cotswolds for 3 nights without a car

The answer you didn't want to see: unfortunately, there seems to be a consensus of opinion on this forum, over the years, that the Cotswolds are one of the few places in the UK where you need a car. That's certainly my opinion.

I'm like you, about the last thing I wanted to do was drive on the left. But after careful consideration I found it was by far the best of the workable choices, since there's a clear lack of public transportation options.

If you just don't want to do that, you could take a multi-day tour, or day tour, from a tour provider. Or hire a car and driver. Or skip the Cotswolds.

I know, it's disappointing.

BTW, if you happen to find someone here who will tell you what you want to hear, I suggest that you carefully investigate your options in that regard; and you could do that by carefully reading the relevant pages of Rick's England guidebook, where he discusses the realistic options for transportation within the Cotswolds.

I’d probably consider skipping the Cotswolds. I know Rick loves them, but there are 1000s of other places in the UK to see and you won’t need a car. It’s your trip, but with two weeks, you can easily add other parts of England accessible by train and not have to deal with the hassle of a car.

We are also going from Bath to the Cotswolds without a car. We are taking a day tour with Lion Tours that will allow us for a small surcharge to take our luggage and be dropped off in Stow on the Wold. We are then planning to take a taxi to Chipping Campton where we are staying at the Volunteer Inn. Volunteer Inn gave me the name of a taxi company to use.

We are then going to hike to Broadway, spending the night there, and then then to Stanton so we won't have any need for a car once we arrive. I think there is pretty good bus transportation to Broadway. From Stow on the Wold you have to go the Moreton in Marsh first I think which is why we are opting for a taxi.

It all depends what you want to do. We are opting for the day tour because for not much more money or time than taking multiple connections of train from Bath we can see other parts of Cotswolds.

Thank you all. To Beth, I am trying to figure out your connections. Your luggage is dropped off in Stowe, then you hike somewhere to spend the night after staying in Chipping. What happens to any luggage? Or is it all in backpacks? I will look into Lion tours.
Linda

Yes, the Cotswolds is better with a car, but it’s very doable without a car. It’s probably best to stay in Moreton-in-Marsh......Moreton in Marsh to Bourton on the Water you would take Line 802 bus........Bourton on the Water to Stow on the Wold it runs every two hours you would take a Pulhams Coach (bus).....and Moreton in Marsh to Bourton on the Water.....I have you a few examples. I know that there are buses from Moreton in Marsh to Broadway and a few other villages. They may not run every hour or everyday (to some villages), but you could get to enough villages. And there are cabs you could also take, a lot of the villages are only a few miles apart. Please don’t think you can’t visit the Cotswolds without a car. I would suggest when you get to Moreton in Marsh look at the bus schedule and make your plans. Also, whatever you stay hotel or B&B could help you with the schedule.

Moreton-in-Marsh is the only Cotswolds town with a rail station, and it seems that it's sort of the bus hub. I was happy with the one-day GoCotswolds tour I took from Moreton. I think the Secret Cottage tours also depart from there. I think for walkers (who aren't going to be able go cover a lot of miles), staying in Moreton and depending on buses and perhaps an occasional taxi would be workable, but do check the schedules for your actual dates. In some parts of Europe bus frequency really, really drops off (or decreases to zero) on Sundays and holidays.

If your intention is to enjoy the scenery as you travel between pairs of cute towns by bus rather than doing some walking/hiking, your itinerary may need to be based on where and when the buses run rather than an independent list of top Cotswold targets you may have developed.

Many of the towns are quite small, and you can walk every local street in less than 2 hours (maybe less than 1 hour). I'd go a bit stir-crazy if the bus schedule plunked me down somewhere for 4 to 6 hours and there was pretty much nothing to do. My balance is not good enough to strike out on rural paths, much as I would like to do so. That's why I decided a one-day bus tour would work for me. I stayed in Oxford, which is a very attractive place with lots to do, and took a quick train to Moreton to catch my tour.

I am sorry I was not clear. We are taking a day tour with Lion tours that starts and ends in Bath. We are paying a little more to have our luggage taken too and we will be left in Stow in the Wold with our luggage while the rest of the group returns to Bath. We then are taking a taxi to Volunteer Inn in Chipping Campden where we will spend the night. We are going to walk two days on the Cotswold Way trail that goes all the way to Bath. I have made arrangements to have our luggage transported to first Broadway and then Stanton where we will spend the nights.
I know that there is a bus from Chipping Campden to Broadway but not easy to go to Stow on the Wold from Chipping Campden. If you really wanted to stay in Chipping Campden you could see other towns in Cotswolds on tour and then stay in Chipping Campden. Without a tour Morton on the Marsh is your best bet for being able to access a variety of places.

Hi BethFl, if you do t have a room booked yet in Stanton, The Vine B&B is great. We stayed there when we hiked the Cotswold Way National Trail. There is a nice pub in Stanton, but no shops.

Robin-we are staying at Old Post House. I actually had a lot of trouble finding a place in Stanton. Ended up getting phone number from Volunteer Inn and calling England. I think places are very small and don’t really advertise.

I am excited! You helped us a lot with planning!

To continue with acravens thoughts, we recently visited Stow On The Wold and Lower Slaughter, and only spent about 40 minutes in each place. We used Stratford-upon-Avon on a base for a couple days, but we had a rental car.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond. We took up Beth’s suggestion about using a Lion tour to go from Bath to Moreton, where we will base ourselves for a couple of days.

If anyone has recent recommendations for accommodations in Moreton, we would be grateful.

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We haven't stayed there yet, but have booked two nights at The Bell Inn at Moreton-in-Marsh. We have also booked a tour with Go Cotswolds, which I have heard great things about. Enjoy your trip!

We were in England last summer. We flew into Heathrow and took a train to Bath. We rented a car leaving Bath and spent several days in the Cotswolds. Driving wasn't a problem at all, but I've had prior experience driving on the left. We stayed in Stow-on-the-Wold, then drove all the way east to Lowestoft on the coast. From there we drove to York, then turned in the car and went back to London by train. Everything worked out extremely well. There were 4 of us, so I believe the car was probably less expensive than train fares. It was certainly much more convenient.

The pub at the top of the hill in Stanton is worth a stop. The owner used to have a dog that he'd trained to open the door to go out, but that was some time ago. Still worth a stop for food and the ambience.

Found this: https://www.cotswolds.com/plan-your-trip/getting-to-and-around

Public Transport Information

Getting around the Cotswolds by Public Transport is easy. The Explore
the Cotswolds by Public Transport Guide produced by the Cotswolds
Conservation Board, and online timetables, are an invaluable
information resource for travelling around the Cotswolds

The transit guide PDF:
http://www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/explore-booklet-final-web5.pdf
Page 10 shows the northern Cotswold transit routes.

We loved the Cotswolds.
We stated at the Volunteer Inn in Chipping Campden which had a great rate. It has the best pub in town and a separate Indian restaurant.

Tours are available to do the Cotswolds, but consider renting a car at Bath.

I never understand why some posters don't like the Cotswolds.

I just returned and wanted to offer another option. I used Bath as my home base and then did the most amazing tours with Maddy Thomas from Mad Max Tours. Bath has so much to offer for me personally and I stayed at The Kennard which was amazing. I was exploring to see if I wanted to stay in the little towns on another trip but found that Bath had so much to offer. My next trip I will use Oxford as a home base. Whatever you do, you will love it.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. We decided to spend 4 nights in Bath and then, based on a suggestion here, take the Lion tour to the Cotswolds, which will drop us off in Stow, where we have 3 nights. We plan to do walks and perhaps some bus exploring from there, before going to York and then London by train.

We spent four nights in the Cotswalds and drove every day to various villages. Just loved it! But if course, we had a car. As for driving on a different side of the road, we advise watching YouTube videos on driving in UK including those roundabouts. We found it so helpful and drove all over the UK for a month with no issues.