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Bath - Cardiff - Cotswolds itinerary and sequence help

Posted by (Albany, NY, USA) on

Would appreciate help with the sequence of itinerary.

I will be arriving in London at the end of June and will be renting a car.
I had originally planned to head directly to Bath, staying for 3 nights. Then head to Cardiff for one night. After that on to the Cotswolds for three nights, with a day trip to Oxford and Blenheim Palace from there.

Questions:
does it make more sense to just do a day trip to Cardiff from Bath and return to Bath after (making that 4 nights in Bath)? I have looked at the maps but am getting conflicting info on how much time in takes to drive to Cardiff from Bath (varies between one hour and one and a half hours). I know it's often easier to stay put instead of moving lodging but not sure if it is in this case.

Is it better to travel to the Cotswolds from Cardiff or Bath (both look to be about 1 hour 40 minutes)? I have never been to this area of England/Wales so don't know anything about the roads and ease of point to point travel.
it is best to do Oxford and Blenheim as a day trip from the Cotswolds?

Thank you in advance for your help.
Lisa

Posted by
7175 posts

On a UK trip in 2004 we visited all the places you mention from a central base near Cheltenham. With a 7 night stay we managed ...
1. Bath & Wells
2. Oxford & Blenheim Palace
3. Cotswold villages
4. Cardiff
5. Gloucester & Wye Valley
6. Stratford upon Avon

Something like this might work for you ...
Day 1 Train to Bath - 2 nts
Day 2 Bath
Day 3 Pick up hire car. Drive via Wells & Lacock to Cotswolds - 3 nts
Day 4 Cotswold villages
Day 5 Oxford & Blenheim Palace
Day 6 Drive via Gloucester & Wye Valley To Cardiff - 2nts
Day 7 Return hire car. Cardiff
Day 8 Train to London

Posted by
2599 posts

Do you really need a hire car in Bath? You could take a train to Bath - probably by going from Heathrow to Reading via the shuttle 'Railair’ bus link and then catch the train.

Cardiff is just over 1 hour from Bath by train or car. (The Severn Rail tunnel will be closed for 6 weeks in early autumn 2016 for electrification works). The M4 can jam up at Newport where 3 lanes become 2 to get through a tunnel. Try & avoid this route at peak time - especially Fridays between 4 & 6pm - and you should be OK. (If using a car, try and select a hotel on the edge of the city that has free parking).

To get the most out of Cardiff, it is hard/ impossible to squeeze everything into 1 day - so you might like to stay overnight rather than do it as a day trip from Bath. See links:> http://www.cardiffcastle.com
http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/stfagans/
http://cadw.gov.wales/daysout/castell-coch/?lang=en
http://cadw.gov.wales/daysout/caerphilly-castle/?lang=en
http://www.visitcardiff.com

I find the northern Cotswolds to have the most attractive villages = the Bourton-on-the-Water / Broadway area. From Cardiff, the quickest way by car is to cross the M4 bridge over the estuary & take the M5 northbound to leave at junction 11A east of Gloucester.
However, by doing that, you miss out on the lower Wye Valley and the ruins of Tintern Abbey. So, to do this route, you would take M4 east from Cardiff and then switch to M48 as you approach the Severn Bridge. Leave at the last junction in Wales & follow A466 northward. (You may like to detour to see Chepstow Castle). http://www.castlewales.com/chepstow.html
http://cadw.gov.wales/daysout/tinternabbey/?lang=en

If visiting Tintern, you can reach the northern Cotswolds by continuing north up the A466 towards Monmouth & taking the A40 east - which becomes the M50. Leave M50 at junction 1 for Tewkesbury - which has an Abbey. Then A46 eastbound & B4077 to the Cotswolds.

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