Hotel question - Bath or Cotswolds
 

Travelling in first week of September - driving holiday around England
On this part of the trip I'm driving from Stratford upon Avon to Bath and staying overnight in Bath then driving to Stonehenge for the inner circle experience.

On the way to bath I like the idea of staying at the Swan hotel in Bibury before going to Bath - I've been to Bath before so I don't feel the NEED for more than one day/one night BUT I was just thinking that maybe it would be great to arrive at Bath in the evening and sleep 2 nights there - just because for a few days on the way to Bath and for a few days after Bath we are staying only one night everywhere we go. If the accommodation was good enough to justify pushing through some of the smaller villages a bit faster and NOT spending an extra night in the Cotswolds then I would do that....OR....
I could stay in a great place a few hours north of Bath. I heard great things about the Swan Hotel but to be honest my heart is with a BnB somewhere along the way (maybe Cirencester or Tetbury???)

So my question is: Either 2 nights in bath (with recommendations of where to stay please) OR one night within a couple of hours north of Bath and one night in Bath (again with recommendations please)?

Many thanks
I hope to forward on the help one day

I find Bath (B) a dull place and after you have seen the baths (b) and stumbled around a few ancient housing estates 6 or so hours has done me.

The Cotswolds (the), on the other hand are a large area of villages, side roads, and public footpaths that never stop being entertaining.

I've lived near both these areas at different times of my life and to me the choice is easy, the Cotswolds are worth more time.

Where would I stay, Burford is my go to town but others exist and each have their merits. The real pleasure of these places is not the tourist shops in and amongst tourist cafes, but instead the footpaths. I'd chose a route. https://footpathmap.co.uk/ from your hotel or B&B, catch a bus to the other end of the walk, https://www.traveline.info/ make sure you include a pub half way along the footpath and walk home.

You'll remember that walk long after the cafe in Bath has dropped from your mind.

OK -- You've been to Bath before and don't feel the need for more that one day there (and you actually won't have one full day if only staying one night) . . . so is there a reason you are staying there at all?

Are going to the early morning or late hours Inner Access?

But Me personally -- if I didn't have a pressing need to see Bath again - I'd skip it and stay 2 nights in the Cotswolds rather than 1 night - 1 night - 1 night

Bilbo - many thanks again for the extra information

Janis... Hi Janis.
There are two main reasons for staying in bath
1) it is on the way to stonehenge
2) We're going to be spending enough time in Bath that I think we'd prefer to get up an hour earlier the next morning than to drive again and check in after dinner time to somewhere else closer to the stone (we're doing the AM inner circle)

We'll be either 3 nights in cotswolds +1 night in bath or 2 nights in cotswolds + 2 nights in bath. I think the idea of Bath is more of a reminder visit which I think would be nice rather than skipping it completely.
Based on both of your comments I am being persuaded to do 3 nights in cotswolds

Thanks again

"1) it is on the way to stonehenge".

Lots of places are 'on the way to Stonehenge'. Have you considered basing someplace in the southern Cotswolds -- such as Fairford?? Fairford is maybe 12 miles farther from the stones than is Bath. Or Cirencester -- about the same distance

Or even closer - Malmebury or Castle Combe, or Chippenham or Lacock. All are lovely Cotswold villages/towns 25 to 35 miles from Stonehenge.

OR - not in the Cotswolds but with its own charms/stones -- Avebury is only 23 miles from Stonehenge.

Another reason to maybe consider a small town/village -- driving in to central Bath and parking can be a real PITA. But if you stay outside the city itself -- then you'd probably want to use one of the Park&Ride lots which isn't that convenient

eg drive to lacock, check in and then shuttle to bath and back.... is that what you mean?

Not really -- I meant basing in one of those villages instead of visiting Bath. Since you had been to Bath before and it sort of sounded like you were returning there simply because it is a convenient base for Stonehenge. If Bath is a 'been there, done that' there are lots of other places you can stay.

My point about the park and ride lots was that IF you still wished to base in/near Bath dealing with a car in the city centre will be an issue.

If you are still looking for ideas, I stayed recently in Chipping Campden. Great accommodation, plenty of places to eat and loads to do in the vicinity. It was the Lygon Arms (not the one in Broadway, though I'm sure that's lovely too.) I can give you more info on things in the area if you are interested.

The drive from somewhere like Burford to Salisbury is only about 1.5 hours so you could easily stay in the Cotswolds or alternatively drive to Salisbury or nearby in the early evening and be close to Stonehenge ready for the morning.

Yes - Burford (probably my favorite place to stay in the Cotswolds) is maybe a 90-100 minute drive to Stonehenge in the very early AM, but there are Cotswold villages farther south that are a shorter drive from the stones.

stone rings are pretty common in the UK stone-circles.org.uk - The Prehistoric Sites of Great Britain it seems people liked the work

Yes i recently started looking at Lygon Arms and Staddlestones bnb (no luck getting good details on staddlestones) at Chipping Campden - its a little ways off my original track but if its worth the detour then I would consider it....my "track" is basically from Warwick Castle to Stonehenge via Tetley and maybe with a detour to Bibury and/or Castle Combe so Chipping Campden would then be another detour

I was thinking that Salisbury would be something that we could do after the stones rather than go there before the stones

Have you considered finding somewhere central to where you want to visit and do day or half-day trips? It can save a lot of time as you will not need to pack, unpack, check in/out, etc.

uktravelover
I see that this is Janis' recommendation to me and I'm and trying to turn my head to working this out. My brain likes driving holidays so the one night one night one night thing just works in my head ..... I think it could be a mental thing where going backwards in the evening seems wasteful - but the purpose of this long reply is to admit that maybe packing and unpacking and checking in and out could also be wasteful.
Thank you for the provocation.

My "round" trip takes me from windsor to warwick castle to stonehenge (if I can express it broadly this way). What would you consider to be central to this AND also a highly recommended place to be in its own right?

In regards to the types of accommodation we like - well "we" like different things. I love the traditional bednbreakfast /farmstays that you find in the UK and my wife likes 5 star hotels. So I comfortable and stylish bed and breakfast might be a good middle groiund for us. Said another way, a bed n breakfast that is almost like a destination in and of itself and not just a bed to sleep in would be better than a 5 star hotel I would think

Someplace like Minster Mill in Minster Lovell or the Bay Tree in Burford would fit both of your tastes. Posh, but homey, excellent restaurant,

https://www.minstermill.co.uk
https://www.cotswold-inns-hotels.co....paign=web_link

we do love a good restaurant - thanks
Food is an important part of the travel experience

Hello bhuty, I know the routes you are potentially looking at as I am not far from Windsor myself and understand your dilemma. Your round trip will be lovely. Warwick is one of my favourite county towns and Salisbury is a lovely cathedral city. Do you prefer motorways or country roads? I ask as this can make a difference to routes and your options.
With regards to your accommodation, some of the boutique hotels could meet both you preferences.

We'll be driving either a Tucson (or similar) or a Mokka (or similar....you never know what they end up giving you) so the answer to your question is i really want to explore the small towns and country roads BUT owing to 4 suitcases of luggage we have a slightly larger car than what suits those roads.... Obviously it'll be ok but your country roads take quite some getting used to - nonetheless, country roads will still be mostly the answer. This route won't make sense to anyone but it just gives an outline of the places Im looking to hit in proximity to each other

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a38d91a53f.png

I'm trying to rework the plan to see if I can stay 2-3 nights at the Fisherman's House Mildenhall and use that as a jumping off place for tetbury, bath and stonehenge after we check out then go to salisbury before heading north its a bit out of the way but I've heard good things

my BIL hired a large car for a recent trip in the UK, never again.

I'd seriously reduce my luggage requirements,

Mildenhall, isn't even on your route map..... are you trusting Google maps for your planning? Don't, add 40% to their best estimate.

I'm pretty sure the Mildenhall the OP is talking about is nowhere near the one in East Anglia w/ the big US airbase. This Mildenhall is near Marlborough. I actually stayed at Fisherman's House many years ago -- it was glorious. But AFAIK it is no longer open?? It was sold in 2020 and I can't see any activity on line since 2019.

ah different Mildenhall

my point about driving stands.

bugger about the fishermans house

yes your point about driving stands. I mean we have small country roads here but your small country roads are super scary - blind corners everywhere and rock walls directly on the edge of the road. I'm factoring that all in. I'd prefer a smaller car but luggage prevents it so I'm maxing out at a mid sized SUV

Ok so its decided
We're going to use 2 jumping off points and basically separate the whole area into 3 sections;
1) A "middle section" to access the likes of Cheltenham and east thereof - (2 nights in one place)
2) A lower section to access areas sort of below Swindon including stonehenge, Bath castle combe etc (2 nights in one place)
3) A top section which will include warwick castle and Stratford upon Avon which we will do a one night stop over on the way north

We are doing this on the possibility that we might actually get tired of sightseeing and want to just have some quiet time

Its not ideal that we go middle before going lower but we are constrained to do so...so there it is.
I'll do some more research on where to stay and check with you guys for confirmation - suggestions always welcome (of course) on any part of our plans
Many thanks

Hello again, are you flying into Heathrow, doing your “holiday” road trip and then driving up to Harrogate? You mention some constraints, so this might not be an option however you may want to reverse the route and go from Windsor to Salisbury, ending up in Warwick so you can cut across to the M1 from there to drive north. For route planning, you will find ViaMichelin or the AA route planner much more accurate than Google and both give you options regarding motorways and the ability to put in stops on route. ViaMichelin also has good information on sightseeing, hotels and restaurants.

We'll be in london for a while prior. My original plan was exactly as you said but one of the contraints is ticket availability to the stones - so it had to be reworked to accommodate

My intention is to use google maps while driving - will google maps either fail me (in comparison to the michelin app) or otherwise just make me miss out on good options/opportunities along the way?

The issue with google map isn't the routes but primarily the time estimates (all on-line calculators tend to be optimistic but google seems more so). So you can use GoogleMap just fine -- just add 20-50% to the drive times depending on conditions.

I urge you to also carry a proper paper road atlas - bought in any garage/bookshop. Sat Nav/GPS/Google Map are all useful but sometimes have issues in rural areas.

I have to say it depends. I think that for scenic routes, ViaMichelin is better and more informative. Several of my friends that do a lot of work related driving say that the Waze App is much better than Google.
I agree with JanisJ that a map or map book is definitely useful. I always have one in the car when driving north as it gives you a better perspective of what there is close by should you need to avoid the motorway.