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Need Assistance for England

My son is getting married in London end of October. Afterwards, some of the family is going to travel outside of London. I'm in charge of planning and having a very difficult time.

We were recommended to go to Cotswold & Bath for two nights and then another 2 nights go to Oxford & Windsor.

We are traveling with my parents that are 79. There will be 7 of us for the first two nights and then we will be 5 for the last two nights.

Should we plan on staying in two different places, or would you recommend being centrally located and take day trips to the above cities? We would like to have a village to be able to have pubs/dinners etc.

We would also like to hire a private driver for our tour/destinations. Any recommendations?

Any recommendations would be so appreciated. I'm feeling very overwhelmed.

Thank you,
Stacey

Posted by
891 posts

4 nights is not long enough to do what you want to do. The Cotswolds are a large area covering many towns, villages and cities.

Here is what your itinerary could look like:

Day 1, leave London and drive to Bath. Exploring in Bath (Abby and Roman baths). Overnight Bath.
Day 2. Drive around Georgian Bath... Poultney Bridge, the Crescent etc. Drive to Oxford maybe stopping at Avebury for its impressive stone circle (way better than Stonehenge, I think) or at Bibury a quintessential English village and on the edge of the Cotswolds. Overnight in Oxford.
Day 3. Say goodbye to 2 members of the group who will make their own way to wherever they are off to. Rest will explore Oxford. Overnight again in Oxford.
Day 4 Drive to Windsor to visit castle, Eton and town. Overnight in Windsor.

You do not need a village for pubs, and all three towns are full of them. See other postings on this forum for suggestions.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you so much!!! Is this only passing through Cotswold then and not spending time or the night there?

Posted by
32762 posts

Congratulations on the wedding. I expect that your parents will love the countryside. I wish I still had mine. You may want to block out time to just sit quietly in the garden of a pub and absorb the culture, see the flowers and watch the bees.

The Cotswolds (the Cotswold Hills, sites of Special Scientific Interest, and AONBs - Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty -, is not one place, it is a large area comprised of many places. It is like saying you want to go to New England.

Posted by
7667 posts

Lesley had a pretty good plan, but Oxford parking is awful. You will likely have to park outside the city and ride the bus into the city.

You won't have a lot of time to see the Cotswolds, so consider skipping Oxford and spend a night in Chipping Campden, then on to Windsor.

Posted by
6113 posts

By late October, there won't be much colour left in the gardens in the Cotswolds and the clocks change 29 October so it will be dark by 5pm.

Allowing for commuting time between your destinations, you can realistically only see at most 3 out of your 4 places. If the weather is inclement, which it may well be so late in the year, then the Cotswolds is the obvious place to drop, as the cities will have more to offer.

Distance wise, Bath is the most remote, so you would save time if you dropped this. You have a large group to please, so take a vote and decide on your priorities.

Posted by
5326 posts

Oxford parking is awful. You will likely have to park outside the city and ride the bus into the city.

Most Oxford hotels have a degree of parking for residents but it is not always sufficient for everyone, and sometimes it is in a separate facility (for example for the Royal Oxford Hotel it is in Office Outlet next door). Then again many guests will have arrived by rail orcoach and not need parking.

Posted by
4840 posts

We have used a Bath based car service that was very good and would use them again. Not sure how far afield they they go, but you can email them, explain your needs and see if they can be of service. The web site is chauffertravel.co.uk. The email address to get a quote in enquiries@chauffertravel.co.uk.

Posted by
15011 posts

Mad Max Tours does small group tours from Bath. You can also hire them for a private tour with one of their guides. This might make it easier for you for a full day visit into the Cotswolds or any of the other area they offer.

I agree you are trying to do too much in four days.