England Itinerary Suggestions

If you can visit Oxford, definitely do so. I was there for only one night and had to tear myself away from it. I plan on going back there because it is a wonderful city! It's vibrant with incredible architecture, beautiful gardens, historic pubs where Tolkien and CS Lewis used to hang out, the colleges; what's not to love? And the Ashmolean Museum is one of the most amazing museums I have been in.

Considering you are mostly in the Cotswolds, I would stick with that area and forget about York; esecially since it will . And quite frankly, I liked York, but I LOVED Oxford, and would vote for it hands-down. I do think your idea of spending some times in London is good.

My favourite European adventure so far has been a 2 week trip from Salisbury to Canterbury. Highlights were an early morning access to Stonehenge, the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, Bodiam Castle, and Canterbury. Here's my Trip Report if you're interested.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-the-south-of-england

Keep in mind to spend four days in London you need five nights for London alone. I’ve never been to Oxford but I hear Cambridge is prettier. If you have a car, consider going to Wales.

Plenty to see in the south without heading up north.

Consider using a hire car and go N from Bath to M4 and then west to cross the A48 Severn Bridge in SE Wales. See Chepstow Castle & then take A466 to Tintern to see ruined abbey. Then head N up A466 towards Monmouth (not worth seeing) and then you could take A40 west to Raglan (castle) and onto Abergavenny. The A40 then takes you NW towards Brecon through lovely countryside.

Alternatively, on reaching Monmouth - take A40 east to join M50 > M5 south & come off at first junction (E of Tewkesbury) & head E to Toddington & The Cotswolds.

I've been to both York and Edinburgh many times and consider them very different experiences so I wouldn't rule out York! It is an amazing (and easy) city to explore and definitely not meh :)

Happy travels!

I’d echo Sara’s comment. York is anything but “meh”. Personally, if I had to choose between the two, I’d go for York over Edinburgh but both are worth visiting.

I agree that York is not "meh" (although again, it's not my favorite city), but if the OP is planning to stay in London, Bath and the Cotswolds for his trip, it makes no sense to head up to York. You're looking at anywhere from 4-5 hours of travel to get there and another 4-5 hours to return. With only 2 weeks, it just seems it would be better not to give up an entire day to head up north. There are so many places in the south that are wonderful.

If it were me, I would stay in London for 5 nights (4 days), then take your 3 nights in Bath (2 days), 4 nights in the Cotswolds, and that leaves you 2-3 nights left, which (IMO) would be better off spent nearby (like Oxford!). :-) Seriously it could be someplace else; Cambridge is pretty as someone mentioned, although I think Oxford has much more to do and see.

I also like Allan's itinerary above!

You have gotten lots of great advice from all the above posters. I totally agree with Mardee that York and Oxford are both great, BUT if I had to choose only one to visit, it would be Oxford!!

Do take a look at Allan's trip report. He did excellent trip planning and visited some great places.

Something no one has mentioned yet.....Train travel in England is far superior to train travel in the USA. Most of the places you've talked about going are easily reached by train. The need for a car in the Cotswolds is debated on this forum from time to time.

Many want a car to spend 3 to 5 days exploring in the Cotswolds. Others take the train the short distance from Oxford to the small Cotswolds village of Moreton-in-Marsh and take a day trip tour to several Cotswolds villages, and that's enough for them.
Three or four nights in the Cotswolds would be a bit much for me (but it's your vacation--not mine).
With so much else to see in England (look at Allan's trip report) I would soon have enough of seeing one village after another in the Cotswolds that look basically the same. Let alone 3-4 days of it all day long every day!

If you are planning to set aside some days for hiking in the Cotswolds, that's a different story...I'd be all for that.

Many threads here on this forum discuss the various ways you can get around in the Cotswolds.
I will link them here as I find a few of them.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/hotel-recommendations-for-oxford

We did Bath, staying at the Brooks Guesthouse. We did the Cotswolds with a rental car and stayed at the Volunteer Inn in Chipping Campden. Rooms are spacious and reasonable. Also, it has the best pub in town as well as a great Indian Restaurant.

We used Chipping Campden as our base to see the Cotswolds for two full days, then did day trips to Oxford (take the train), Stratford Upon Avon and Blenheim Palace (Winston Churchills birthplace).

York was our favorite city in England, don't miss the National Railway Museum.

York is very different toi Edinburgh and definitley wouldn't feel ;meh'... However if you are basing yourserlf in the south oif England with BAth and the Cotswolds, have you thought about spending time in Winchester or Salisbury rather than heading upo to York? Both are attracftive cathedral cities set in some lovely countryside - the New Forest is on the doorstep. (You could do Stonehenge easily from Salisbury which would givev more time to see and do other things from Bath - eg Wells and the Mendips ).