Arriving to London Heathrow on May 12, 2025 from Florence. Our group will have 7 or 8 nights in the area. We will split time between London and the Cotswolds. Couple questions, I think doing London first and then chilling out in the countryside sounds appealing, my travel mates differ. We will be using public transportation while in London but will get a rental car for the Cotswold portion of the trip. Any thoughts? Also, looking at two Premier Inns for our London base. Premier Inn London Waterloo (Westminster Bridge) vs Premier Inn County Hall. Anyone have opinions on either property? Picked PI for price and so many locations to choose from.

Welcome to Fodors. I agree with your friends. Because you are only flying in from Italy jet lag won't be a problrem with the driving etc. Then drop the car back at LHR and take public transport or a pre-booked car service into London to finish up. Plus it usually isn't a great idea to be out of town the night before flying out -- so for those reasons I'd do the Cotswolds first.

Re the two Premier Inns there is almost literally nothing between them . . . they are about a 2 minute walk apart. Pick whichever gets you the best rate.

Have you all been to London ?

Yes. This will be my 3rd visit to London.

. . . same for the other travelers??

One has been to London twice and for the other person it will be her first visit.