Suggested itinerary for 8 days in England
 

We will be vacationing in England for 8 full days in February with our college aged kids. We are flying in and out of London and while we are thinking of relying on public transportation, we are not completely opposed to renting a car if necessary (but don't want to drive in cities.). We want to see some of the touristy things in London and also want to see countryside, castles, and the Cotswolds. Any suggested itineraries for our stay? We are hoping to use airbnb or something similar, but don't want more than 2 destinations as our bases. Thank you for any advice for our last minute trip!

If you have 8 days on the ground (i.e. a 10 day trip in total including travel time) that is just about perfect for London and 2 or 3 days in the Cotswolds.

I would actually sleep 3 places 1) Arrival night in either Oxford or Bath (both have express coaches from LHR) 2) next day collect a rental car and head into the Cotswolds and stay 2 or 3 nights, 3) drop car at LHR and take public transport into London for the remainder.

I'm a Bath resident and would recommend basing yourself in our City and London. The National Express Coach service from Heathrow to Bath is quick and very convenient. Once here you are within easy day tripping distance of the Cotswolds, and so many castles in Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset and South Wales. Bath is a very small city and sits in the middle of the most glorious countryside. It is reasonably easy to drive in. Parking can be an issue if you choose a stay in the very centre so best to make sure you ask about this when you choose where to book

For a day trip idea, grab a hire vehicle and head over to South Wales to check out Chepstow Castle dating back to 1067, it's about an hour drive away. Then follow the river Wye past Tintern Abbey towards Gloucester. The road pretty much hugs the river and is a most scenic journey. This leg shouldn't take much longer than an hour and a half if you don't stop at the Abbey.

Depending on how many stops you do make, you could choose to call it a day at this point and shoot back down the motorway to Bath. If you want more, an hour or so drive would take you through the Cotswolds to Stow-on-the-Wold and you could then pick up the old Roman Road, the "Fosse Way" to take you back to Bath via Cirencester.

Another amazingly scenic day trip worth taking is to head South through Dorset to the iconic ruin of Corfe Castle and on to the Jurassic Coast. Expect around about a 2 hour journey each way.

Bath itself is worth a couple of days to take in the museums and Georgian Architecture. When you're done, take the train direct back to London Paddington for the remainder of your trip.

Thank you so much for these suggestions; they are very helpful! Could we rent a car in Bath or somewhere nearby so we could avoid driving around Heathrow? This would then allow us to drive to the Cotswolds. The thought of driving on the other side of the road in a country that we don't know is slightly terrifying, but we feel that we could attempt it in smaller towns/cities.
Also, when you refer to a hire vehicle for South Wales, do you mean a tour? Thanks again.

>>Could we rent a car in Bath or somewhere nearby so we could avoid driving around Heathrow? <<

Driving around Heathrow is about the easiest place in the country to start out w/ a rental car. Motorways in every direction. Driving IN Bath is a bear. So either collect your car at LHR or as you are leaving Bath.

>>but we feel that we could attempt it in smaller towns/cities.<<

One would think so but that is soooooo far from the actuality. Driving through a congested town withe cars parked every which way on both sides of the road with barely room to pass cars coming the other direction, and trying to watch for signs is not the way to get your feet wet driving on the other side of the road. Whereas from LHR -- you have one road and 2 roundabouts and then you are on a big divided road where everyone is going the same direction and the signs are huge and very clear.

After an hour or two on the M4 or M40 you will be used to the car and the side of the road and better able to tackle the villages/towns/narrow country roads.

But please don't drive coming off a night flight. Just take the National Express coach to Bath. Of course you can rent (hire) a car there.

"The thought of driving on the other side of the road in a country that we don't know is slightly terrifying, but we feel that we could attempt it in smaller towns/cities.
Also, when you refer to a hire vehicle for South Wales, do you mean a tour?"

I know how you feel about the thought of driving on the other side of the road. the first time I was about to drive on the right hand side in Germany I had a sleepless night, it is when you come to junctions you need to remember to stay on the correct side as you enter a new road. Luckily satnavs are a great help, they do a brilliant job of reminding you which lane to be in and I find very useful at junctions when you need to concentrate on on coming traffic. As to driving in congested towns, the main roads in and out of Bath do get clogged up at rush hours. The very centre does have an element of parking everywhere, but this is delivery trucks. private cars tend to park pretty neatly in the UK, although we do park by the side of pavements (sidewalks), some of which can get tight as our streets were mainly built before cars were invented. Don't panic, be prepared to slow down and at times stop to allow others to pass if it is really tight.

Sorry for my ambiguity when referring to hire vehicle, its due to my own business activities, look at my profile and you will understand. All the major car rental companies are in Bath and you really don't need to take a tour to go to South Wales, it is as easy to drive to as anywhere else in the UK, and is no different to crossing a State line. Just use your hire car and type in postcode for your destination and off you go. When heading from Chepstow Castle to Gloucester, make sure you type in via Tintern to ensure you end up on the correct road (A466). If you choose to drive down to Corfe Castle in Dorset the satnav will automatically take you down the scenic route (A36).

I hope this is helpful.

Yes, this is all very helpful and I've taken note of renting from Heathrow as opposed to Bath. After researching a bit about Bath and Cotswolds, we now need to decide on where to stay as our first base (with London being our second.). We really want to see the Cotswolds for more than 1 day and to get the feel of small English villages, but also realize that there is a lot of see in Bath. Can you tell me the pros and cons of staying in both? And if staying in the Cotswolds, which town in particular would you recommend staying in?

The Cotswolds is a huge area, aprox 800 square miles. Bath is on its Southern Border, further north Cheltenham brands itself as the gateway to the Cotswolds and Cirencester is in the middle. When you mention The Cotswolds, most people think of the honey coloured stone cottages in the villages to the East of Cheltenham, namely Upper and Lower Slaughter, Broadway, Bourton-on-the-Water and Stow-on-the-Wold.

There is more going on of an evening in Bath and Cheltenham and better public transport links. While both are country towns neither can be described as villages. The villages listed above have all the old world charm and will be relatively quite this time of the year, but you will be much more reliant on your hire car to get about. This whole area is dripping in "Chocolate Box" villages, I guess your first choice would be to decide just how close to a larger town or small City you want to be. It's possible to be 10 mins drive outside Bath or Cheltenham and feel you are in the deepest countryside.

Make sure there is a good pub in the village as British life revolves around it!

Bath to Corfe Castle; if you want the pretty route do the A350 but when you get to Shaftesbury go up on the parallel road to the east of the A350 and follow the ancient ridge road to Blandford. There are some wonderful walks up here if you have the time.

The A36 is normally faster but is a little dull.