marsha

We will be staying near the Marble Arch in London and would like to spend a day visiting the Cotswolds? Would we be smarter to rent a car in London to drive there or go part way on a bus or train then drive around the area?

John

Hi, Marsha,
Train, car, train. Or tube, car, train, picking up and dropping off at Heathrow (they have a lot of rental cars there, y'know). It's on the way and you'll avoid navigating central London. You can't drive as fast as the train, anyway. An alternative is to zip to Oxford or Bath and get the car there.
One day to see the Cotswolds starting and ending in London is pretty rushed. Sure you can't overnight somewhere?

Miane

Train + car:
Check the most convenient train station to go to on and timetables on www.rail.co.uk (eg. Moreton-in-Marsh, departs every hour from London Paddington, an easy tube or cab ride from Marble Arch).
Rent a car from the local train station and return to London by train. Good site to rent a car in advance: www.autoeurope.com.

steve

It should be no trouble. I would recommend getting the car in London and driving. That way you are more in control of your time than relying on bus or train.

Be sure to visit Bibury and Northleach - two often overlooked towns. I also liked Fairford which is just on the edge of the southern cotswolds. Get off on the very small roads for a real treat

Penny

Marsha,

I recommend taking the train to, say, Oxford, and renting a car there. That's the way we did it--so of course in my opinion it's the correct way!

Like a previous poster, I'm wondering if you can extend your Cotswolds visit. It's a shame to try to limit it to one day. You could even use Oxford as your base--or Stratford. So many places have so much to see.

Kimerley

Marsha, I stayed at the Grosvenor Court Hotel, Bayswater in 1998. Walked with our luggage to Paddington station. Caught the train to Heathrow.Rental company bus to the site and picked up our rental car. We drove to Bibury in the Cotswolds for our first night. We had no problems navigating the ring roads and did not get lost. Our main problem was the fact that we are from Australia and are used to driving long distances. I can assure the distances are not too great. You need a car to see the out of the way places. I wolud highly reccomend visitng Bibury.

Terry

By all means, stay a night in the Cotswolds. Highly recommend the New Farm B&B in Morton-in-Marsh, if they are full go to her sisters Old Farm B&B both are great and Morton-in-Marsh a nice central location. You need at least two days to enjoy the area.

We drove from London in98, easy drive and no worry about train connections. Train probably OK but what if you have to wait for a couple hours for the train from ?? to London?

Enjoy!!!