Day tour of the Cotswolds

I recommend the Go Cotswolds tour, which we have taken several times.
https://www.gocotswolds.co.uk/
Your friends can take the train from London to Moreton-In-Marsh and be picked up there.
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.

If your friends want to leave on the tour straight from London instead of having to take the train somewhere, they may want to go with Rabbie's: https://www.rabbies.com/en
https://www.rabbies.com/en/england-tours/from-london/day-tours/oxford-traditional-cotswold-villages-day-tour
This is in a van with 16 people or fewer.
Rabbie's is a reliable tour company, very popular with RS forum members.
Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence.

@ Rebecca...have you taken the Rabbie's tour, if so...how long did you actually spend in the bus.

Also if anybody has taken the RS Southern England tour, we are taking it next month and will we see anything similar to these places on our tour?

@Lucky Girl

Confused. Similar to what places?

Don’t know your exact September dates but research if the London Walks tour might suit your needs.

https://www.walks.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmb-listing

I talk one of the many walks on each visit to London.
Always informative and interesting Have not done their Cotswolds tour but suspect it would be well done.

I have done the Rabbie's Cotswolds tour. We really enjoyed it. The van was very comfortable, there were fewer than capacity people on our trip. The guide intersperses informative interactive chat with very good music. On our trip we drove directly to the Cotswolds, (maybe an hour?) stopped at Bibury, and Burford for strolling or lunch,, at the church used as a location in Downton Abbey as well as the home of Isabel Crawley, stopped at some thatched houses for photos. Then we drove to Oxford, in the van for maybe 40 minutes. We had a few hours to explore Oxford, the guide gave us a little map of a walking tour. We arrived back in London around 6:30, in time for our dinner reservations. It was a great day!

The London Walks tour sounds great, but they don’t have it back on the schedule yet.

Lucky Girl, I will attempt to answer your question, at least what I think you're asking.

I actually prefer the GoCotswolds tour to the Rabbies tour.
You get to see more of the Cotswolds on the GoCotswolds tour.
Time on the bus on the Rabbies tour.......don't remember.
Taking the train to Moreton-In-Marsh to catch the GoCotswolds tour is very easily done from London.

About the RS Southern England tour you say you will be on.....Have you had a look at the list of destinations on that tour?
It does not go to the Cotswolds.
So, no, it will not go to the same places as the GoCotswolds or the Rabbies Tour of the Cotswolds.

However.....the RS Southern England tour ends in Bath.
If you want to see the Cotswolds, you should book a couple of more days in Bath after your tour is over and take a tour with Mad Max tours. They leave from Bath and go to several different locations, including the Cotswolds.

What Rebecca is suggesting would be a very efficient way to see part of the Cotswolds.

Thanks for your help, Rebecca. My friends have booked a Go Cotswolds tour.