Oxfotd/Cotswolds/Stratford in one day?

If you want enough time to actually visit the points of interest in Stratford-upon-Avon, I would recommend planning a full day on the ground there (with overnight stay -- not a day trip from London & back). I've been there twice in my life and after being rushed the first time you'd think I would have planned enough time for the second visit, but I didn't. (We did, however, get tickets to performance at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.) The places to visit are spread out and there can be traffic delays. When we took the HoHo bus our departure was delayed almost an hour because of traffic in town, and once we started off our progress was slower than scheduled. This meant we didn't have time to get off at even one of the stops. The bus tour was still nice, and our guide was very knowledgeable, but naturally the delay was a bit frustrating.

Do it on your own.

Why be herded like cattle?

IMHO all 3 in a day is overkill.

Slow down. Relax, meander, enjoy.

That kind of a "drive by" experience is for those who want to be able to say they've "seen" a lot of places, rather than spend time in any of them. Some people do enjoy that (or the tour company wouldn't offer it). And if you do want to see multiple places in one day, an organized tour like this can do it much more efficiently than you can on your own.

I would certainly pick just one of the three places if I were only going for a day.

Look up those destinations in a guidebook (Rick only covers Oxford in his England book, not his London or his Great Britain books). Figure out what you want to see in each place. Then, look at the bus tour. Does it include enough of your own personal "must sees" to make it worthwhile? Or does it shortchange too many of them? Or, do you not particularly have an interest in one, so that time would be better spent elsewhere? (Don't forget the option of not doing any day trips and just spending more time in London, or of going somewhere else like Cambridge or Bletchley Park). Only with this knowledge can you decide if this day trip is right for you.

We did each and Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon both took a full day. The Cotswolds took 1 1/2 days.

When you do Stratford, suggest that you buy the 5 item ticket from the Shakespeare Museum. You get admission to all five historical sites.

Do Rick Steves self guided tour of the Cotswolds. There is a lot to see in Oxford, even one day is not really enough.

Way, way to much to try to cover all 3 in one day from London. I wouldn't even try to do 2 of the 3 in one day.

If you are feeling a bit unsure about doing it on your own, look at London Walks (www.walks.com ) and see if they have a day trip to any of these destinations on the day you have free.

Slow down! You can’t possible do anything but set foot on the ground with those three destinations in one day. This isn’t the amazing race. They’re all worthy of a full day, even though I’m not a fan of the Cotswolds.

It would be sad not to allow at least one day each for these wonderful sights. But if this is your one and only chance to be in England then I would go for it. At least you are guided and do not have to drive and worry about logistics. Yes it would be a whirlwind of fast forward sights.

Lots of great advice in these responses. Believe you now have your answer.