York, Bath, The Cotwolds

For York, we visited for 3 days en route between Edinburgh, Scotland and London, England. We could've easily used a 4th day, and from your list, York is town where I'd try to fit in more than a single day. We didn't manage to get in an afternoon tea at Betty's, so that's high on the list for next time.

The Cotswolds, however, are an area, not a single town, so depending on how much you wanted to see and do, extra time could be warranted there, too. Walking between towns is a quintessential part of the Cotswald experience, so depending on where you went (and maybe depending on the weather, too) that might need more or less time. And the area's full of B&B's . . . actual Bed and Breakfasts, not just the "air" kind.

We visited Bath years ago on a single day train trip from London, and did have High Tea at the Pump Room - highly recommended! While a longer time there would've been really nice, it made for a great, long day.

Until you have a more definite plan, single day tickets might just work for you.

York is certainly possible as a day trip, and hotel prices are usually cheaper than London. You could go to there one morning, stay a couple of nights and then go direct to either Oxford or Cheltenham for access into the Cotswolds. But book trains NOW for best prices.

London-York https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/
York-Cheltenham or Oxford https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/
you would then need a local bus into the Cotswolds.

Bath is annoying, the Cotswolds officially reaches the edge of the town but direct transport is hopeless.

Previous posters gave good advice. York is not a quick stop, even one day place. Save it for another trip.

You can do day trips to Windsor, Cambridge, Portsmouth, Bath, Oxford, etc. To enjoy the Cotswolds, I suggest staying several days and visiting Stratford on Avon, Oxford, Blenheim Palace and the small towns in the Cotswolds.

If you don't plan to rent a car and are not interested in walking from town to town in the Cotswolds, you should at least consider a van tour of that area. They are conducted from Bath (Mad Max Tours) and from Moreton-on-Marsh (GoCotswolds). I cannot vouch for either one, and there are probably other options, but trying to see the Cotswolds only via public transportation will be rather limiting if you don't have much time.

If I take the train from London to the Cotwolds, which train station in the Cotwolds? I've seen Moreton-on-Marsh, Cheltenham, and Salisbury.

Since the Cotswolds is an area, and I won't have a car, once I arrive by train, would there be buses to go to Bourton-on-the-Water, Burford, Bibury and Stow-on-the Wold? Could I hire a driver, but that may be expensive, or is there Uber? Local buses? Is this too much to try and see in one day?

Thanks for the van tours suggestion. I'll look into it.

Moreton-in-Marsh is the main Cotswolds station. Salisbury is a long way away from there.

I think it would be worth spending a couple of days in York - there's enough in the city to see there for that amount of time.

I think there is a lot of misunderstanding about the Cotswolds. The area has achieved a sort of cult status with a belief that it is the most beautiful place in England - but it isn't. It's nice enough, and would be a very nice place to live (if you could afford the house prices and perhaps not if you can't drive). It's main selling point is that it is both pretty with some quaint villages and can be reached on an organised day tour from London. If London was slightly further away they wouldn't bother! How many American visitors have heard of the Quantocks? Same sort of set up and with coastal scenery as well, but they are 40 miles further from London.

If you want to see beautiful countryside and quaint villages as well as York then stay in Yorkshire. Way too far for bus operators to run day tours from London (York is only possible as a day trip from London because the trains go at 125mph). From York you can easily reach the North Yorkshire Moors by local transport. And some Canadians will know this as Heartbeat Country....

https://www.yorkshire.com/places/north-york-moors

http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/

I haven't yet been to the Cotswolds. Should happen tomorow. There are van tours as low as £40 from Moreton-in-Marsh or Bath.

The problem with visiting multiple small, rural towns is the ttypically limited frquency of bus transportation and the difficulty of coordinating schedules. This is a common problem, not limited to one area of England. I'm currently in Oxford. If I tried a do-it-yourself circuit of the Cotswolds, I'd be able to get to Moreton-in-Marsh (by train) and one other town (several are accessible from MiM by bus). Maybe two others if I was lucky and bought snack food to eat while walking down the street at lunchtime. There's a Cotswolds day-pass for about £10 that would cover the day's transportation expenses from Oxford. But I opted to sign up for one of the van trips so I can see a bit more of the countryside and more of the towns. (I can't do rural walks right now because of a sore foot.)

GoCotswolds has information on its website about how people staying in London can hook up with one of its tours.