Fellow Fodorites

There are threads on this topic I am sure but I could not find them. So I need advice ...again... from you!

We will be arriving in London around noon on a Friday in March and then going to Edinburgh straight from the airport for 2 nights. We return to London at noon on the Sunday and I was thinking of going to Bath directly. So here are the questions...
1. Am planning to spend a day there, returning to London Monday evening. Would like to see Bath, Stonehenge and some parts of the Cotswolds. Am I being too ambitious?

2. What is the best way for a family of 4 to get to Bath and then back to London?

3. Looking for a mid-priced place to stay, any suggestions?

We will have 5 days in London (Tuesday to Saturday) upon our return and I will try to see as much as we can of the city then. I have heard that Bath is spectacular so am trying to juggle it all in.

Thanks in advance.

How are you getting up to Edinburgh? Assuming you are flying up. And how are you getting back to London from Edinburgh. How to get from London to Bath depends quite a lot on your travel plans.

If you are flying to LHR then you'd just take the express coach to Bath and then a train from Bath back to London. If you are taking a train from Edinburgh to London -- then you'll have to transfer from Kings Cross to Paddington and then a train to Bath.

But in this situation -- I would not travel from Edinburgh to London before Bath. You can fly from EDI to Bristol, pick up a rental car and drive to Bath. It is only about 20 miles/35 minutes. A 2 day car rental will cost less than 4 train tix. That way you can explore on your way back to London -- Lacock, Stonehenge, Avebury or lots of other great sites.

"<i>Looking for a mid-priced place to stay, any suggestions?</i>"

What do you consider 'mid priced'? What is your actual budget?

Bath is only a couple of hours by coach from Heathrow, so you have several options including starting at Bath or finishing at Bath. You can fly between Bath & Edinburgh. So you have several choices of routing

The one things that are a poor choice are to travel to London just to travel to Bath or to hire a car on arrival in the UK.

So you could arrive in the UK, travel to Bath, spend a few days pottling towards London, stay in London, travel to Edinburgh, fly home starting at Edinburgh

Or arrive London, fly Edinburgh, travel to London, hire car, pottle towards Bath, drive to LHR for flight home

Or arrive London, stay London, travel to Edinburgh, fly Bristol, hire car, visit Bath, pottle towards Heathrow, fly home

Thanks janisj and Alan Row! I am now doing what alanRow suggested....flying from Chicago to London, taking a connecting flight to Edinburgh, then flying back to London and renting a car to go to Bath. After 1.5 days there we will drive back to lhr, return car and spend 5 days in the city using the tube or bus to get around.

Final question....is 1.5 days enough for Bath and Stonehenge?

Re my budget, janisj...am looking for a $150 room in Bath

Thanks

In Bath we stayed at the Cornerways B&B and were glad that we did. Sue Black is a fine and considerate hostess and makes an outstanding breakfast using top quality ingredients. DW does not eat meat and tries to be gluten free and Sue provided those alternatives, even placing gluten free goodies in our room. Our en-suite room was large, bright and clean. If you drive, there is free parking behind the house. The location is midway between the Pump Room and the Royal Crescent - about a 10 minute walk to either. The price of a room should be no more than half your nightly budget - that is good. I noticed that Rick Steves gave Cornerways a mediocre rating and I have no idea what he must have been looking at. It is a very nice place.

reddy2go2: Just an FYI-- I posted a response over on the 2for1/travelcard thread but wasn't sure you'd go back there because you thought your question was answered.

take a look http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-1-coupons.cfm