Rails and Car Rentals in the Cotswolds

£68.70 is the price of an anytime single, on any permitted route between Conwy and MiM. The price to Worcester (Foregate St or Shrub Hill) is £60.60.

The cheaper fare was probably an Advance (with an 'A'). You may not stop short on an Advance - you should only travel between the named stations.

(BTW, I read 9/8 at 1:45 at first to mean 9 August at 1:45am. Took me a while to realise you actually meant 8 September at 13:45. It was the mention of Saturday that helped. Just a tip in case you have to deal with people in the UK on the phone for travel enquiries.)

Marco just beat me to the punch. I was confused by the date too.

I'm confused though.

Why do you need a train to Moreton in Marsh if you will already have the car?

If you have trepidation about driving here will you be happy driving a manual transmission which may be what will be offered at a smaller location? Can the Worcester Enterprise location guarantee an automatic?

Do you know that Worcester has two main stations, Shrub Hill and Foregate Street, and do you know which is closer to the hire location?

If I had been choosing a location for car rental I would have chosen Cheltenham which is quite a lot more convenient than Worcester. Or can you get it in North Wales before you leave and save a train fare?

I would take the train from Conwy to Birmingham Airport and pick up a car there.

Advantages are you have more choice, plus you're straight onto the motorway; fewer distractions than suburban roads. Just keep in the nearside lane and drive straight ahead. It’s easier than you think.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

I agree with the choice of going by train from Conwy to Birmingham International Airport to hire a car. Pre-book the train ticket in advance and you will find trains priced at around £25. Your Birmingham arrival station will be Birmingham International (BHI).

If you were to go via a change at Hereford and get off at Worcester (Foregate Street) - if the car hire is nearer Shrub Hill station - you would need to change for the short hop. To get the lowest fare on this route - pre-book the leg from Conwy to Hereford. You can pay on the day for the Hereford to Worcester leg as the price stays the same = £9.90.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

"but think I'd do all right on suburban roads where I could drive cautiously."

Don't drive too cautiously though, the drivers caught up in the queue behind will certainly let you know that you are going too slow!!!

It is also worthwhile noting that the vast majority of driving in the Cotswolds area is not "suburban" driving, it is rural driving. Remember that as soon as you are beyond the village or town the default national speed limit is 60 mph unless signed lower. While you may not be driving 60 on a narrow bendy hilly road I may be coming the other way or may be behind you and when I have a clear road I may well be. So may White Van man (the colour of the van, not the colour necessarily of the (wo)man) although he and his van may actually be exceeding it by some margin, perhaps whilst talking on his mobile phone.

You may also come across heavy trucks which are limited to lower speeds and because of tight controls on driving hours and speed probably will stick to their speed limit - neither above nor below. Bikes, motorcycles, pedestrians and horses are other things you will likely come across in your travels, and most country lanes are narrow with no sidewalks/pavements/footpaths, and sometimes are single lane lanes or tracks, espeially if you follow the GPS/Sat Nav. If on a single lane with passing places you need to use the passing places correctly.

It is worth having a read-up, or perhaps viewing a few youtubes.

Thank you all for your thoughtful input. I really appreciate the driving caution instructions and will now be better prepared.

I checked on the Birmingham airport and in comparison, it would cost me both time and a 17.5% additional fee, although the route would be a bit more direct on the freeway.

Marco, you were right: that was an advance fare and your advice about traveling on advance fares only between designated stops seems to have been my stumbling block. Once I entered Conwy to Hereford, and then Hereford to Worcester, it seems I can buy tickets with no problem - and less than 35 pounds/person! (fyi, I tried booking a month ago and Arriva Trains wouldn't allow it; I called them and was told to wait until 6 weeks ahead of time; and now still had problems!) So I am feeling much relieved.

James, the reason I chose Enterprise in Worcester is because it is open until 18:00 (I'm learning) and will pick us up at either station. The only other stations similar were in Telford, Shrewsbury and Chester. I would rather relax while I view the scenery and get as close to the Cotswold's as possible - as well as give us more time to drive leisurely to Bath Tuesday morning.

Nigel, thanks for mentioning to ask for an automatic if available. I am a competent stick-shifter here but it would be one less worry there. Also, fyi, the car on Sunday morning is a stress-free guided tour with driver leaving us without transportation the rest of the stay.

Tomorrow I hope to confirm and finalize my plans. Rest assured if something doesn't work, I will write again. Thank you so much!

We are Americans that did a four week driving tour of Wales and England last October. We drove over 1700 miles in Britain and loved it. We stayed in Chipping Campden at the Volunteer Inn and used it as a base to visit Oxford, Blenheim Palace, Stratford Upon Avon and of course the Cotswolds. We rented at Heathrow and our first stop was Bath.
I know you can rent a car in Oxford, but you are coming from the North.

Some of the worst traffic that we encountered was near Birmingham, so get read for that if you go there.

When we visited Oxford, we didn't want to park outside the city, so we took the train and it was not expensive for a return ticket.

Some tips for renting a care in Britain.

Get the Book Back Roads of Great Britain, it is great for planning trips in rural Britain.

Make sure that you have a NAV system or GPS with your vehicle, unless you have a smartphone that can be used to navigate.

Suggest renting an automatic, since you need to focus on the traffic and not be distracted by shifting gears with your left hand.
In the USA you can usually go 10 MPH over the speed limit and not be ticketed, however, there are traffic cameras all over Britain and I got a ticket in the mail after our trip for 40 GBP for going 35 MPH in a 30 zone. So, slow down and enjoy the great scenery.

Here is my detailed trip report:
28 days in Britain and Celebrity Eclipse home
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=599139

Thank you for your encouraging advice, Geo. I am feeling comfortable with the travel arrangements I made this morning: train from Conwy to Worcester, Enterprise car rental for 3 days with a drop-off in Bath. Plug for Enterprise who have extended hours on the weekends when other agencies don't, as well as pick-up service. The drop off fee of 50 pounds seems like a lot, but it was a wash with train and taxi and offered flexibility. I paid more for an automatic, do have a smart phone for GPS. fyi, the car rental price went up $2/day since I first planned my rental a week ago, but i think doing my research, and with input from this forum, I did good!

Loved reading your travelogue. My only regret is that I don't have more time to do genealogy research while here. Glad you did!

When you drive down to Bath, you will be approaching from the north via the A46. Now, if you were to drive into Bath, you may well find it difficult to park and where street parking does exist, it is on a meter - often with a limit of 2 hours. I would suggest that you go to the Lansdown Park & Ride - where you dump the car in a large car park on the northern edge of Bath and take a bus shuttle into the centre. I think the bus will cost about £3 each return and it runs about every 10 minutes. (Oxford has similar P&R’s). If driving to Oxford, you may also consider seeing Blenheim Palace = about 6 miles NW of the city.

See map for Bath :>https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Lansdown+Park+%26+Ride/@51.4602701,-2.3260677,12.07z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x487183fc13bc7ce3:0xac81aa474dbb3b1c!8m2!3d51.4109623!4d-2.3877602!5m1!1e1

Funny you should mention Blenheim Palace, James. That is why we have to rent a car; to get there by train or bus from M-i-M takes hours, and there are other sites we want to see. When we drive to Bath, we are returning the car first thing so thankfully, we won't have to deal with parking. Yaay. Thanks for the note about the buses.

Message read. If going to Bath form MIM for the day, I would suggest that you do not visit Cotswold villages on the outward journey in order to make sure that you have enough time to visit Bath. Should you use the Lansdown P&R and then be returning north, be careful with the road as it is easy to go wrong and not turn right at a particular junction. The junction in question is at the centre of this map - Freezinghill Lane is the road you should turn right onto. (Look at the junction on street view).https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4328397,-2.4016511,17.05z/data=!5m1!1e1

I don't know where you got your times for arriving at Blenheim Palace but it is actually very easy by public transport from Moreton in Marsh. Train to Oxford and bus to Woodstock followed by a couple of minutes' walk. They may even stop at the gates.