Bath, Cotswolds, York rethink

If you are truly interested in Stonehenge, I would do one of the inner circle tours. We did this in 2017 and it was so much more interesting than just hitting the visitor center and walking around the outside of the stones. I tried to find the company we used, the tour guide was an older gentlemen who had participated in one of the Nova programs but I don’t see it listed. The closest itinerary I could find was with Salisbury Stonehenge tours. We walked thru the field from the creek up the hill to the stones, as the pilgrims would have…amazing experience.

How much are you being quoted? We rented a car last year for seven days, beginning in Oxford, and we left it off in Chester (and took the train to York).

For AutoEurope, we paid $567, including collision damage coverage, theft, unlimited mileage, etc. It was a 5-passenger car in excellent shape. They gave us an automatic.

If you’re considering going back to Bath to return it, be sure to consider how much a lost day of vacation is worth to you, besides the cost difference for the extra train tickets.

Thank you both for your responses.
—I would love an Inner Circle Tour at Stonehenge; I haven’t yet found one leaving from Bath in March. MadMax is only in summer and Heritage shows no availability the last week of March. Other tours are out of London.
—For a Ford Focus size car, I am looking at $636 for a 2-day car rental (Enterprise) Bath to York or $400 Bath to Leeds (Euro car—but then need transport to York.) A Bath to Bath 2 day rental is $270.

Will you also be in London? If so, you can take the train to York as a day trip. It is two hours each way.

If we are looking at this on a cost basis, then the difference between a Bath and a Leeds car return is $130.
To return to Bath you are heading in the wrong direction and you will struggle to get 3 train tickets for that money
Europcar Leeds has buses passing the depot into Leeds literally every two minutes.If that is too hard get a cab- should be under £10 to Leeds City station. Then there are multiple trains an hour Leeds to York.
For three people the train is £30 or less. Booked ahead on a specific train maybe £10 for the three.
But I think those rental quotes are ludicrously expensive.

Check and see if AutoEurope can supply what you need. My husband just commented (reading this aloud to him) that he checked Enterprise as an option last year, and they were much more expensive than AutoEurope. Our car was to be a Ford Focus or similar. They gave us a nice Citroen SUV.

Also, just a comment that last year when I was asking questions, isn31c was SO helpful to us with my train questions, too! All of the advice was perfect!

Be aware that AutoEurope is an online consolidator and will not hire you a car, just direct you to another car hire company. I would always want to deal with the car provider and not a middleman.

From Bath: Mad Max tour of Stonehenge, Avebury and Cotswolds

Yes to this. The rest of your trip is easily done by train. No car needed since you are saying you will take the Mad Max tour to see the Cotswolds. If you wanted MORE of the Cotswolds, you might want a car.

If you want another day trip from Bath, just choose another Mad Max trip.

If you still have another day to put onto somewhere, add another day to York.

I assume you'll be staying a couple of nights there.

There's always more to do in York (and in London).

You will only be able to do a short windshield tour of the Cotswolds if you plan to do Stonehenge and Avebury on the same day.

We did two full days in the Cotswolds and loved it.

We spent 3 hours alone in historic Cirencester. Also, taking time to see Moreton in Marsh, Stow on the Wold, Bourton on the Water, Chipping Campden and Broadway.

Further you will miss amazing Stratford Upon Avon, Shakespeare's home.

York is amazing, you need three days to see it all. Don't miss the great museums there, especially the National Railway Museum.

Thanks everyone for your recommendations.

I think I have found a possible solution. My goal was to rent a car one way Bath-York for 2 days: Stonehenge, etc on Day 1 (overnight Bath) and drive to the Cotswolds Day 2 (overnight there) and then continue to York (day 3). The reason I wondered if I needed to re-evaluate was the high cost of oneway rental and no York car drop off.

So, I think I found a solution. I can rent from Costco, Bristol airprt to Birmingham airport for a reasonable $250. I will have to go from Bath to Bristol airport to pickup car and 2 days later drive to Birmingham airport from the Cotswolds to drop off car and then can take train directly to York.

Does this sound reasonable? To get to Bristol airport, I think the easiest is a taxi? (3 of us) (unfortunately can’t do Bath pickup with this offer) Is it easy to drive to Birmingham airport for car dropoff? I think there is an airport to rail shuttle. Do you think Birmingham dropoff/direct train to York is a better alternative to Leeds dropoff/taxi to York? From a cost perspective, I think they are close enough: Birmingham train=Leeds taxi + extra fuel. But I think from a ease/less hassle/quicker, Birmingham dropoff is better?

Any thoughts? Also, any Recommendations on where to stay in Cotswolds given our itinerary?

(We will have already toured London and Bath. We will have 2 nights York, so flexible on arrival time there)

The plan will work, but you will spend a lot of time travelling and less time seeing things you want to see. If you’re doing the Bath to Bristol journey on a weekday morning the traffic will be bad. It will cost you at least £60 and take about an hour.

Any thoughts? Also, any Recommendations on where to stay in Cotswolds given our itinerary?

"Any thoughts?"......Because you asked, your latest schedule is too much for me...I would be taking the train and skipping the car. Sorry....my feeling is that you are working hard to complicate your trip. Back and forth to turn in a car or cars....which may not be needed at all on this trip. Could you give up the car in order to simplify your trip plans and the stress (and the expense) outlined in your most recent post?

I say this because the getting (and returning) of the car seems to be becoming a huge problem for you to work out, and overshadowing other aspects of an otherwise enjoyable trip.

Are you still going to take the Mad Max tour out of Bath that includes the Cotswolds?
That may be enough of a look at the Cotswolds, considering what else is out there to see in England.

So, I think I found a solution. I can rent from Costco, Bristol airprt to Birmingham airport for a reasonable $250. I will have to go from Bath to Bristol airport to pickup car and 2 days later drive to Birmingham airport from the Cotswolds to drop off car and then can take train directly to York.

Does this sound reasonable? To get to Bristol airport, I think the easiest is a taxi? (3 of us) (unfortunately can’t do Bath pickup with this offer) Is it easy to drive to Birmingham airport for car dropoff? I think there is an airport to rail shuttle. Do you think Birmingham dropoff/direct train to York is a better alternative to Leeds dropoff/taxi to York? From a cost perspective, I think they are close enough: Birmingham train=Leeds taxi + extra fuel. But I think from a ease/less hassle/quicker, Birmingham dropoff is better?

So now Bristol and Birmingham are not destinations you wish to go to enjoy, they're just added to do the car deal.
My opinion....and you asked!.....this is madness. IMHO....suggestions only......
Do the Mad Max tour of the Cotswolds from Bath you originally talked about.
Take the train from Bath to Salisbury, bus out to Stonehenge from the train station, and back.
(Then return to Bath for the night if you're doing this as a day trip.)

The next day, take a train to London, continuing on to York.
Thus simplifying your plan.
I'm not sure why the car is essential no matter how much trouble and how expensive it ends up being.

Remember, what you get on this forum are all opinions, all meant to make your trip go more smoothly.
Suggestions based on the fact that a lot of us have traveled to England many times and found that eliminating stress any way you can from your trip is a good thing.

If you still want the car, I suggest picking it up in Bath, then doing the tour of the nearby places you want, including the Cotswolds.
Return the car in Bath, to the same place you picked it up, of course, thus NOT incurring the one-way fee.
Then take trains from Bath to York, whatever route you choose.

This gets you out of the complicated schedule you were thinking of in order to save money on the car.

This car thing is getting so complex.

You won't be renting from Costco- they are a 3rd party- always a recipe in itself for disaster or at least complications. No, not a taxi Bath to Bristol Airport if you totally must do that- use the Airport Bus.

Yes there is an airport shuttle at BHX- how that works with car returns I don't know, especially as the airport is a bit of a building site currently. It will be 2 shuttles- car depot to Apt, Apt to station. The rental places I saw at BHX when there a few months back were well off plot, towards the old terminal at Elmdon (of blessed, but distant memory), not the current one.

Go LHR to Bath on the bus, tours from Bath. Train Bath to York. That just feels so much easier and less complicated.

Ok, thanks everyone for your advice to orovide us with stress free holiday.

We are doing something similar in Sept. Basing our stay in Bath…5 nights. Staying at Brocks Guest House. One day a Cotswalds tour…not sure which on yet? Another day train to Salsbury and Stonehenge. More visits to towns in area still undecided. But no car. Prefer public transport when ever traveling in Europe. A car just seems like a hassle…and stressful yes.

We took a tour to Stonehenge that was basically transportation. It worked out well and saved us the trouble of renting a car.

We initially planned to rent a car but ended up doing small van tours instead. We did the one I just mentioned, another to see the Cotswolds, and a third out of York.