English Trains

car. Obviously we will not need one in London

I would put it a lot stronger than that, A car is as useful for transport in central London as an untrained elephant in a supermarket.

Oxford and Cambridge are both easily accessable by train from London. Both about 1 hour by train from London, but in opposite directions, and multiple trains per hour. In both cases you do not want to use a car to travel in these cities, they have pedestrainised centres and limited parking.

Cotswolds is a large rural area, with many villages. There are buses (and a few trains),but the buses are of the "few per day" variety. Here a car would be an advantage. You could pick up a car in Oxford, and return it there afterwards.

Use www.seat61.com/UK-train-travel.htm for reliable practical information on train travelling in the UK.

Yes, Seat 61 is indispensable. To see its highway equivalent: http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx It covers many of the bus companies. Train travel is more comfortable. Buses (i.e. "coaches") may serve smaller communities, and the tall coaches on some inter-city routes sometimes give better views across the countryside than can be seen in trains running in railway cuts.

National Express is Britain's main long-distance bus operator, but it certainly doesn't give you most or all bus companies. For local buses try www.traveline.info but the quality of coverage varies a lot depending on whether the local council or transport company participate.

For the Cotswolds, you could take a train from London, through Oxford, to Moreton-on-Marsh, a town at the edge of the Cotswold hills. From there you could rent the car, use local buses (inefficiently), or look for some kind of guided tour.

While staying in Oxford recently, we took a one-day Cotswold tour with Absolute Touring. The driver picked us up at our hotel, along with several others, and took us through beautiful countryside with stops at several towns and villages. He was very knowledgeable and careful. We felt the tour was a little rushed, trying to cover too many places in the time available, but others might have preferred to cover more ground. Such a tour (and there are other companies) is no substitute for a more leisurely exploration, either on your own or with a guide, but it may be the most time- and cost-effective way to "see" the Cotswolds without your own car.

We've used the trains between London and Oxford, and London and Cambridge, and elsewhere in southern England, they're frequent and efficient and fun, and comfortable enough. If the US had train service like most of Europe our lives would be easier.

Keith....are you saying a couple of days in both Oxford and Cambridge would be better? We are not on a schedule so we could certainly take the time if there is enough to do for a 2/3 day stay in each.

If traveling between the two eschew the train and take the X5 bus.

If you're not on a schedule you could spend at least two full days in Cambridge, maybe more if you want to visit the Ely cathedral a few miles north. We spent a week in Oxford, including the Cotswolds day described above and another day trip, which was enough time to see all we wanted to. But for travelers with limited time it's probably wise to pick one or the other, since they are similar university cities. Oxford is a relatively big city, Cambridge has a less urban feel. Oxford is the obvious choice to combine with the Cotswolds, but again if there's no schedule you can do it all! Lucky you! ;-)

We spent the month of August in England. For 8 nights we used Cotswold Walks, Andrew Guppy. He made arrangements for us to spend 4 nights in Chipping Camden, and two nights each at two other towns. Everyday we had a driver pick us up and take us all over the Cotswolds. We were originally picked up at the Conrad St. James in London and taken out to tour Highclere Castle ("Downton Abbey") Then we were taken to Chipping Camden. At the end of our 8 days, we were driven back to our Conrad St. James in London. Our friends had used Andrew Guppy, two years ago.

You can get/purchase Advanced Rail Tickets from London to Oxford for as little as £5.50, the Anytime (walk up) fare is £30.60. Tickets (Advanced) go on sale 2 months before departure dates, e.g if you want to go to Oxford, or where ever on 26 Jan 17, tickets for that day go on sale 26 Nov 16. Not all destinations have Advanced Tickets, but many many do, and you can save 100's of pounds. Oxford and the Cotswolds have plenty of tours, you have to pay for them but they are worth it, you see more than you would in a hire car, and work out cheaper. I just spent 6 months in the UK and used this site to book all my Advanced Tickets through (link attached). There is also a smartphone app.
https://loco2.com/

Note that by then there will be two train companies with direct trains to Oxford: GWR (Paddington) and Chiltern (Marylebone). The latter starts in two or so weeks time and each are offering competitive advance tickets.

I went to the Cotswolds in May. In fact, the first reservation I made was for the Secret Cottage Tour. I can highly recommend it. I had only 2 nights with the day in between to spend in the area and this small group tour was perfect. Go to the link for all the details.

The tour picks you up at and returns you to the Moreton-in-Marsh train station. I stayed at the Bell Inn about 3 blocks from the train station. There are many other places to stay in Moreton-in-Marsh, but I couldn't resist staying in Tolkien’s supposed inspiration for the Prancing Pony. It was a great place to stay.

My route was by train from Bath to Moreton-in-Marsh, then on to Bletchley via Oxford. It's a short 40 minute train ride from Moreton-in-Marsh to Oxford, or at least it was on 8 May when I departed at 11:08 and arrived at 11:49.

My wife and I made our second trip to England in July and had a fine time in the Costwolds without a car. We took the train directly to Moreton-in-Marsh, passing through Oxford on the way, and stayed in MIM. The bus service, while perhaps not as convenient, proved more than capable of getting us to Stratford. Chipping Camden and the like.