We are well secured in our trip plans , traveling April 25-May 7. Points to London have always been ridiculously high and this year even more so. But we were lucky to see a BA sale and got nonstop business class to London and premium economy nonstop back to Houston for $2400. We were thrilled, but even more motivated to get free hotels. So we don't have a list of quaint charming inns, but free is very nice. They are all cancellable and we are open to suggestions or modifications to our agenda.

Right now we have:
2 nights Oxford
3 nights Moreton-in-March
2 nights Bath
3 nights London
1 night Heathrow

We are lucky enough to have been in London several times, so that is not where we are putting our time.
We are heading from Heathrow straight to Oxford, it looks like an express bus is best?
Then the questions come in. We are looking to get a car anywhere from 2-4 days. Get on a small tour, maybe 4 hours, once or twice. Get a private driver maybe once or twice.

Our goals are to see several villages in the Cotswolds and the Stonehenge inside the circle evening tour.
After our trip to Ireland, my husband is not interested in driving all of the time. And it sounds like parking is a real problem in many of our locations.

I think these small half day tours could work from the Oxford and Moreton in Marsh locations. And maybe have a car for awhile in the Cotwolds to do things at our leisure and visit places that aren't included in the tour. I think the train from Oxford to Moreton in Marsh, would work. From then on, where, and for how long to have a car, and where to drop it off? Any tours or drivers to recommend? We will take the train from Bath to London.

I have been reading many of the wonderful trip reports from last spring, so I already have a good headstart.
Thanks so much!

OK -- I'd simplify - no tours except if you are using a tour for Stonehenge inside Access.

Yes - the express coach is the easiest from LHR to Oxford. Then when your time in Oxford is over, collect a car and drive into the Cotswolds. If you are doing the Inside access on your own, I'd keep the car from Oxford through Bath/Stonehenge and drop it a LHR before heading in to London. IF on the other hand you are doing Stonehenge on a tour, collect the car in Oxford and drop it when arriving in Bath.

Is there a particular reason you want to stay in Moreton-in-Marsh? If you were taking the train and not having a car, then M-i-M makes total sense. But with a car you could stay in any of a number of (perhaps) nicer towns/villages.

I would not drive IN Oxford or IN Bath. If you drop the car when arriving in Bath you can stay anywhere. If you keep the car through Stonehenge, then definitely look for accommodations with parking -- or stay in a village outside of the city and use the local Park-n-Ride lots to day trip into the city.

A 4 or 6 hour tour of the Cotswolds is really inadequate compared to driving around yourself for a few days.

Thanks so much Janisj, I knew you come through!
Your London Trip Reports have been invaluable, and Yay, we are going to ABBA!

The thinking with M-i-M was based on not having a car yet. It does seem busier than we would probably prefer, but the train connection is good and it did have rooms available for free with Chase Sapphire points. Some of the smaller villages do not offer that. My husband just likes to grab something refundable, the free rooms disappear fast.If we pick up a car in Oxford, then we can be more open to where we stay and returning it Bath would be great. We didn't know how hard it would be driving between the villages and what parking would be like. I agree that we need more than a few hours in the Cotswolds, doing a tour would just be a introduction to the area, and we could get a feel for what we wanted to on our own the next few days. We certainly can pay for a hotel that is in a more desirable location.

My husband does not want to drive too much, but 3 days would be fine. We are visiting Stonehenge in the evening from Bath, so we definitely want a driver or taxi to get to there and back.

Don’t know if this would be of any interest to you, since you wish to do Stonehenge in the evening and plan on only two nights in Bath. Also, I do not know what they currently offer, but we stayed three nights in Bath and took a Mad Max tour from there one day. We choose one that did an early morning tour to Stonehenge, then to several villages in the Cotswolds with stops for lunch and walks. It was really perfect for us to see a lot with no effort on our part, but it was a long day. However, Mad Max had comfortable mini bus/vans when we did it and offered several tours, and we had plenty of time in each place.

Mad Max is great -- but Inner Access is only pre or post normal open times and is very special.


"We didn't know how hard it would be driving between the villages and what parking would be like."

Driving in and between most villages is easy and parking isn't an issue anywhere but a couple of special cases. Bibury for example. Parking along the main road between the Swan and Arlington Row and at the Fish Farm nearby are where EVERYBODY and their uncle wants to park. But on a weekday morning it should be available. Bourton-on-the-Water is quite busy but again on a weekday morning on-street parking or a couple of car parks should have spaces. Best to hit Bourton-o-t-W either first thing in the AM or late-ish in the afternoon when the coach parties are gone.

But in other places there is enough parking unless maybe you hit them on Market Day when the main car park may be taken over by tents/merchants

In Burford follow the signs off the high street down around the church and Church Lane to a large car park on the river.

Now, Easter or a nice Sunday any time of year most villages will be busy - but week days in April, you'll be good to go.

For Stonehenge -- I'd think a driver from and back to Bath would be pretty expensive -- that is nearly 70 miles round trip and either the driver would have to make two trips out or you'd have to pay for his 'standing time' to wait for you.

Thanks so much for the advice! I think picking up the car in Oxford and dropping off in Bath is the way to go! I am going to look into hotels in the Cotswolds again today. What are some of your recommended villages? We like smaller but large enough to have some walkable restaurants and shops options. I have a list of about 10 possible places to visit, of course we won't get to all of them.

About Stonehenge, we are concerned about driving back to Bath at night and we would rather not change hotels again. If we turn in our car as soon as we get to Bath, those car rental savings could be applied to a private driver. Or should we just do the regular daytime tour?

janisj,
Looking through my notes, I see you recommending Burford, and Chase does have some hotels available on points there. What are some of your favorite hotels? Thank you!

Oh -- I'd stay almost anywhere in Burford. I haven't stay in a hotel there in ages so any recommendations would be way out of date -- my last two stays in/near Burford were rental cottages. Bull is a brand new boutique hotel which has got lots of attention in the national press - food critics and/or travel writers of 3 of the major daily papers have gushed all over it -- I have no personal knowledge though. The Bay Tree and Lamb Inn have been very good over the years. The Swan just down the road in Minster Lovell is also good.

Yes -- if a driver to Stonehenge fits in the budget that would be be a good idea but before making a final decision - on May 1 the sun doesn't set til 8:30 so you'd be driving back in daylight / dusk. IMO/IME if you can get tix to Inner Access (which English Heritage now calls the Stone Circle Experience) it would be a unforgettable memory. Nothing like the regular public access.

Thank you so much!!! This is filling out nicely. Any places to avoid?