Need Help with my Cotswolds itinerary options

We are planning a drive tour for 2017 of some of the same places. Bath will be our first stop for three days (also, going from Bath for day trip down to Wells and Glastonbury Abbey. Also, planning to stay in Chipping Campden for six nights as a base visiting, Oxford, Blenheim, Stratford on Avon, Warwick Castle and touring around the Cotswolds. Not sure of Bradford on Avon, what is the draw for that town?

Hi geovagriffith

I just chose those villages based on pics found on Internet hahah. Bradford on Avon is not that often mentioned but I like the pics I see. I skip Warwick and Stratford upon Avon as I think they're highly commercialized. Would visit once with children though. I read Warwick Castle would make them amused the whole day (which is good for parents)

What is your home base or bases?

Bradford-upon-Avon may look old & quaint but it has quite a lot of traffic going through it to cross a medieval bridge. Having said that, the medieval tithe barn is worth a look. Not sure that Oxford warrants a whole day. Consider doing Blenheim Palace on the same day.

Stanton is mentioned - consider visiting nearby Stanway House but check for opening times.

When in Chipping Campden area, nearby Hidcote Manor Gardens is well worth a visit. Also note that you can drive from Chipping Campden to Stratford-upon-Avon in about 30 minutes.

Cross Country Trains also have direct (hourly) services from Cheltenham to York. (Pre book for the lowest prices. Split ticket at Derby might give lower prices. See www.nationalrail.co.uk)

Why would you not book Cotswolds accommodation for 5 nights in a central location.
All of these places are reasonably close, and are easily done in day excursions.
Or return the car and spend night 6 in Oxford, taking the train on to Manchester the following day.

I agree with you on Warwick Castle, but found Stratford quite interesting.

Hi All,

Susan and Monte
my home base would be the last village / town we visit on that day so for example day 2 would be Oxford from option 1. well that's my current plan :D

James
Does the medieval bridge you mean is the Town Bridge? that's the vantage point that i find everywhere on internet which attracts me firsthand to the village. i can't imagine the bridge is actually full with traffic. talking about tourism advertisement :D

thanks for advising Oxford and Blenheim Palace on the same day. that would save my time for visiting other places too.

cheltenham is a good railway base town too. thanks for mentioning it, i was not aware it has the cross country lines. it also has direct cross country train to Manchester (i plan afterwards to Manchester - Liverpool - Scotland) .

djp_syd
that would be good idea too. i was checking Cheltenham as base but it's pretty time consuming too when travelled from Bath (1.5hrs with GWR Train) and there's no direct train to Oxford (prefer to travel by train in bigger cities).

i also want to find out if there's any luggage delivery service, special for travelers with affordable prices unlike the usual DHL or FedEx. I read that there're luggage free program called Footloose for Cotswolds walkers in Oxford. I wonder if other places around also offer that kind of service.

I'm not sure if I understand your plan very well. Maybe you are planning to walk between villages so you would need luggage transport for that?

Bath to Oxford is closer to 2 hours, so I can see why you would want to sleep in Bath before moving on to Oxford. I can see spending the night in Oxford, too. But the rest of your list are pretty close by one another.

Have you checked the time between villages? Look on googlemaps or viaMichelin.com

If you will have a car and plan to explore the small villages, I can't imagine why you would want to hassle with moving every night. You might find that you move 20 minutes down the road if you plan to stay in your last village. We did most of your list very, very easy from our base.

I would then ask if your plan includes a rental car then picking it up when departing Bath makes most sense.

Incredible though it may seem, that bridge that you see in the centre of Bradford-upon-Avon is indeed the Town Bridge and is usually busy with traffic. (I had to wait for a gap in the traffic when I took my photo). Tetbury is another place that can look quaint & quiet in photos but is on a main road which runs right through the center.

As others have mentioned, all of the places that you mention in the Cotswolds - Bath - Oxford etc. could be reached from a central base as day trips. That being so, then Cirencester would be as near central as possible. Cirencester is not on the rail network but trains do run from London (Paddington) to nearby Kemble. Of course, much depends on who you rent a car from and where they are located. This site might help:> https://www.travelsupermarket.com/en-gb/car-hire/

Try and look at the places on Google Earth in order to get an idea of how big they are. Both Bath & Oxford have Park & Rides on the outskirts. This means that you drive the car to an out of town car park from which buses (usually every 10 minutes) ferry people into the centre. This saves a lot of hassle of driving into congested towns where parking can be difficult.
.http://visitbath.co.uk/travel-and-maps/bath-park-and-ride
https://www.oxford.gov.uk/directory/8/car_parks_in_oxford/category/56/categoryInfo/13

With a hire car, you could consider staying on a farm from which you could may day trips .http://www.cotswoldsfarmstay.co.uk
Always check carefully the farm location - some might down miles of narrow roads.
Also consider:> https://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/86/Cirencester-hotel

Hi All,

thanks so much for all the inputs. me and my hubby agree, it's better to stay in one of the Cotswolds village as the base. We decide Bourton on the Water might be the best one looking at our chosen villages above.

also we'd skip Bath (too hot i guess for having the thermal spa during summer time) and spend the extra time in Scotland. so we head directly from London to Oxford, pick up our hired car there then continue to Cotswolds. But we need to go back to Cotswolds, return the hired car then take the train up to Manchester. This is definitely a bit waste of time returning to Oxford again but we could not think of any better option since driving would take the same amount of time (without traffic) with taking train.

any other input would be appreciated

Susan and Monte
No we don't plan on doing any walking (that would be a disaster for my hubby's knees :D) but i read that there's a walking program from Oxford that walkers could have their luggage delivered to their accommodations. It's called Footloose. This is similar with a service called Taqbin in Japan but it applies not only to walkers but also to all visitors regardless their mode of transportation. It's designed for tourists luggages with very affordable and reasonable fee compared to DHL and FedEx. I really wish EU and UK has this service in the future. i have reason of why i plan to send my luggages due to my recent travelling incident. i'd have another post for that. Also with the railcard, Japan has tourist special travel card with a rate that Japanese themselves could only dreamed off. It really makes travelling easier without having to calculate capping or off peak periods that locals normally familiar with. i'm really confused whether i should just use Oyster card or the railcard with all different calculations and exemptions. Perhaps in the future...

cheers
Jen

I would suggest three beautiful villages you should definitely to see. Ebrington so beautiful with a lovel pub, not large but well worth a short visit,
Stanton is beautiful again small but worth a short visit, then Painswick which is larger have a lovel walk about, visit beautiful St. Mary's Church and church yard, there are 99 beautiful yews the hundredredth will never grow. The church was built during the reign of Richard II 1377-1399. Glad to see you are going to base yourself in Bourton-on-the-Water, while there make sure you walk down to The Old New Inn, behind it there is a model village it's a one-ninth scale replica of the heart of the village, it took over five years to make it by local craftsmen. It was officially opened on the Coronation Day of King George VI in 1937, well worth a visit.

hi Robin Z

thanks so much for your input :) i really appreciate it. i'd definitely see the replica of Bourton on the Water. I'm interested in Painswick too but will see if we still have more time for it as we only have 3 days for covering Cotswolds. Nice to hear that Stanton is in one of your 3 top choices too.

Cheers
Jen