We are coming to London in early April. It is my myself, husband and 15 year old son. It is our second trip to London and so we will only spend a couple of days in London proper. We would like to explore Bath, Oxford and perhaps the Cotswolds. I have seen post with people saying there is not a good home base for all these areas. We are not interested in renting a car and driving in England. Any thoughts on a place to stay in the middle of these areas where you can access the train easily. Alternatively we can day trips from London. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Posted by
7668 posts
We have visited Bath (3 nights), Oxford (day trip from Chipping Campden) and the Cotswolds (6 nights-used it as a base).
We had a rental car. Seeing the Cotswolds without a rental car is not impossible, but more difficult. I would not want to try that.
You can't use rail to see the Cotswolds that well. Other options are to take a guided tour, but you will miss a lot if you do that.
Bath, you can use rail. We stayed in the Brooks Guesthouse that is in a good location to see the city.
We loved Stratford Upon Avon and Blenheim Palace was good to visit. Also, we spent two nights in Winchester and visited Salisbury and Stonehenge on an earlier trip.
You could take the train to Oxford, then train to Bath staying in Bath. Cambridge is on the other side of London, but you could do a day trip there from London.
Warwick Castle is another place we visited that is north of Oxford.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16287 posts
I do not see why Oxford wouldn’t work as a home base. You can reach Moreton-in-March, the only Cotswold town with a train station, in 35 minutes from there. Other townsmay be available by bus, but someone else will have to help with that.
Train from Oxford to Bath Spa can be done in 1 hr.14 minutes with a single change on the way;, at Didcot Parkway.
Or you could stay in Bath, but the journey to Moreton-in-Marsh from there is considerably longer (2+ hours, with a minimum of 1 change on the way).
There are easy connections from Oxford to the airport (Heathrow) you don’t want to return to London before your flight.
Posted by
London, UK
452 posts
You could base in Bath and do some of the Mad Max tours. www.madmaxtours.co.uk
For Oxford a day trip from London would work.