Hello! Hubby and I will be traveling from the US to the UK with our two young boys (ages 2 and 6 months) this July. We fly into Gatwick, then had planned to take the train to Bath, spend 2 nights in Bath, then pick up a car in Bath and spend 3 nights in the Cotswolds (Stow-in-the-Wold), then drive back to Bath to drop off the car and take a train back to London for 4 nights there.
A few questions:
If we buy our train tickets from Gatwick to Bath in advance, will we be able to change the departure time if our flight ends up being delayed or it takes longer than expected to get through the airport?
How much time should we allot to get through customs at Gatwick on the day we arrive (a Saturday morning)? Is it likely safe to book a train for about 2 hours after our flight is scheduled to arrive?
Which rental car company is closest to the train station in Bath? Are any rental car places within walking distance to the train station?
Should we reconsider our plan to take a train to Bath and instead rent a car at Gatwick and then drop it back off when we arrive in London towards the end of our trip? Pros are (1) we won’t have to worry about missing the train to Bath if our flight is delayed, and (2) we won’t have to drive back to Bath from the Cotswolds to drop off the car. Cons are (1) we wanted to avoid driving in London since we aren’t very familiar with driving on the right and (2) our apartment in Bath doesn’t have parking so we’d have to find parking.