June Itinerary - take day from London and add to countryside?

We stayed in the Cotswolds at Chipping Campden and used it as a base to visit Oxford, Blenheim Palace and Stratford Upon Avon as well as two full days exploring the Cotswolds.

In my opinion, you don't need 4 or 5 days to see the Cotswolds with a rental car. I suggest 3 days at the most.

When is the trip?

Have you researched Syon Gardens, Kyoto Gardens, the Garden Museum, Queen Mary’s Gardens all of these in London neighborhoods?

The Barbican Conservatory and the Crossrail Palace roof garden at Canary Wharf?

@geovagriffith that is good perspective, I want to get a good balance of calm countryside but also London has a lot to offer.

Incidentally when you’re exploring Chelsea, be sure to go to Chelsea Physic Garden: small but lovely.

I’d agree that with a car 3 days is enough for the Cotswolds. I’d be inclined to get the car at the end of your Oxford stay, drive to Blenheim that day (it’s doable by bus but easier by car) and then drive to the Cotswolds from there.

If you like gardens, then the gardens at Stourhead (about an hour’s drive from Bath, I guess) are stunning on a nice day. The house at Stourhead isn’t worth visiting in my opinion.

@Claudia - those are great suggestions. I have heard of Queen Mary's gardens. We are coming in June as I wanted to see Roses. I could combine Queen Mary's gardens with a Hampstead day, see the roses, Regent's park, explore the hidden streets of Hampstead, see the Hill Pergola, dinner at Holly Bush?
Your other suggestions, I need to look those up :) tx. Syon gardens looks like it's close to the Kew. For the Kew day we thought we'd get up early see Westminster, then catch the river boat for a ride to Kew. Then tube back and pick an area for a meandering walk.

With your interests, I would allow the better part of a day for Kew. You will really enjoy that boat trip from Westminster.

Sounds like we should keep the 4.5 London days. Here's what I had sketched out for that. Advise away

Day 1 half day, Arrive, Kensington gardens and tea at Orangerie, History museum open late
Day 2 meander mews and explore Kensington and / or Chelsea, shopping etc (more Hyde park? try to get into National Gallery? Covent Garden? )
Day 3 Regents Park (Queen Mary Garden, little Venice), Hampstead day (explore streets, Hill Pergola, Heath, Holly Bush) possible Marylebone? Mayfair? on way back to hotel
Day 4 Iconic sights walk, visit St Paul’s, St Dunstan, Leadenhall market, walk by Tower of London (no tour), London bridge(possible tour), Borough market, walk S Thames to Westminster bridge to St James, Big Ben, Buckingham palace
Day 5 Westminster Abbey tour 9:30, Thames River boat to Kew at 11am, lunch? Kew few hours, lunch, then?? Notting Hill? Things we missed or want to go back?
Day 6 Train to Oxford, get car drive to Cotswold’s, 3 pm Sudeley Castle, settle in
Day 7 Snowshill, Hidcote, Kifsgate, Chipping Campden
Day 8 northern village circle walk by Sezincote and Bourton house, hopefully see some sheep, head south to Highgrove, visit Tetbury
Day 9 visit villages, Stow, Bourton on the water, Slaughters, Northleach, Bibury, etc (how crazy busy) want to visit the Pig (Barnsley house for lunch and gardens)
Day 10 castle combe, Ilford Manor, Stourhead, Bradford on Avon, to Bath
Day 11 no driving, hang out in Bath
Day 12 drive to Oxford, Blenhiem, Rousham? return car
Day 13 libraries tour, Heathrow

I think this is mostly doable! A few thoughts/questions:

-What is the history museum? (perhaps the British Museum?)
-Day 2 would be a great day to include Chelsea Physic Garden, as suggested above- really beautiful little garden and a nice place to eat lunch
-After Kew I recommend staying around the area and visiting Richmond- you might enjoy the park
-What is the libraries tour- is that Bodleian library in Oxford? That is a really great tour- if you are doing that recommend getting tickets as soon as they go on sale (one month before)

@ Cat VH - The Natural History Museum (should have been more specific)
and yes to the Oxford Bodleian tour. Will try for the 90 minute one that includes the Divinity School and Radcliffe Camera.
Two recommendations on Chelsea Physic gardens.
Would you visit Richmond vs going back and wandering another area?

I've been hearing how crowded London is. Do I need to make dining reservations even for pubs?

Yea make you pub reservations. It’s June, the absolute height of tourist season.

So many gardens to visit in the Cotswolds and they’ll all look great in June. You could add Painswick Rococo Garden to your list.

Oh yes that makes much more sense :). Natural History Museum is great though if V&A is also open late I would pick that one, personally. If you are going to Natural History Museum, this is one of my favourite annual exhibits and it's open thru end of June: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year.html

Definitely go for the 90 minute Bodleian tour! We did it just last month and it was so great- maybe the best thing I've done in Oxford. But you need to be online right when they go on sale to grab your tickets.

My preference would be to go from Kew to Richmond, especially if you like greenery. There is loads to do in Richmond- you can walk along the river, visit the park, or one of the many beautiful stately homes, including Ham House (which I seem to remember has a very nice garden) and Marble Hill House.

For pub reservations, definitely depends on the pub and time of day. If it's lunch on a Sunday at a popular pub, definitely. Lunch mid week, and even dinner mid week, you can pretty much walk in anywhere. You can book a lot online these days. For the Cotswolds I would book pubs as pubs in less populated areas are more likely to book up.