your helpful responses. It sounds like a trip out to the Cotswolds might fit the bill for this upcoming weekend.

I must admit that I am a little overwhelmed at choosing which exact town to select as our base. Is Stow-on-the-Wold a good location? It appears to be in the western part...

Also, am I correct in my thinking that if we train there, we'll then need to rent a car to properly explore the area?

Stow-on-the-Wold is actually on the north east part of the Cotswolds and is at the heart of the area which tends to be overrun by visitors seeking the 'genuine Cotswold experience'.

In addition, held over 4 days this weekend is the Badminton Horse Trials. Now Badminton is in the south west of the Cotswolds, but quite a few hotels, B&Bs and inns throughout the region will be booked up with Badminton afficionados.

Rather than train to Moreton-in-Marsh or Charlbury, the usual gateways to the Cotswolds, you could consider taking the train to Stroud or Stonehouse. Midway between Stroud and Stonehouse station is this car hire place...

http://www.practical.co.uk/locations...oud/rental.asp

...and you could walk from Stonehouse station or take a taxi from Stroud for under £10.

You could drive to Bourton-on-the-Water, Stow, Moreton, the Slaughters, etc within an hour or so, or just explore the western fringes of Gloucestershire.

You'd have Berkeley Castle, Cattle Country Adventure Park for the children, Owlpen Manor, ancient burial tumps near Uley, the cathedral town of Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa, plus many small and beautiful unspoilt villages to explore. There's a great brewery in Uley - check out the Rose and Crown. (Or is that in Nympsfield? anyway the villages are only a couple of miles apart and neither has more than 2 pubs, but Uley is the one with the local brew.) The pub in Selsley has excellent local ales as does the Bear in Bisley, to name just two of many.

I can't help much with accommodation, but a good B&B guide will help or just checking local tourist information centres (google the place name followed by the words tourist information) and you'll find plenty and hopefully there will be some available. Here are a few links to get you started...

http://www.stilwell.co.uk/show_town.asp?Q=bb%7CL4110067

http://www.cotswolds.info/accommodat...lodgings.shtml

http://www.bedandbreakfast-directory...otels37164.htm

http://www.totaltravel.co.uk/travel/...y/bedbreakfast

As julia says - Stow-on-the-Wold is not in the western Cotswolds but about on the eastern edge.

re the horse trials and crowds - almost every B&B/self catering cottage throughout raises its rates for this week - the week before and the week after will be 30%-40% less and sometimes half as much.

And they get it because most rooms fill up - between the bank hol and Badminton - things will be pretty crowded/full. The western bits because of Badminton, the eastern bits (the Stow/Bourton corner) because they always fill up over holidays.

&quot;<i>m I correct in my thinking that if we train there . . . . </i>&quot; You probably know this, but in case - there is no train to Stow.

If you want a leisurely, uncrowded weekend away from London - the Cotswolds are probably not your best bet. If it were me - I'd reserve visiting the Cotswolds for a weekend later in the Spring when things will be much less crowded.

You are so close you do not need a holiday weekend to get to the Cotswolds. Leaving London on a Friday evening and back into town on a Sunday evening later in mid May or mid June would be better IMO . . . .

There are some suggestions on Timesonline - travel section. Among those on the website today are Britain's best historic day out, Britain's 20 best music feastivals, Britain's best 50 days out and, a little further afield but my favorite, The dirty weekend guide to Europe.

I've never found the Cotswolds to be so bad at bank holiday weekends. Maybe that's because I don't take the car out for a drive, along with the other lemmings, but I choose a base and then walk.

On the Cotswolds at holiday weekends:

Londonres is partly right: five minutes' walk into the countryside from any carpark and the fields are deserted every day of the year. Might pass a few people on Mothering Sunday - but that's about it.

But, the trouble at holiday weekends though is:
- carparks in the half-dozen key honeypots get full from 1100-1600.

- the half dozen key honeypots themselves get full at weekends from 1100-1600, and getting lunch in country pubs in about a dozen honeypots can take a while. One or two even expect you to book, which can be a bloody nuisance if you haven't, the next one's a two mile walk and it's past 1330 already. So steer clear of Bourton on the Water till they've all gone home. There's an awful lot of the Cotswolds that isn't Bibury or Bourton on the Water - the two where filling gets most uncomfortable.

- Trains and both the M40 and M4 westbound get full on the Friday nights. In practice this is only a problem if you've failed to book a seat on the train (I never do: just get to Paddington early and run like hell the moment they announce the platform), or if you fail to drive to your cosy pub before the kitchen closes (just add an hour onto the drivetime). It can a bugger, though, on the Monday afternoon, since people seem to concentrate their journey home into a tighter window than the outbound journey. Just accept you're going to get home late.

So I think the honeypots flanner mentions would be...

Bourton-on-the-Water
Stow-on-the-Wold
Moreton-in-Marsh
Upper and Lower Slaughter
Bibury
Burford
Chipping Campden
Chipping Norton
Winchcombe

Apart from Bibury they are all on the north/east part of the Cotswolds, so plan to travel west of Cirencester and avoid the crowds! (Except at Badminton, home of the Duke of Beaufort, of course.)

Where I live I don't expect to see any more cars on the lanes around here than on a normal weekend. As said before, we are pretty much undiscovered Cotswolds down here! I shall be spending my Saturday and Sunday afternoons watching village cricket (weather permitting), otherwise it will have to be Badminton Horse Trials on TV.

lots of good info in this thread - thanks.