Bath, Cotswold, Stonehenge-should we rent a car or do day trips from London?

The easiest way to do this would be to take a train to Bath, stay there two nights, and take a Mad Max tour of Cotswolds and Stonehenge.

You would be better off in your own car, visiting these places at your own pace I would prefer it this way too,

I rented a car at Heathrow after flying in from the States. Trying to drive on the opposite side of the road
with jet lag is a mistake I will never attempt again. It had my family alarmed at the number of near sideswipes I had with the car the first day out. It wasn’t long before I was being addressed as “Mr. Magoo.”
I ‘d suggest taking the train to Bath and when you’re ready to leave, pick up a rental car for the Cotswolds and Stonehenge. Return the car to Bath and train back to London.

reservations at a hotel by Hyde Park

Do you mean by Hyde Park Corner tube station, the corner where Piccadilly, Constitution Hill, Knightsbridge, Grosvenor Place and Park Lane all come together, maybe The Lanesborough, The Wellesley Knightsbridge or the Berkeley, or do you mean somewhat adjacent to a different area of London which is near different parts of Hyde Park - a really big park - such as Bayswater, Mayfair, Knightsbridge, or Kensington.

If we knew we could help you with your transport towards Bath or Stonehenge or the Cotswolds.

Or perhaps you've been to London many times?

We did a four week drive tour of South Wales and England visiting no large cities. We spent three nights in Bath (we did one day trip to Wells and Glastonbury) and six in Chipping Campden (stayed at Volunteer Inn, I recommend it). We had a rental car and used Chipping Campden as a base to visit Oxford, Blenheim Palace, Stratford Upon Avon and the Cotswolds.

I was not impressed with the tours that I saw that did the Cotswolds. I recommend renting a car. However, you need more than two days to do justice to Bath and the Cotswolds.

If you insist on taking a tour it might suit the fact that you have such a short time there.

Or consider just doing Bath, which you can do without a car on a day trip as well as another day trip to Stonehenge.

As geovagriffith stated, no car is needed for bath, but one is pretty much needed for the Cotswolds. A car would make getting to Stonehenge easier. I also agree that you need more than a couple days to adequately see the places you mentioned.

Hello from Wisconsin,
If you can drive on the left side, you are good to go. It helps if the passenger reminds you or helps you make a right hand turn at an intersection "far lane...far lane". Or after having been parked when you get ready to pullout, "left side, left side". Once you are on the road it becomes pretty second nature.

Bath requires no car. The countryside of the Cotswolds is lovely to drive. The car will let you drive to the famous villages as well as the surrounding villages. Watch for wild Pheasants and swaths of Blue Bells covering the forest floors.

wayneinWI

I'd recommend a car if you want to do the Cotswolds--they are so beautiful and charming that I think it's worth the trip, and having a car will let you set your own pace. Car not needed for Bath as others have said, but you can look for hotels/airbnbs that provide parking. You can hit Stonehenge on the way back to London and still get the car back in time for a late afternoon drop-off.

If you base out of London and want to do all three, you'll end up spending a lot of time in a bus; getting your own car allows you to break up the drive and see the sites over a few days.

I did a similar trip a few years ago, with one night in Oxford, two nights in the Cotswolds, and two nights in Bath, stopping at Stonehenge on the way back to London. Next time, I'd cut out Bath and add another couple of nights in the Cotswolds, but if you do want to see Bath, there's a lovely, gentle hike that starts in the city and goes into the hills with a nice view back to town. My partner also really enjoyed the Thermae Bath Spa; its a little touristy (modern way of "taking the waters"), but fun.

I agree with Cala, in the very first post on this thread.
"The easiest way to do this would be to take a train to Bath, stay there two nights, and take a Mad Max tour of Cotswolds and Stonehenge."

The other way I might do this is to take the train from London to Moreton-In-Marsh and take a day tour of the Cotswolds with GoCotswolds tours.
They are excellent, and will pick you up early in the morning at the train station; return you in the evening to the train station.
See this page for more information, booking tickets, etc.:
https://www.gocotswolds.co.uk/product/cotswolds-in-a-day/
This is in a van with 16 people or fewer.
GoCotswolds is a reliable tour company, very popular with RS forum members.
Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence.

For Stonehenge, you can easily take the train from London to Salisbury (a lovely town with a magnificent cathedral).
The Stonehenge Bus leaves from the train station and the downtown square (pick up points at both).
The bus takes you out to the stones, buy a ticket to get in, walk around for a couple of hours, back on the bus to Salisbury. I would see Salisbury Cathedral before leaving town. Quick train back to London.

OR stay in Salisbury for a night or two, taking one of the days to go out to Stonehenge. It's definitely worth it to stay in Salisbury. Nice medieval town. Totally different from London. Quiet. Lovely buildings, museums, water meadows, good restaurants and hotels.
Not a place you'd especially want a car, as many hotels do not have enough parking.

People here are divided on whether to rent a car or to not rent a car.
About half the people on this forum love to drive a rental car on vacation in England.
The other half use the train (and bus) system to get around, and are quite happy doing it.
So do what feels right for you.

You do not need a car to get around in Bath.
The city is very walkable, and the city center where all the tourist attractions are, is fairly compact.
Two of the main attractions, Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths are 3 to 4 blocks from one another.

If you go from Bath to the Cotswolds or to Stonehenge with Mad Max tours (as Cala suggested) you don't have to have a car.
I think in the USA, we have all gotten used to driving every day.
In England, you can choose not to have a car and get along just fine.
It's totally your preference.

If you have only one day to allot to the Cotswolds and don't want to do any village-to-village hiking, I'm not sure there's much, if any, advantage to having a car rather than taking one of the small-group tours--GoCotswolds or MadMax. The train will get you to Oxford or Bath faster than a car will, and the tour companies are good about stringing together several picturesque towns, interspersed with lovely Cotswolds scenery. The villages don't generally have indoor sights to visit, where you might be worried the tour wouldn't give you enough time. I'm a person who always wants to spend extra time at a destination, walking every picturesque street, etc., but I had nearly enough time at the GoCotswolds stops, and the price was very reasonable.

Thank you, all, for your helpful comments! Researching the Cotswold's, and being gardeners, we've decided to rent a car so we have sufficient time and flexibility to visit Hidcote Manor, the original designer of "garden rooms" and Highgrove, the Prince of Wales private home/gardens.

I'm glad its coming together for you. Car good choice.

When you arrive at Hidcote you will pass the woman designed and maintained Kiftsgate garden (3 generations of women) just before the entrance. Well worth a stop. http://www.kiftsgate.co.uk/

I can't tell from the comments, but will you be renting the car AND staying in Bath? Parking can be a challenge. Here's where we stayed. https://www.pulteneyhotel.co.uk/ Plenty of parking and about a 10 minute walk to the tourist zone.