Easy base to see the Cotswolds area?

will you be getting a car at Oxford or Cheltenham (the only two places with one train service from York) or Oxford or Moreton in Marsh (the only places with one train to London - no car rental in Moreton in Marsh)?

More info will yield a more precise answer

Hi Nigel, and thank you for your reply. We don't plan on getting a car as my wife......(long story). Anyways, wherever our base would be we plan to hire a driver/Rabbie(?) to take us around the different towns in the Cotswolds area.

I stayed in Moreton in Marsh 3 nights, easy train from London with no transfers. Walked 5 minutes from train station to hotel on main drag. Did Go Cotswolds tours 2 of the days, and took bus to Stow on the Wold on our free day. Very easy and enjoyable. Happy to share more specifics if desired. But definitely doable without a car.

I certainly would have first suggested Moreton in Marsh, Chipping Campden, Stow on the Wold, or a village nearby by I saw the brief as requiring no or minimal changes of train.

Moreton in Marsh is on the Cotswold Line between Worcestershire Parkway station and Oxford. From York a train would be with a change at Worcestershire Parkway.

The other towns and villages I mentioned do not have trains.

From York I don't believe any trains are direct southbound to Worcestershire Parkway- there are northbound (oddly). As far as I know southbound you would have to change additionally at Manchester Piccadilly or Birmingham New Street- of which Manchester would be my preference.
There are, I think, a couple of York to Oxford direct, change at Oxford for Moreton in Marsh.

if it only stops in one direction it smells of a Parliamentary??

Shame since the station is so new

We decided to stay in Moreton-on-Marsh for the availability of the train. We found a lovely little B&B where we will be staying for 4 nights. We have been researching bus lines and places to "walk" about the countryside, still looking at all the options, but it seems like the most logical place to stay when traveling by public transport. We don't plan to rent a car either, just too much to worry about, driving on the "other" side of the road isn't something we want to tackle.

If anyone has any suggestions for walking paths from Moreton-on-Marsh, I would love to hear your thoughts.

We will go by train one day to Stratford-upon-Avon, but no set plans on which day or other excursions as of yet.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/walking-and-eating-through-england-and-wales

This is a link to a trip report I wrote after our trip to England and Wales last spring. If you scroll down through the replies you will come to the section on the Cotswolds. It describes what we did when we stayed in Moreton-in-Marsh for six nights. It might give you some ideas. Including what not to do! We had a wonderful time there.

A walk you could do is take the bus to Bourton-on-the-Water and then walk via the Slaughters to Stow-on-the-Wold, then get the bus back to Moreton-in-Marsh. This takes you through some very scenic parts of the Cotswolds.

I second the suggestion to stay in Moreton-in-Marsh, which I've done about five times. You can take the bus from there to Chipping Camden, do the nice walk to Broadway, and then bus back to MIM. You could probably also take a taxi as the distance by road isn't far. If you're going to take a bus, be sure to check the schedules before you go! In my experience, service on weekends is quite scarce.
On our last visit (2024) we stayed at the last BnB in MiM on the last 4 nights the owners accepted guests before closing shop, so I'm pleasantly surprised to hear there's an active BnB again.
There are several really nice circular walks from MIM, and the TI has maps and information.

PS no direct trains from MIM to London - you have to change at Oxford, but the trains from Oxford to London are very frequent.

We took the train from York to Stratford upon Avon and picked up a rental car there. We stayed just outside of Chipping Campden at a pub called the Ebrington Arms. The next day we did a loop connecting Stow-on-the-Wold, Lower and Upper Slaughter, Burton-on-the-Water, Stanton, and Chipping Campden. It sounds like a lot, but they are all so close together it was a lovely day. The next day we went to Blenheim Palace in Woodstock before returning the rental car in Oxford and taking the train into London. Coming from York, this worked out well for us.

Direct trains to go from London (Paddington) to MIM - normally hourly.

York to MIM is likely to work out cheaper by splitting the ticket(s). See:>https://trainsplit.com and also check price on:>https://www.buytickets.scotrail.co.uk and :> https://www.traintickets.com/?/

Play around with different dates to see when will be the best time to purchase.