Trip to Cotswolds
 

I'm currently in London and planning Cotswolds as my next stop. I hope I can get few suggestions on some of my concerns. I've not made plans for car rental. I understand that it might be a little tough for Cotswolds but I'm not entirely ruling out this possibility either. For the purpose of this discussion, shall we assume that I'll be using the public transport.

1. Before going to Cotswolds I'm thinking of going to Oxford. Does it result in much time and cost savings if I were to proceed to Cotswolds from Oxford directly, which I might have to make some arrangements for baggage storage. Alternatively I can make it a day trip from London too before heading to Cotswolds the day after.

2. I've read up some of the resources given in few posts but still cannot decide which microtown to live in. My main concern would be ease of travel using public transport to the other sights so the town should be fairly well connected. I'll be moving on to Bath after Cotswolds if this is a factor. Second factor would be the surrounding sights. We've been travelling in Europe for more than a month now; with this bring our last leg, we are 'retiring' into a slower pace so the surroundings need not be jam packed with activities but enough to keep us occupied on days where we decide to head out will be nice. We'll be there for five nights or so. (silly question but in these microtowns there are supermarkets like tesco, sainsbury etc around right as we would like to do our own cooking.)

The Cotswolds is an area in which having a car, while not an absolute necessity - will make your travel much easier.

Some towns are reachable only by a bus that might run once per day (esp on a Sunday_ - and to get from some towns to others might involve multiple buses. Can you see some place - yes. Might it take all day to get to and from one town - yes. Will you have many more options with a car - yes.

So it depends on how many and which towns you want to see - and how long you are willing to spend in doing so.

Teardrop:
IMO, having the use of a car in the Cotswolds is a big positive. Otherwise, as noted above, you can be in for some days filled with bus-waiting and bus-riding. I will post below some Cotswold pics to give you some familiarization and ideas. Enjoy what's left of your European tour. On a few occasions we used LHR for car rentals...this way we were on the west edge of town, ready for travel north west...and not having to drive through London (which is usually ot that tough during non-heavy traffic hours on the motorways).

Hi nytraveler, tower thanks for your replies.

It does sound like I should really look into the driving option.

Here's what I'm thinking of: Train from London to Oxford, pick up car & explore, drive to Cotswolds & Bath, drop off at Heathrow.

Is driving from Bath to Heathrow a good idea? First time driving in UK and perhaps I would say a little apprehensive.

Any towns in Cotswolds & Bath you recommend I should be focusing that it's easier in terms of navigation and in any other ways make the slightly edgey me feel more confident of pulling this off? ;)

Bath to Heathrow is an easy drive, centre of Bath to the M4 is 15/20mins then its straight down the M4 to Heathrow, if traffic is ok you will do the whole trip in under 2hours. Avoid rush hours if possible.

Cotsworls - Bath is a straight forward drive. Head for Cirencester then either the A433 via Chipping Sodbury or A429 via Malmesbury and then just pick up signs for Bath :).

Im not too sure about Cotsworlds but you could go to Bristol during your stay in Bath (train to temple meads is about £5-£10 return and takes about 20minutes), good shopping and a few sights like Clifton suspension Bridge, the Downs, Park Street, SS Great Britain etc, or see a show at the Hippodrome or Colston Hall.

We found Moreton-in-Marsh to be fairly central for touring the Cotswolds. We had a car. There is a train there too, but I don't know anything about schedules, connections, etc. We enjoyed our stay at Treetops B&B which has parking and is near enough to the train station to walk. If you're comfortable driving, I do think that would be the best way to enjoy the Cotswolds.

Hi td,

>Train from London to Oxford, pick up car & explore...

You won't need a car in Oxford. Pick it up when you leave.

We very much enjoyed our stay in Bibury at http://www.cotteswoldhouse.org.uk/

((I))

Ditto for Bibury, Ira.

Tearddrops:
These should give you a bit of familiarization for the region.
The Mill Dene Gardens are not as spectaclar as some other English gardens., but we had the whole place to ourselves and highly recommend it.

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...twE&feat=email

Check out Chapters Nine through Sixteen of the attached trip report (with photos) from our autumn trip to England (those chapters cover Bath and the Cotswolds). Bibury is beautiful (as are numerous other little towns).

http://www.travelswithmaitaitom.com/...land_2013.html

((H))

Appreciate all the replied I've had so far. Does serve as a very good basis for my remaining research! Thanks!