Lodging in London May 10-14 and Cotswald

Old Jan 16th, 2014, 12:22 PM
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Lodging in London May 10-14 and Cotswald

Is Southgate near enough to the sights of London to stay? Found a good possibility The Oaks Guest House. Is it near public transportation. If we are visiting the Cotswolds should we make it a day trip or actually leave London and lodge in Cotswolds. We will then travel to Yorkshire and Hull (family visit) and Edinburgh.
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Old Jan 16th, 2014, 12:32 PM
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southgate_tube_station

Southgate is a long way from central London by Tube - the most famous thing in Souhtgate it its famous circular tube station - it's a nice suburban type area - I always stay in a similar area in the east of London but nearly everyone says it's too remote but if you have a really good price it may be worth the commuting time and costs.

If you're paying the going rate of 89 pounds single 99 pounds double then you could probably find something similar in price or cheaper a bit closer in. Looks like a great option for motorists coming to London but perhaps not those going by public transit.

the picture makes it look like an upscale B&B.

http://www.theoaksguesthouse.co.uk/
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Old Jan 16th, 2014, 12:39 PM
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Is this the one, pdamiani? [it's a good idea to post a link to places you want to ask about as it saves us having to do it for you!]

http://www.theoaksguesthouse.co.uk/location.php

the website says that it's 30 mins to central London on the Piccadilly line which isn't too bad but the problem us that if you want to go out in the evening, you either have to hang around in central London all day without access to your accommodation, or go back there and come come back into London in the evening, which is a waste of time.

to find out how close it is to public transport put the address into google maps and use the directions function.

you also need to factor in the cost of travelling into London at least once a day, which may make the B&B lesss cheap than you thought.

it would make sense to stay in the Cotswolds on your way to Yorkshire and Hull.

PS - this is the third such thread you've started - why not just stick to the one thread as your questions are more or less the same on each.
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Old Jan 16th, 2014, 12:45 PM
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it would make sense to stay in the Cotswolds on your way to Yorkshire and Hull.>

You could also base in Oxford for a day trip to Cotswolds and also enjoy evenings in Oxford where the sidewalks are not rolled up at night - easy day trip to Cotswolds from Oxford - Cotswolds to me is a term that to many sounds romantic - stone houses with thatched roofs B&Bs or guesthouses - roaring fire in fireplace, etc but lots of place in England IME have the same charm.

To me Cotswolds is a destination for those who like to hike between villages - several days but to see the Cotswolds in one day is not the best - to me it Cotswold Hills have a special feeling, etc that takes more than an ephemeral look to appreciate.

Ditch the Cotswolds spend the day in Oxford, one of the most interesting and beautiful cities in Britain.
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Old Jan 16th, 2014, 01:42 PM
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If that guest house was dirt cheap, it might make sense . . But it is not cheap at all. One could stay in the very center of London for that much - and save 1+ hour commute every day
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Old Jan 17th, 2014, 03:27 AM
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it would make sense to stay in the Cotswolds on your way to Yorkshire and Hull.>>

Pal - i meant in the sense that it made more sense than returning to London in the evening.

but it depends what sort of experience the OP wants - do they want to stay in the country or in small town, or do they want the city of Oxford with organised day trip?]

one of the problems is that the OP keeps starting new threads which creates confusion about their plans.

gook point, jj.
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Old Jan 17th, 2014, 07:31 AM
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For those commenters who have kindly advised an obvious novice such as myself, thank you for telling me to keep everything on one thread. I will attempt to learn from my "Fodor faux pas"!

Here is our present plan and more questions. My brother and wife will be in London for a 2 or 3 days before me. When I join them coming from my daughter in Germany, I will stay with them one night in London which means a lodging that allows for 3 adults. They would rather keep their lodging in the same place for all those nights. Many places we have found only have 2 per room. Thus, the B&B seemed like a good option. That said, we realize it truly is too far as you have all kindly pointed out. THANK YOU.

We want to go to Cotswold one day because of the geographical beauty more than because of all the things to do so Oxford isn't preferred when we only have one full day to give. Because we aren't familiar with the area we wondered if a day tour would be best.

So for the present, our two questions are lodging in London and lodging to visit Cotswold.
Next is how to tour the area of Cotswold.
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Old Jan 17th, 2014, 07:37 AM
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Because we aren't familiar with the area we wondered if a day tour would be best.>

Yes take a tour otherwise you may see a town or two but not the Cotswolds or if you can pinpoint some nice place to go - like take a train to a rail station then a bus to one of the Slaughters and do the popular walk between Lower and Upper Slaughter then you will see the beauty of the Cotswolds perhaps not even available from a tour bus that usually sees a few villages but no walks - to me the essence of the Cotswolds.
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Old Jan 17th, 2014, 07:39 AM
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http://www.visitcotswolds.co.uk/contentok.php?id=555

Yes head to the Slaughters, possible by train and bus and spend the day in the picture of the Cotswolds perhaps etched in your minds' eyes - it is an easy walk but when I did it is was muddy so check the weather too.

Lots of neat places in Cotswolds other than this but there are none better!
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Old Jan 17th, 2014, 07:59 AM
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Www.walks.com also does day trips to the Cotswolds
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Old Jan 17th, 2014, 08:02 AM
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Thank you PalenQ. The idea of walking it is enticing!

By the way, we were told to focus on lodging in London to Regent St, Picadelly, Green Park, Oxford St, Trafalgar and Leicester Square areas. Our top would be 1000 US dollars for the 4 nights total.
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Old Jan 17th, 2014, 08:04 AM
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jamkikins - that also looks good. Thank you
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Old Jan 17th, 2014, 08:26 AM
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jamikins idea sounds like the best of all possible scenarios - no time-consuming getting to a nice walk by public transit which is kind of spotty IME in parts of the Cotswolds and doing some walks - the problem I see with group bus tours in general would be that they take you to some of the famous Cotswolds 'Wool Towns' - which prospered when Cotswolds wool was the rage and even fed Flanders - Bruges, Gent woolen manufacturers - wool made these towns rich and their opulence still shines but those towns can be really crowded with tourists - I guess what I'm saying is to get the essence of the Cotswolds in general it is not just visiting a few wool towns but yes getting out and walking, like what is popular with so many Brits who do get aways in the Cotwswolds - so a walking tour to me would be the best scenario for someone on limited time who really wants to experience the Cotswolds beauty outside of a few famous wool towns.

Not that these wool towns are not neat and should also be part of the Cotswold experience and I assume the walking tour would hit a few towns as well - perhaps walking between them.

Some of the more famous (and in season mobbed) wool towns:
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/desti...ain/nlcots.htm
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Old Jan 17th, 2014, 10:39 AM
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but to make it clear, I don't think that Pal is advocating that you do a day trip to the Cotswolds from London, are you Pal?

pdamiani - have you tried putting your dates for London into booking.com and selecting a room for 3? you can limit the price range too, and look at where the hotel is on a map, reviews [which are by people who have stayed there] etc.

I had a look for a random date in February and found quite a lot of central hotels with triple rooms.
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Old Jan 17th, 2014, 12:28 PM
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I did annhig. I am finding some that work but May is a busier time and the ones I am finding in our price don't have the best reviews but I am investigating each one.
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Old Jan 17th, 2014, 12:58 PM
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but to make it clear, I don't think that Pal is advocating that you do a day trip to the Cotswolds from London, are you Pal?>

Well yes if you take the offering of London Walks that jamikins suggested as a possibility - Cotswolds ain't that far from London by tour bus I'd think - by public transportation yes it is probably a few hours at least each way to some Slaughterersque type place - easier from a place like Oxford or stay in one of the Wool Towns like popular Burton-on-Water.
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Old Jan 18th, 2014, 03:46 AM
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pdamiani - i know that May is busier, but you should be able to find a few places that are central and have more than 2 beds in a room.

Have you looked at Novotel? or Premier Inn? they will often have triple or quad rooms.

Also you might look at a double and a single. Singles do still exist in some places.
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Old Jan 18th, 2014, 04:14 AM
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http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/book/london-hotels

Or TravelLodge hoels all over London. Look for specials.
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Old Jan 18th, 2014, 04:47 AM
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We tried Novotel and even my sister in laws friend who is a travel agent tried to book a room for 3 people but we could not...unless I was a child and of course, as a 64 year old, I find that unlikely to work . HOWEVER we finally found a place that is in price range, great location and has beds for 3. Day's Inn Hyde Park.
Contacted both walks.com and another website that was good reviews and found a person who does walking tours designed to your liking. They both meet you at the "tube" station.

Our next step now is to procure a plan to head north to York and plan what to do in area. We are planning on renting a car in that area (Yorkshire, Hull to visit uncle). Suggestions on area to focus on booking lodging now? Bed and Breakfasts or hotels? Places to visit?
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Old Jan 18th, 2014, 08:17 AM
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pdamiani - good news about the hotel. I hope that you have booked it!

to get to Yorkshire, the obvious way is to get the train to a convenient station, eg York, and rent a car from there.

as for your other enquiries about Yorkshire, where to stay and what to see, this IS a good time to start a new thread or to go back to one of your previous ones, as this thread is headed London and the Cotswolds, so it won't attract people who know about Yorkshire.
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