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Tour the Cotswolds / nervous about renting car though

Tour the Cotswolds / nervous about renting car though

Old Aug 31st, 2003, 01:07 PM
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Tour the Cotswolds / nervous about renting car though

I've never visited the Cotswolds but have always wanted to when visiting London. Are there tour buses that take visitors there? Although I'd love to have the freedom of having a car to visit several towns, I'm hestitant because I'm nervous about driving on the righthand side. Perhaps someone knows of a tour operator they could recommend? Would like to spend Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday in the Cotswolds if possible...
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 01:18 PM
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You should be VERY nervous, other drivers will be on the left hand side.
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 01:21 PM
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LOL.....I think Jenson means on the right side of the car, not the road.

(giggle)
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 01:47 PM
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Jenson, check this article from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/31/tr...cotswolds.html

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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 06:36 PM
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just do it in a rental car....forget being nervous...the best way to do the cotswolds is in a private car...buses will only take you to the big places and they are the least interesting....take a train to windsor or out of london and rent the car there....the driving is easy, especially in the cotswolds...get a very small car as many roads are narrow and just wander....i've done it dozens of times and never get bored in that area...
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 06:50 PM
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I am going to the Cotswolds next week with 3 friends. We're renting a car as it does seem the only way to see those out of the way places. I agree with rhkkmk....get yourself a good road atlas and go for it!
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 07:03 PM
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You guys are doing a very good job of convincing me! OK, so how would you recommend that I get out of London? Take train from wher(Waterloo?) to where? Rhkkmk, you say to Windsor? Can you confirm? Also, do you know if I can rent a car from there? I'd prefer to take a train out of the city and then get a car. I think I can get enough nerve to drive in the country -- but definitely not through London. : )
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 07:04 PM
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Some things that really help when driving on the "other" side in the UK:

1 Have someone with you to navigate and help remind you if you start to turn the wrong way.

2 Get a small car, it makes dealing with narrow country roads and parking much easier.

3 Pay the extra for an automatic; it takes away one confusion point (I don't bother with this myself, but I'm used to driving a wide variety of vehicles).

4 Rent outside of London. Heathrow is not bad for this; you can take the tube and then catch the shuttle from one of the terminals. Often you get the best deals reserving ahead of time from the US; check out various tourist specials.

If you are comfortable driving in the US (don't get stressed out by traffic or narrow roads etc), you will probably find driving in UK on motorways (freeways) and country roads not that bad (London is a different story).

There are definitely a variety of day and overnight bus (coach) tours available, but if you do your own driving, you can pace much more to your own desires. Evan Evans does day trips, not sure about overnight. You might see what trafalgar/globus/cosmos has for multi-day trips.
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 07:12 PM
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I've never been to the Cotswolds, but I have noticed that there are some one-week walking/easy hiking tours of the area. Would those interest you? I know one of the companies that offers walking tours in the Cotswolds is BCT (British Coastal Trails), which is based in California. I don't want to drive in foreign countries, so I have taken several walking/hiking tours with BCT and other countries to parts of Italy, France and Greece that I would not be able to see easily by public transportation.
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 07:22 PM
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Other Fodorites have mentioned that there's often a steep fee to pick up a rental car at an airport. Not sure if this is true in the UK, but you might want to check - picking up your rental somewhere other than an airport may save you some money.

I agree that paying a little more for an automatic will give you a little less to worry about/deal with.

If you do decide to drive while in the UK, you may want to look into getting an International Driver's Permit, before you fly over here. Check with AAA. (As an example, see the following AAA Ohio website)

http://www.aaanwohio.com/travel/idp.htm
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 07:48 PM
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To add to CMT's suggestion, my wife and I drove through the Cotswolds a number of years ago, then have taken two walking trips with HF Holidays, one for 7 days then more recently (because we were short on time) for 4 days. The HF walking trips are great, based in an impressive 18th century house in Bourton-on-the-Water. HF has a Web site if you'd like to look at schedules. The Cotswolds are best seen on foot.
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 08:11 PM
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Jenson-=

We have ALWAYS rented a car to tour the Cotwolds, the Lake District etc....
We always pick up our car AT THE AIRPORT- there is NO extra fee and it is better than driving FROM LONDON , which , during rush hour, can be a madhouse if you do not know where you are going >>( We normally don't! LOL)

We always rent via AUTO EUROPE and make sure you get a car with a TRUNK ( BOOT)..you do NOT need the largest car as all you will do is keep hitting curbs...we do that all the time!! LOL

Make sure you take out ALL insurance they offer....

Take the train to Heathrow and a cab over to the car rental place ( there are no shuttles directly to the rental car companies like we have in the US)...and pick up car...

Make sure when you land in ENGLAND, to pick up a GOOD MAP of ENGLAND and also , if you can fit it in your suitcase, get a good ROAD ATLAS..as it has all the teeny little roads in all of ENGLAND and is INVALUABLE...we lived with our ROAD ATLAS and never had a problem ( aside from constantly hitting the curbs!!)...

Have a blast and defintely RENT a CAR!!!
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 08:19 PM
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Jensen,
Last year I went to England and took several day trips out of London with Evan Evans. One of them was a combo Stratford-on Avon and Warwick Castle tour. We also went through a few Cotswolds towns as a little extra (we were told). We liked Evan Evans but on our way from Stratford to Warwick we got into a traffic jam due to an automobile accident and only had about 45 minutes at the castle. What a disappointment! Just wanted to warn you that these tours are fine if you want a brief glimpse of the area but we felt rushed the whole day.
Next week when we go back we're flying into Heathrow, picking up our rental car (we rented from Hertz through BA) and driving down to the Cotswolds. We didn't pay any extra charges for the rental because we're picking it up at the airport. We're returning it to Heathrow also. And we're not driving into London at all. A friend of mine and her husband just rented out of Heathrow several weeks ago and told me they had no problem driving out of the airport, through the Cotswolds, Stratford, and then on to Wales. But, don't plan on driving into London. We also reviewed some articles with driving tips for the UK we found on the internet. Plus I'm reading up on some of the tips the fellow Fodorites have posted. Good luck! I'll let you know how it goes too.
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 08:37 PM
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If you would prefer to avoid driving near London, you might consider a train to Oxford. While not a small town, Oxford is easily navigated and you are half way there. Once in the Cotswolds there is nothing scary about the driving and the sights to been scene up and down the backroads (and it is mostly "back" roads!) are infinitely delightful.
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 09:13 PM
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i was stationed in the cotswolds 20 years ago...yes roads are small...but driveable...it only took me 10 minutes to get the hang of driving on the wrong side...try it you will see...above all else...have fun
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Old Aug 31st, 2003, 09:45 PM
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Jenson: Normally I don't recommend driving IN Oxford since the center is really congested, there is little/no parking and the Park-and-ride lots are so convenient. Most locals don't even drive into Oxford - they just park on the ring road and take the buses into town. The official policy of the city gov't is to discourage cars in the city center and they have done a very good job of it.

But driving FROM Oxford to the Cotswolds is not difficult at all. For you - since you seem to want specifically the Cotswolds - taking the train to Oxford is a good option. You could spend one night in the city and see some of the colleges, take a walking tour, visit some of the great pubs, etc. then the next morning pick up you rental car and head out via Woodstock, visit Blenheim Palace and the the whole of the Cotswolds will be on you doorstep. You could see a LOT of villages in a couple of days. If you have more time it would be even better.
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Old Sep 1st, 2003, 03:28 AM
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If you're planning on going straight to the Cotswold area from Heathrow, you're wisest hiring a car at Heathrow: the hire area gives you a chance to practise a bit, and it's divided highway from Heathrow to Oxford.

If you're planning on going from time spent in London, or from Gatwick, hire in Oxford (the M25 round London from Gatwick can be horrible, especially on a Friday afternoon, and wouldn't be where I'd like to have my first experience of driving on the proper side of the road)

If hiring at Oxford,it's worth remembering, especially if you have roller cases, that the Budget depot is virtually in the railway station. Follow the signs for the long-term carpark, and as you come off the (step-free) bridge from the station to the car park, go to the corner diagonally opposite you (about 100 yds).

The depot's a couple of yards from the edge of the car park

Last tip: The real value of a car in the Cotswolds is that it takes you to nice footpaths. Walking is THE best way to see the area, and every bookshop is stuffed with a range of pleasant walks.
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Old Sep 1st, 2003, 04:18 AM
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Well you've gotten lots of information, unfortunately, some of it is NOT accurate. Don't know if people's memories fade or what.

I rented a car through AutoEurope three weeks ago at Heathrow. There was a charge for picking up at the airport but it was only £17, small enough to make it worthwhile over driving in London. We took the tube to the terminal (the major car rental companies have desks in all four of the terminals, we went to Terminal 1). After checking in at the desk there we took the free shuttle to the Europcar lot. Have no idea where the person who said you need a cab got his info from, there were shuttle buses with Hertz, Avis, Budget, etc - all lined up at the terminal). It's all motorways till you are in the country so no city driving at all. At first Oxford sounds like a good idea but you have to take a train there (cost) and then you are still in a city, even through it's not London. Most people I know get out of Heathrow without much trouble.

I've rented both a standard (this trip) and an automatic (few years ago). The automatic does eliminate one more thing to think about each time you enter a roundabout, etc. so is a good idea for that reason. The drawback is that they don't come in the smallest cars so you have to upgrade a bit (at least that's what autoeurope told me) - adding to the cost and you get a larger car, which as pointed out above, is not something you want on the narrow roads. But overall we found driving in the Cotswolds to be very easy and quite pleasant.
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Old Sep 1st, 2003, 04:20 AM
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Good advice here Jenson. Some more info-from previous threads on this board I've learned there's train service to Stratford and Moreton-on Marsh. You might want to check into renting from those 2 locations as well. If you can, you might want to try doing your Cotswold excursion during the week, when it's much less crowded, rather than the weekend.

There is at least one other thread about doing the Cotswolds without a car. I believe Ben Haines, Flanneruk and Steve James were all posters on the thread if that helps to find it. Evan Evans and Astral are the 2 companies that are mentioned most often for Bath, Stonehenge, Cotswolds tours but not sure either dores just Cotswolds.

Finally, there are also several long threads on tips for driving in England. The most important, IMO, are have a good, easy tempered navigator and remember when you get to a round about, the traffic already ON the roundabout has priority (right of way). If you're not sure which road to take, you can keep going round the circle til you've figured it out!
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Old Sep 1st, 2003, 04:59 AM
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Just got back and driving on the other side was not a problem. Take your time...

Cotswolds are great. Only place we ran into unbelievable traffice was in Morton in marsh, but that was because we did it on Tuesday which is their big market day.

Lower Slaughton was the prettiest town.

Use the car to get from a to b, but as noted above you have to get out and walk. AA publishes a book of walks through Britain call No Through Road.

http://www.theaa.com/ is a great site for route planning. Acurrate right down to the country lanes. Gives distances and visual points of reference. I picked up their road atlas before heading over and it too had every lane marked on it, but you do need a navigator.

Before we left we visited the British Tourist Authority and they had a driving otur of the Cotswolds all mapped out.

Have fun...

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