susan4

I know it is best to have a car, but I am still thinking about doing it by train and bus.
I am meeting DD in London on April 7 for a 2 week trip ending in France where she lives.
I arrive at Heathrow in the morning. Thinking of taking the Heathrow Express to Paddington, then Paddington to Morton in Marsh, then bus or perhaps taxi to Bourton on the Water or Chipping Campden. Both seem to have several buses a day. the plan then is to spend 1 day in and around the town we are staying in, a second day by bus to a second town/village and then back to London on the 3rd day. DD and I like to walk but do not plan on any long treks between towns. Would like to be based in a town with enough to do even if the weather is really bad. We like shopping. : )
Would we be better off staying in Morton in Marsh, Chipping Campden, or Bourton on the Water?
We would arrive on Tuesday afternoon. How late does the market in Morton in Marsh go?
I have accessed web pages re bus schedules, but any tips on using the buses?
I am open to comments and suggestions. Thanks in advance.

susan4

Forgot to ask about the price of a taxi between cities. I will be very tired that first day.

flanneruk

There's no taxi rank at any of the Cotswold stations on the Moreton in Marsh line. You need to google Moreton taxis, then book one to meet you if you don't want a bus. Assume about £1.50- £2 a mile. If you mean a taxi from Heathrow to Moreton, the going rate's a bit over £100 if you book a Moreton (or wherever) cab to come and collect you. Moreton market starts winding down about oneish, and is usually finished by 2.

I'm not sure what tips you need about using buses.

Given the awful cost of the Heathrow Express, and the relative infrequency of trains to Moreton, you might find the Heathrow Connect, or the Rail Bus to Reading station (from where the Moreton train leaves 30 mins after leaving Paddington), get you to your onward train just as efficiently and a tad cheaper. Probably best to decide whenh you've got your luggage. It's max five mins from the inward trains at Paddington to the onward ones (if you've got your ticket): about the same at Reading.

Cathinjoetown

Want to highly recommend doing what flanner suggested--nonstop bus from Heathrow to Reading then Reading to Moreton in Marsh. You may have a wait in Reading (same at Paddington) but probably won't be long and there's an enclosed terminal in Reading with coffee shops, newstands, etc.

Kay2

Totally support flanneruk's idea. It's been about 4-5 years since my last of 2 trips to Cotswolds using train and local bus. First time I started from London and last time I was staying in Reading from where I took the train to M-in-M and then when I was ready to leave England, I took the bus to the airport.

The airport bus (I took it to/not from) was a breeze. It will stop just by the Reading station.

M-in-M station is tiny and a few blocks off the main drag. We stayed in a B&B in the center of town and enjoyed browsing in the shops, eating in a pub, and doing long walks to other towns (but you could just walk out and back on the same trail), and quiet evening in town. Not impressed by the market selling household essentials. There is a real grocery store at the end of town if you need anything.

The small visitors bureau on the high street had a posting of the local bus routes and walking maps. We double checked the timetable we had found online - Badgerline? Buses only ran in each direction a few times a day so we had to plan accordingly or else hire a more expensive taxi. Lots of folks were traveling via bus, many with suitcases, so both locals and tourists.

I THINK we walked to Chipping Camden the first time--nice walk, but not much in CC itself.

I THINK the second time it was Stow and Burton on the Water. These towns were much more touristy, but that also means there was more to look at, more restaurants, etc.

So, M-in-M is relatively quiet and more locals while Stow and Burton busier, so which type of location would you like for the nights?

I like easy logistics with my bags, so I would tend to choose a place to stay in M-in-M so I could walk there, drop my bag and settle in for afternoon in M-in-M..

Then second day I would plan a bus or taxi in the morning to Stow and Burton, seeing the towns and having tea, etc. before back to M-in-M for overnight and back to London on the 3rd day.

susan4

Thanks for the replies. Not sure about the bus to Reading. Still checking prices, but seem like round trip on train is not much more than 1 way and we will be returning to London.
Not too concerned about evenings; just someplace nice to eat. Which of the towns is prettier by day?

flanneruk

I forgot to comment on "We like shopping. : )".

We don't.

Or rather, we take the view that that's what London's for. Apart from basic necessities - game butchers, secondhand bookshops and places that sell every low-energy lighbulb known to man - this isn't a shoping-intense area: any tourist-ridden pseudo-village in the Napa Valley or Long Island has dozens more shops selling things you really don't need than the entire Cotswolds put together.

If shopping matters to you, the Cotswolds may not be the best place to visit. Especially without a car (there are some nice antique places a mile or so either side of Chipping Norton, for example). Chipping Campden's OK for jewellery, and has a terrific wine merchant (if you can get a ticket for a Laithwaite tasting at the local school, grab it for any price they're asking). But that's about it.

The most shopping-dense medieval market town is Burford (nearest railway station: Charlbury). The most shopping-dense place of any kind in the area is Cheltenham, on a different railway line from Moreton and Charlbury. Oxford (on the line from London and Reading to Moreton) is awful for shopping: Chinese tourists take one look at it, snort in disbelief anyone would want to live somewhere that old, and that an elistist university can be so so devoid of Gucci shops and get the bus to Bicester Shopping Village, where they can buy crap brands discounted to only twice the price you can buy the same thing for at John Lewis. Train from Moreton or Charlbury to Oxford: train to Bicester, or bus to the Shopping Village from outside the station (I think: but check)

ckiskie

susan4,

I am planning a trip in June very much like yours. We arrive in London on a Monday morning and am planning on taking the Heathrow Connect to Paddington station where we will catch the train to Moreton-in-Marsh. The reason I am planning on traveling to London first is that I will be returning to London for a week after our 4 days in the Cotswolds and I figure the return ticket is probably cheaper. I picked M-i-M as our base since we will not have a car either and am planning to visit Chipping Campden, Hidcote Gardens, and possibly Broadway one day by the local bus and the next day travel to Stow on the Wold and Bourton on the Water.

I will be interested to hear how your trip goes since our plans are similiar so please post a trip report afterwards.

Have a great trip! Cindy

flanneruk

"I figure the return ticket is probably cheaper."

You can buy returns from intermediate stations, though only at the ticket office, not at the machines. If booking in advance, you can join at an intermediate station.

So for a Reading-Moreton-London journey, you buy the appropriate London-Moreton return, either online or at Reading station, and just get on the train at Reading. This is a remarkably common practice (especially with commuters and people planning train-based country walks), and no-one will turn a hair or have trouble making the machine in the office produce the right ticket