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Day trip transportation to Oxford and the Cotswolds

My husband and two teenage daughters will be traveling to London for a week in April. We're staying at an Airbnb in London, but would like to take a day to visit Oxford and The Cotswolds, preferably not staying over.

I'm less inclined to do a tour, as we prefer to kind of poke around on our own. I've heard varying reports on renting cars ... if we were to do that, would you suggest renting a car from London Heathrow, driving to Oxford, then on to The Cotswolds? Or train from London to Oxford, renting a car there to drive to The Cotswolds? And I know The Cotswolds is a big area ... any advice on where to spend our time?

Is this reasonable to do in a day? And any major disadvantages to going on our own as opposed to going with a tour? We are big walkers, so have no problem putting miles on our feet! Thanks so much!

Posted by
6113 posts

You can easily spend the full day in Oxford, which will probably be of more interest to your teenagers than the Cotswolds.

If you must see the Cotswolds, it makes more sense to hire a car in Oxford than at Heathrow.

Alternatively, after you have seen Oxford, take the train to Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswolds, have a walk around then take the train straight back to London, which maybe easier if you aren’t used to driving in the UK on our busy, narrow roads.

Posted by
32750 posts

You won't want to drive in Oxford. The drive (once you get past the perpetual delays on the M25 between the (M3), M4 and the M40) isn't too bad but parking in Oxford is atrocious. It is extremely expensive and hard to find on the street (to say nothing of the miniature parking bays which will earn you a very expensive ticket if part of your car strays over the line) and non-trivial and not cheap at parking structures. If you must drive there, then you are well advised to park out of town at the Park & Rides (there are several) and take the bus in.

In one day you will be hard pressed to do justice to both Oxford and my bit of the Cotswolds.

Of those places named previously in this thread - Burford has a fabulous wool church and a quite impressive high street (and the top is a lot higher than the bottom) but it is a distance from the others. Bourton-on-the-Water has the picture postcard views but also coachload after coachload after coachload of fellow tourists who often don't know why they are there. Stow-on-the-Wold is very nice and a local hub but is a relatively big market town and I think most people are looking for the views in a village. Moreton-in-Marsh has never struck me as very "Cotswoldy" and is a long market town.

If you will have a car I'd suggest getting into some of the villages. There are many, and it will depend how you tie them together.

You might throw a few of these into the hat - the Rissingtons, Long Compton, Upper and/or Lower Swell, Upper and/or Lower Slaughter, Broadway, Stanton, Stanway, Guiting Power, Cold Aston. There are many more.

Get out of the car and walk around.

But you can't do all that and Oxford in one day....

Posted by
2 posts

Thanks for the help! My girls are super excited to see both Oxford and at least one of the quaint little Cotswolds villages, so we may try and get both in on one day. Will definitely rent from Oxford as opposed to London Heathrow though ... great advice there!

Posted by
7664 posts

It will use up a full day doing Oxford.

Also, the Cotswolds is great and we took two full days to see all the small towns and cities. Don't try to do Oxford and the Cotswolds on a one day trip from London. You could take the train and book a night in Oxford, then rent a car and drive for a day in the Cotswolds.

Also, there are tours that do the Cotswolds.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=the+cotswolds+things+to+do&t=hp&ia=images&iax=images
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g186281-Activities-Cotswolds_England.html

We stayed in Chipping Campden and went all the way down to Cirencester, as well as north.

Posted by
1226 posts

I have not done this, but have bookmarked an early thread about it since it sounds so great: Secret Cottage Tour.

Here is the link to the earlier thread: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/secret-cottage-tour-of-the-cotswold-england.

Then, there is always London Walks which does have a combined Oxford Cotswold option. Not sure if the spring dates are up.

I know you said no tours, but if you can find a good fit, it might be a good use of your time.

Posted by
174 posts

We did a day tour of Oxford and the Cotswolds with LondonWalks. They take you by train from Paddington Station to Oxford, followed by a bus ride to the Costwolds, a walk and lunch, and then the bus back to Oxford, where we walked quite a bit. There was also free time in Oxford, and overall we really enjoyed this tour, which I believe runs on Wednesdays only.