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Cotswolds without a car!
I am in not sure as to which village in the Cotswolds is accessible by train from London. My 17 year old daughter and I would like to spend a couple of days in the countryside but I don’t want to drive. She wants to do a trail ride in the countryside and I would just love to walk in the beautiful villages looking at the stone houses and soaking in the atmosphere! Oh and that would be in August. The issue at hand is that we would like to take the train into the Cotswolds …spend the rest of that day and the next two days exploring and then on the fourth day…..take the train back to London so that we can take the Eurostar to Paris. I am not sure what is the best way to do this…..so I would love to hear any suggestions.
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The easiest is probably Moreton-in-Marsh. It is a nice enough village and has one of the very few train stations in the Cotswolds. W/ a car you'd have a lot more choices - but there is nothing wrong w/ Moreton.
Would you consider only renting a car after you are in the Cotswolds? You could take the train to Evesham which is a bit larger town and has a couple of car hire firms. You wouldn't have to drive in any cities and could get all around the Cotswolds. But if you really want to rely on public transport - I'd probably use Moreton-in-Marsh . . . . |
I've been researching public transportation in the area, also. We'll be staying in Stratford-Upon-Avon, but want to visit some of the Cotswold villages. There are some local bus lines that run through Moreton-on-Marsh. If this link works, here's an example: http://www.carlberry.co.uk/rfnshowr.asp?RN=GL021C |
Thanks Janisj...I am really nervous about driving on the 'wrong' side. I do realize that I would have so many more options if I had a car....I have always wanted to discover the English countryside and this is certainly a dream trip for me. Barbara thanks for the link...I will check out the site and see if I can make it work somehow. I got 'The Most Beautiful Villages of England' and I am going through it to get some ideas of which ones are not to be missed.
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I understand the fear of driving on the wrong side. I did it first in Morroco in a beaten up fiat. Aaargh. However don't let your fear ruin your holiday. There are few bits to worry about and your daughter can help
1) Remember when you start 2) remember at round abouts 3) remember when reaching for the stick shift (go auto if you can). Why not try in a supermarket? |
Just to add to your confusion about driving, let me tell you that our one and only attempt was a disaster. Trying to adjust for driving on the "other" side, my husband hit the curb about 30 times. We eventually blew out 2 tires and the rental car had to be towed away. This was within 2 hours of leaving the airport. Never again.
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On the positive side, my second attempt at driving in the UK was IN the Cotswolds and it went well overall.
Yes, you have to be very aware of where your left bumper and wheels are "located" but using the side mirrors can help considerably with that. We rented an automatic transmission (I normally drive a stick at home) to eliminate the need to "learn" how to shift gears with the left hand. We also used a GPS which took a <b>tremendous</b> burden off the passenger in terms of being "the navigator." We also had along some excellent and very detailed roadmaps. I am not saying you cannot "do" the Cotswolds without a car but there are <b>so many</b>wonderful "back" roads, small villages, and by-ways that a car gives you accessibility to I think it is worht the 'risk' which would be minimal if you planned properly. |
Another possible option is to base yourself in Bradford on Avon, a small town at the edge of the Cotswolds. It's only 8 miles from Bath, which has good rail connections to London. From Bath, it's an easy train ride to BoA. If you haven't been to Bath yet, it would be a good combo.
http://www.bradfordonavon.co.uk/ |
An earlier thread:
www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2 |
An earlier thread:
Author: Equihands Date: 05/21/2004, 04:16 pm Hello to all, I would like to do a day trip to the Cotswolds. After looking at the National Rail schedule, it appears that Moreton-In-Marsh is one of the few towns to be reached by train. If I make this my starting point, I would like to travel by bus to some of the other towns in the area. Can anyone tell me which towns I would be able to see in a day. I was thinking of perhaps Stow-On-The-Wold, Broadway and Chipping Campden. What would be the best route to take from Moreton or could someone tell me where I can look up bus route schedules? Is this too much to see in a day? I am mainly wanting to walk through and see a few towns, visit the shops, see some scenery since time would probably not allow much more. If there is anything of special interest that someone might suggest, I welcome any and all suggestions. I have previously been to Bourton-On-The-Water and Burford last year on a bus tour but would prefer to not do a planned tour. Thank you very much for your help. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: TimS Date: 05/21/2004, 04:52 pm This site may give you all the information you're looking for: www.thecotswolds.org. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Kay2 Date: 05/21/2004, 05:20 pm My info from 2001 may be dated: Author: Kay Date: 03/05/2002, 01:31 pm The walking paths are great in the Cotswolds. We had planned to train to Moreton-on-Marsh and then hike, bus, and taxi around. There we had a B&B for a couple of nights. Walked to Chipping Campden (good day hike), saw the town, then caught the bus back. The folks at the Information Center in M-on-M were GREAT! with the most up-to-date bus schedule, maps, and drivers to hire. We thought the bus was fun--the driver was a local treat. The bus we were on was more of the city type, not the intercity with luggage compartment. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: flanneruk Date: 05/21/2004, 05:38 pm There are two painless ways to do something like what you're planning. Drive (either from Cheltenham or Oxford) round a circuit and come back to where you started, or train to one place - like Moreton or Charlbury - and spend the day walking. You've chosen the truly heroic (the term used by the most senior British politicians and public servants to mean "barmy") alternative. The scheduled buses aren't designed for tourists: they're for people living in smallish villages to shop or go to school in the nearest market town. The national bus timetable site (www.traveline.org.uk) is just a nightmare to use, and Gloucestershire is too mean to have its own bus site. I think, though, that the Cotswolds AONB site - which is relatively user-friendly - keeps its timetables up to date. Go to http://www.cotswoldsaonb.com/bus_tim.../north_bus.asp Then go to "select a route here", and you'll see a list of all buses in the Moreton/Stow/ChC area. With an early enough train out of London, you can probably make Stow and Ch C. But it's a total of four buses. And do double-check (by phoning the operator) these times are right before starting off. Cabs round here can be damn expensive, and may take some time to get to where you've got yourself stranded. Sorry to be gloomy. And good luck. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: tcreath Date: 05/21/2004, 05:43 pm I personally would recommend driving. We drove around England a few years back. We were very hesitant to rent a car due to having to drive on the other side of the road, but we didn't have any problems at all, and it actually made for an interesting experience! The countryside is beautiful and with a car you could explore at your leisure and possibly visit other nearby towns. If you rent a car from the US (we used orbitz.com) it was very inexpensive and would probably work out to be cheaper than the train-bus route. Good luck! Tracy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: djkbooks Date: 05/23/2004, 11:02 pm We just returned from a ten-day trip to London, with a visit to the Cotswolds tops on the list of seeing and doing. You can go on your own. There's train service to only one town (I've forgotten which, check Rick Steeves, etc.) with bus service to the rest (though not on Sundays). Another option is LondonWalks leaving from Paddington station. We opted to go on the Evan Evans bus tour. Probably the priciest way, but the scenery all along was spectacular, along with the commentary, we visited three towns (with an hour each to walk all about) followed by tea at Blenheim palace before returning. Though you've "done" the bus tour and visited Bourton-On-The-Water and Burford, I'd mention the bus tour for others planning a first-time excursion. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Equihands Date: 05/24/2004, 10:18 am Thanks much everyone for all the information. I have looked at the websites and the bus schedules are a help. I will check out the information center for more help when I get to my destination. Not brave enough yet to drive on my own, if I had a navigator with me, I think it would be easier since someone could read a map while I drive, but not knowing the countryside I'll have to leave this idea for another trip when I have more time to plan out a route for a few days. To Flanneruk, yes, I can be a bit barmy at times, lol, and I don't think that you are being gloomy. I have a very positive, light hearted attitude and I make the best of things on my holiday. I am a very adventurous person for the most part and learned the hard way last year by not planning trips in advance that one wastes a lot of time. This is a last minute thought as I will be in London the last 3 days of my visit and wanted to squeeze in another day trip. So I will take your advice and keep to the two towns suggested, leaving on an early train to make the best of my time. I tend to squeeze a lot of activity into a day since I am traveling on my own, probably not the kind of schedule that most people traveling would do but easier to accomplish by oneself. Thanks again to everyone as I leave this week for the UK. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: flanneruk Date: 05/24/2004, 11:12 am Equi: One other source I forgot, though it's a bit messy. The hard-copy train timetable you can get at Paddington carries details of some connecting buses. It's usually called "Cotswold Line train timetables", and my copy (just found in the pile Mrs F intended throwing out) does have many of the services from Moreton to Stow, Ch C, Bourton, and Broadway. Unfortunately, the timetables changed (trivially) yesterday (May 23), and the franchise has been re-assigned, so it's not certain the new train franchisee (FGW) will issue the same helpful guides for the bus services, some of which they don't operate. And the .pdf's downloadable from the web have rarely contained the bus details, and the hard copies don't scan well. But ask at the FGW information desk at Paddington. Incidentally, although there are fewer services on Saturdays, the connections are more convenient for what you've got in mind on Saturdays than during the week. And there are no buses on Sundays or public holidays (ie May 31) As a sample, the 0628 from Paddington on Sats connects with the 0925 to Broadway (arr 0942 and the least interesting of the three places you mention. Unless you fancy the glorious 4 mile walk up to Broadway Tower and back, what you see from the bus passing through is pretty much what there is),or Ch C (arr 1003). The return 1249 from Ch C connects with the 1345 from Moreton, arr Stow 1355. The 1620 bus from Stow connects with the 1641 train at Moreton, arr Paddington 1812. The last run back from Stow on Sats is 1915, arr Moreton 1925 and Paddington 2217, or 2115 weekdays -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: SB_Travlr Date: 05/24/2004, 03:12 pm Just a thought -- it would be worth checking if the folks from Original London Walks do anything for the Cotswolds(http://www.walks.com/). I know they do some full-day visits to places outside London, usually on weekends, and somewhere like the Cotswolds would be a great location for that. |
NE -
My family and I are visiting the Cotswolds for the first time in 3 weeks. We are doing it all without a car. It can be done with some preplanning. We will be taking the train directly from Gatwick to Cheltenham where we will base ourselves. We are using 2 local bus companies that have routes between the many surrounding villages. We will be taking Castleways service to Broadway and Winchcombe and Pulham's service to Bourton-on-the-Water. It is not very expensive (about £2.25 per person each way) and much easier to relay on someone else for the driving. We will also be visiting The Slaughters as they are a short walk (Great Cotswold Ramble) from Bourton-on-the-water. There are a lot of experts on this forum and you will receive some good advice but with a little research you can visit the Cotswolds without a car. You may not see it all but that is what the next trip is for! |
Whoa - hit the curb 30 times and blew out two tires in 2 hours? That has got to be a record. Sure, it's a little strange at first, but follow a few simple tricks and you can easily survive. I can see having more trouble if Barbara was in Ireland as the roads tend to be pretty narrow in spots. If the problem was in England ... yikes!
I wouldn't suggest to people that are terrified of driving on the left that they should try. It's not the driving that makes it hard, it's the terror. It's a noble thing to attempt the train system and I'm sure it can be done with some careful planning. Good luck. Bill |
I studied for a year in Edinburgh and once rented a car with a friend who came to visit to go to the Lake District in England. It was the first time for me driving on the other side. I found that I was actually more alert on the road than I am at home and that helped. We rented the car for a day and I quickly got used to it, and anyone who has been on the roads leading to the Lake District know how winding they are! I knew how to drive a shift, so that wasn't a problem. If you take your time, it'll go well. But if you're absolutely terrified by it, stick with public transportation.
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Since an old posting of mine has been quoted...
The ONLY railway stations in the Cotswolds with any kind of bus service immediately near the station are Moreton and Charlbury, and of those only Moreton has links to places most visitors would regard as really being in the Cotswolds. Cheltenham and Bath have more connections, but are far, far too big for the true Cotswold experience. If you've got a couple or more days, though, you might want to get a bus from Moreton to Chipping Campden (or even Broadway, though it absorbs visitors less well) and do trips - or walks - from there. Sadly most of the other well known historic towns (like Burford, Stow on the Wold, Northleach, Cirencester and Winchcombe, and don't even think of calling them villages, as they've all had "town" status for at least 700 years, most of them devoted to finding new and more painful ways of punishing visitors who get this crucial issue wrong) have poor bus links and aren't suitable as a centre for the car-deprived. Getting bus timetables round here is a pain. The train company occasionally publishes a combined timetable, but they're not doing it at present. Or if they are I can't find it. I've got a slightly aged timetable summary available if anyone wants to email me [email protected]. It's not an address I check every day, so advance apologies if it takes a day or two to get back to anyone. One nice train-linked thing to do is to take the Cotswold Line train to one station and walk to another: they're all only 8-10 miles apart, and the footpaths between Hanborough and Hereford are jolly pretty. Details at www.clpg.co.uk/clpgfwtt.htm |
Our bad driving experience was in Kent. We had been in Scotland and SW England previously and thought the driving looked pretty easy..broad roads and light traffic. Maybe we chose the wrong route, but there were high curbs and virtually NO shoulder to the road. I remember passing through Biddenton before our journey came to an ignoble end near Tenderten. We noticed thereafter that even the tiniest villages were sure to have 2 businesses...a pub and an auto repair place! Truthfully, though,I have often wondered if I could have done a better job driving than my husband.
This thread has me tempted to try when we visit the Cotswolds this fall. |
barbara5353: That really must be a record. Hope you hubby doesn't read this - but is he a lousy driver at home too?? I ask because hitting the odd kerb (curb) or two is one thing but ruining 2 tires and calling out a tow truck?!
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That should be " . . . your hubby . . . . "
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