Traveling from Kingham to Kendal in the Lake District

Posted by Morse (Tennessee) on 06/27/22 06:40 PM

Hello!

My wife and I will be spending a few weeks in the UK late this summer. We have plans to spend a few days in the lake district near Kendal. We will be staying in Kingham in the Cotswold's before we head up to the Lake District, and I am trying to narrow down our best travel option to make the journey up north. I would like to have a rental car while in the Lake district, but I am not sure if I would like to rent it down south and drive all the way up, or take a train up to the north and rent a car there. Any and all tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Morse

Posted by epltd

06/29/22 03:40 AM

3122 posts

Having your own car will be a great advantage in both of these regions. The drive from the Cotswolds to the Lake District isn't difficult. Since you already plan to rent a car, I don't think it would make sense to be without it in the Cotswolds.

The question is where to pick it up and drop it off. Renting from a major airport will give you more choices of the type of car and longer hours of opening than trying to get it in a city location or, worse yet, a small town. Airports are also convenient to major highways (Motorways), eliminating the stress of driving on narrow, crowded city streets when you first set out driving on the left.

Posted by rogerbrown

Stratford upon Avon

06/29/22 07:23 AM

470 posts

Not many people in UK would think that the drive to Lake District from Kingham is very pleasant. You will be driving on some of the most busy motorways in Europe and any breakdown or accident blocking lane(s) causes long delays.

Posted by James

06/29/22 07:53 AM

2433 posts

Staying in Kingham and wanting to travel around Cotswolds villages - strongly advise that you will need to rent a car. If you want an automatic - you will need to insist on that. Google ‘Car rental Banbury’ and ‘Car Rental Oxford’ and see what turns up. (You may like to do the same for Kendal or Oxenholm).

It is not a pleasant drive as you would be on some very busy motorways. You can get from Banbury to Kendal by train in 3hours 40 minutes - a little longer from Oxford. By advance booking and buying split tickets, you can get the price down to around £40 per person - with around a third off that if you purchase a 2 Together Railcard for £30.

Check out the following site for now and say 10 weeks ahead for your rail journey:>https://www.traintickets.com/?/