Advice for itinerary, accomodations. First trip to UK.

While planning for an England, Scotland and Ireland trip next summer, I discovered Air BnB, and even downloaded their app on my phone. I found plenty of places that appear nice in all 4 of the locations I am planning to visit, and plan to use Air BnB for two. One is a room in an old cottage just outside Chipping Campden, which also has an adjoining bedroom available, according to the hosts. Rates are less than $100 a night. Most of the available rooms that I have been looking at have many (in the hundreds) of favorable reviews, so some of these hosts apparently take their duties seriously.

In Edinburgh, we plan to stay in a studio flat that we'll have to ourselves, complete with a washer and dryer. This is important because we'll travel with just one carry-on bag each. (Once you do it, you'll understand.)

As for transport, you can rent a compact car with an automatic transmission for the Cotswolds segment of your trip, taking the train from London and picking it up in Oxford, which is less than an hour from Chipping Campden and even less from Moreton-in-Marsh. On our first trip to England, I rented a straight shift car, which meant I had to shift with my left hand, which I found distracting. Driving on the left was no problem for me.

I hope you love England as much as we do!

Are you thinking of walking tours in the Cotswolds? You can book tours where they carry your luggage to your overnight location as you walk the footpaths. Some friends of mine did this and found it enjoyable. It is easy to take the train to Bath. When you are in London you will have more things to do then you have time...lots are free. Check the National Trust UK site for interesting places to visit. They have an Overseas Visitor Family Pass.

Hi Lisa, my initial thoughts on reading your post were that if you haven't been to London before you are short-changing it for time spent there, especially in comparison to the time you propose in the Cotswolds. +You can do Bath as a day trip from London - I know a lot of people really love Bath and would disagree with this and urge you to stay in Bath, but the benefits of staying in fewer places and not dragging cases around would really work better for me. (There are also day trips to the Cotswolds.) But, of course, this is your trip and you know best what you would like. Also think if you are doing a couple of nights out of London, I think a 17 year old would prefer York to Bath.

One website you should check out is www.walks.com - London walks who do day trips from London - there is usually one trip a week to Bath in the summer, also to the Cotswolds (and lots of other day trips, which would give you an idea of what's possible); they also do lots of 2 hour walking tours around London which are often a good introduction to major sites.

When you ask for suggestions for itinerary, you don't say what sort of things you, your husband and son are interested in which would help with suggestions. ?Gardens, stately homes, history, WW2, Harry Potter etc etc?
Katy

Lisa,

You might find it really helpful to have a look at the RS England guidebook, as that has lots of information not only on lodgings but also on the various places you're planning to visit and transportation between them as well as information on museums and other sightseeing. For your stay in London, it would be prudent to consider which part of the city to stay in, based on the touring you plan to do and the access to transportation. I always prefer to stay in the Victoria station / Belgravia area, but everyone here has their own preferences.

As you've noted the Cotswolds has limited rail access. Depending on which town you decide to stay, you could also look at travel via National Express Coach.

You wrote "We have started by booking an apartment in London for 5 nights". What section of London is it in? Just curious as to what tube and train stations you will be near.

You can take the train to Moreton-in-Marsh. There is a car rental place there (Avis). So you don't have to pick up a car in Oxford, as someone else said. However, the car rental place in Oxford is much larger, with a larger selection. So Oxford may have an automatic transmission for you to rent. I would advise you to get an automatic. Moreton-in-Marsh will have a smaller selection, but MAY have an automatic. You of course would reserve that ahead of time and make a special request for automatic.
http://www.avis.co.uk/drive-avis/car-hire-locations/europe/united-kingdom/england/moreton-in-the-marsh/moreton-in-the-marsh

You do not HAVE to rent a car in the Cotswolds. There are buses from town to town, and also taxi services. Many people go to the Cotswolds to take walks and just relax and only want to see one or two villages. That would be enough for me. But if you want to see lots of the Cotswold villages, then, yes, you will need a car.

About Chipping Campden; it is charming. Yes, Rick likes it. He has many recommendations in his England guidebook for hotels, B&Bs and pubs in Chipping Campden. So that would be a good choice for your lodging. The Cotswold Way walking path runs through the town. It is a 6 mile walk to the village of Broadway, a beautiful walk. The Cotswold Way runs through the entire area of the Cotswolds, but even doing one section of it is a good walk.

I agree with Kathleen -- due a multi-day walk in the Cotswolds. We did a self-guided 4-day walk to/from Bath through Cotswolds Walks and thoroughly enjoyed it. You get a very different view of the country when you are walking through fields and very small towns. It was not strenuous, but be prepared for rain. That only added to the fun in our opinion. When I think back on our trip, which included York, Cambridge and London, my visions are often of the scenery on the walk.

Hi everyone, thanks for all the tips. First for London, I booked in the Chelsea area, closest tube station is South Kensington I believe. I didn't think we would be short changing London, as we will have 7 nights, and at least 6 full days. We are fairly good walkers and hope to enjoy the city, with a few museums thrown in, and churches. Probably Harry Potter too. I was kind of thinking of trying a different area for our last 2 nights. It looks like either St Pancras, or Victoria Station would be our connection to get to Gatwick, so maybe near one of those.

My husband drives a lot for work, so that is one reason for trying to avoid a car, we both drive standard, but I had forgotten I'd have to use my left hand, thanks for the tip. Frankly the whole left side of the road and shifting with my left, I'm sure we'd see more of the countryside than planned! ( the ditch) Good to know we might get one in Moreton on Marsh if needed.

If it was just my husband and I , we would consider a tour that would take our bags to the next stop and walk. But I don't think we'll bother with my son doing that. We were planning on taking walks in the countryside, and stopping at a pub or two, but it might become a bit the same. Would Oxford be a more interesting choice for a night or two, or would you just go back to London for longer?

I would suggest, if preferring travel by bus and train only, that you 'book end' your time in London with two excursions to the country. Firstly, through Oxford to Moreton-in-Marsh for the Cotswolds. Secondly, combine time in Bath with a return to London via Salisbury.

4 nights - Oxford + Cotswolds
6 nights - London
3 nights - Bath + Salisbury

Check National Rail maps here ... http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/maps.aspx

Everyone thinks "tube" when it comes to London, but if you are using Gatwick there is the train line Thameslink that serves several stations in central London, no tube required. For your 2 night stay at the end, maybe something near the Thames in the Bankside area? It is an easy walk to the Thameslink Blackfriars station from there (1-2 blocks).

Here's one http://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/london/lonsw/hoteldetail (can you stay with points?)

or some cheaper ones http://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/search.html?searchModel.searchTerm=Southwark&LOCATION=51.5045,-0.105&searchModel.map=false&cid=KNC_Brn_G_UK_US_Eng_Enc_LO_London_EX&mckv=sZQpcWdzH_dc%7Cpcrid%7C47866242344%7Ckword%7Cpremier%20inn%20southwark%7Cmatch%7Ce%7Cplid%7C&gclid=CMTVg_3bmskCFYU5aQodjL0IVQ

There is limited bus service in the Cotswolds, but with that said, from Mireton-in-Marsh you are able to go to Bourton-on-the-Water, Stow-on-the-Wold, Broadway, Chipping Campden and most of the time if you catch the bus in another village, you will have to change in Moreton-in-Marsh.