Best place to pick up/drop off rental car for Cotswolds

I would also love some advice on this topic. We plan to visit the Cotswolds as well, but are flexible as to where we pick up our car, as we will be coming from Scotland and could either fly or take a train, and our itinerary is not yet set.
Thanks!
Al Power

We used Enterprise in Bath. With 24 hours notice they will pick you up and take you to their location. We dropped off at Gatwick, but had considered dropping off at Oxford or Reading. We chose Gatwick because we were dropping off on a Saturday and the other locations closed early afternoon before we wanted to give up the car.

Thanks so much!

We are training to Oxford, picking up our car there and touring the Cotswolds…..then back to leave the car at Oxford and on to London and Paris.

Picking up a car in Bath and returning to LHR will probably incur a drop-off fee (or, as I have seen recently, you don't get unlimited miles, instead you pay per mile) ... why not pick up the car at LHR? ... now there are those that will say don't drive the same day you arrive ... that may be true for some but not for others (personally, I have never had an issue driving after my flight arrives) ... cost wise, it seems like the train plus any day trips plus the drop-off fee would cost more than just a few more days of a rental car plus additional fuel ... for that, you need to do the math.

It you decide to rent or return the car anywhere but LHR, be sure to check the rental office's hours. For example, it's quite possible the office will be closed on weekends.

It sounds as if you won't need a car in Bath so the advice to pick up at Heathrow is irrelevant - and you are paying for rental days when you don't need the car...

Stick to you plan of picking up the car in Bath when you leave to tour the Cotswolds. Drop off in Oxford at the end of the trip and take the train into London. There may be a slight charge for the one way drop off but it probably won't be excessive - and would probably be cheaper than returning the car to Bath and taking the train back to London from there.

Thank you very much for replies! Just wondering why it is preferable to return the car in Oxford and train to London rather than drive to London and return there? Thanks again!

The advice to drop the car in Oxford is just because driving into London will mean sitting in loads of traffic and negotiating driving in London which isn’t always pleasant. It will be quicker and easier to drop it at Oxford and take the train in.