We're planning to begin our October UK vacation in the Cotswolds after arriving at Heathrow. I would like to avoid driving and was wondering if hiring an Uber to get between towns is now common. Otherwise we're considering arranging for a driver/tour guide for 2 afternoons.

I've read various recommendations about travel from the airport to the Cotswolds. We're hoping to stay in Barnsley near Cirencester, what would you all recommend as the best method of travel from Heathrow to Barnsley?

Thank you so much!

Do you mean Barnsley House? It us in a VERY rural location -- no actual town nearby. The village of Barnsley is teensy -- fewer than 200 people. There is really no practical way to get to Barnsley from LHR w/o a car - but you wouldn't want to drive right of an international flight. You could go by train in to London Paddington then take a different train to the nearest station at Kemble (once an hour / 1.5 hour journey) - which is about 10 miles from the hotel. No -- uber would not be practical.

If you want to visit the Cotswolds without a car you do not want to stay in Barnsley.

What is the rest of your itinerary like? It might be better to start your trip in London or Bath or Oxford or ??

Meant to add -- if you want to visit the Cotswolds, then someplace on the east side closer to Oxford would be easier. Trains go to Moreton-in-Marsh, Charlbury, and Kingham (near Stow on the Wold). Of those Moreton in Marsh has more tourist facilities and bus connections.

But honestly -- hitting the cotswolds first off the plane might not be your best option.

A possible solution although a bit expensive is to hire a taxi from the area ( Cirencester ) to pick you up at LHR. Google taxi/ car service companies in Cirencester. You can use a local taxi company to drive you around the Cotswolds but, again, this will likely be an expensive alternative.It is not a common practice to use taxis between towns or even for touring and few places will have easy access to taxis. You'll need to prearrange pickups/ drop offs. etc. We did it once, and I would not recommend it. I wouldn't use Uber.The Cotswolds are not easy to tour without a car,although walking is a viable alternative.

Per historytraveler's suggestion: This company charges £100 for LHR (which seems amazingly cheap)

http://www.sirencars.com/airport-taxis-cirencester/

They also do 'Cotswold tours' - no prices listed but it would obviously be more than £100 per day since the drive from LHR is only 90 minutes-ish. So it would probably mean an all day tour would be at least £50 per hour.

Great advice above

You might need to think what draws you to the Cotswolds. The towns are pretty pretty but packed out on a summer day with local and international tourists, the countryside is lovely and, guess what, empty.

The UK has thousands and thousands of free walking paths. One of the best ways to see the place, is stop one night in a B&B, walk to another towns, sending bags on ahead with a taxi to another B&B and stop half way for lunch pub treat.

Conclusion; two nights stay and a chance to see two towns, and some lovely countryside, meet fellow ramblers etc etc

i think that you can get a coach [bus] from LHR to Oxford, which would be an easier and safer way to get close to the Cotswolds than driving straight after a transatlantic flight - they leave every 30 mins from Heathrow Central bus station according to Google maps.

That puts you much closer to where you want to go and would be good for a night or two. Then pick up a car or use taxis/driver to get around.

BTW, I don't think that you'll find your Uber app of much use in the Cotswolds.

>>That puts you much closer to where you want to go and would be good for a night or two. Then pick up a car or use taxis/driver to get around. <<

To clarify - closer to the Cotswolds for sure - not to Barnsley though. Oxford to Kemble by train takes just about as long as from London and would have to change at Didcot.

If you are starting from LHR and insist on the Cotswolds at the front end of your trip -- concentrate on the eastern bits just west of Oxford.

I visited Barnsley House long ago to visit the garden. So long ago that Rosemary Verey was still in residence and I understand why you'd like to stay there. I'd recommend contacting the hotel to ask if they can arrange a taxi or car service transfer from Heathrow and if they have people in the vicinity who can provide the tour you want. As mentioned, it will all come at a price but that may not be an issue for you and the hotel may be the best source. I hope you manage it.

. . . Or drive and solve the whole situation.

>> . . . Or drive and solve the whole situation.<< <i>after</i> a night somewhere car-less to recover from the jetlag. Windsor would be good - 7 miles from LHR and an easy drive the next day to the western Cotswolds.

There are several companies that offer self-guided walking tours in the UK, including the Cotswolds. You do the walking, they book your accomodation and move your luggage. Just do a search

<<That puts you much closer to where you want to go and would be good for a night or two. Then pick up a car or use taxis/driver to get around. >>

>>To clarify - closer to the Cotswolds for sure - not to Barnsley though. Oxford to Kemble by train takes just about as long as from London and would have to change at Didcot.<<

Not if they picked up a CAR at Oxford, JJ - it's a drive of about 50 mins.

Thank you all for your excellent suggestions. I'll ask the Barnsley House rep. if they have transport options to their hotel. If that's not practical, we'll rethink our plan to stay in Barnsley which sounds a little too remote.

On our last trip to England, we had a great experience going directly by bus to Bath from the airport allowing us to adjust to the time difference and relax before heading to London. We spent 2.5 days exploring the town and relaxing at the hotel.

The logistics of the Cotwolds sound a bit more challenging. I wonder if there might be a Cotswold town that might be a great destination in itself? It sounds like Oxford would possibly be a good base if there isn't.

Walking between towns sounds like a great option too.

I meant to add we'll be traveling in early October.

Thanks again janisj, annhig, MmePerdu, bilboburglar, thurdaysd & historytraveler for your helpful advice!

Eyann's husband

There are direct National Express coaches to Cirencester and Cheltenham, not clear whether they make additional stops.

thursdaysd - according to google maps [which I am increasingly using for train and bus info as well as driving times and routes] there is a direct bus from LHR to Cirencester which takes about 95 mins, but to get to Cheltenham you have to do a convoluted train journey via Bristol. Cirencester would make a good base - plenty to see in the city, and big enough to have taxis for day trips.

ann - National Express disagrees with google maps. Admittedly, there are only four direct coaches a day, from Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 to Cheltenham, but they do exist.

that's good thursdaysd. I wonder why they don't show it. [perhaps I put in the wrong parameters, though I did move the time to tomorrow morning].

It does demonstrate that one needs to check information by reference to more than one source - especially if you're the one intending to rely upon it.

Do I remember you stopping in Cheltenham on your last tour round England? I'm pretty certain you were talking about it. how would it compare with Cirencester as a stop-over place?

No, I decided against it after the discussion here. I stayed in Worcester, which I really liked, but I was doing the Welsh Marches rather than the Cotswolds.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...cheltenham.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-9719256

>>Not if they picked up a CAR at Oxford, JJ - it's a drive of about 50 mins.<<

Oh, Absolutely -- I was just trying to explain the difficulty of trying to do it sans car . . .

>>On our last trip to England, we had a great experience going directly by bus to Bath from the airport allowing us to adjust to the time difference and relax before heading to London. The logistics of the Cotwolds sound a bit more challenging. I wonder if there might be a Cotswold town that might be a great destination in itself? It sounds like Oxford would possibly be a good base if there isn't.<<

Both Oxford and Bath have express coaches from LHR. You could go to Oxford for a couple of nights and from there take public transport to some town in the Cotswolds where you can base and use a combo of local buses and drivers for a few days. This Base could be in the N or E parts of the Cotswolds like Chipping Campden, Moreton in Marsh, Stow on the Wold -- OR over on the west side like Cirencester. Cheltenham is the largest town and has trains but I'd rather stay in Cirencester.

The north/ east side would be much easier from Oxford.

. . . The west side would be easier from Bath