cotswolds

Pretty villages where there is something to see; burford- long main street down to a river and pack horse bridge; interesting shops (not touristy), pubs for meals; Bourton on the Ewater- pretty very popular tourist village (has a miniature village attraction); Stow on the Wold- nice hotels and some shops; Purley for pretty- Upper and Lower Slaughter; Upper and Lower Swell; Stanton; Castle Combe; Bibury frankly i dont think a few hours is enough to give you the feel of the Cotswolds; Dinner- Stow, Burford, and hotels in Broadway, Slaughters Driving back from Bath can take a while- i usually encounter traffic jams on the motorways in the afternoon; also some very nice places along the major roads. I am inclined to agre with the comment above that this is an unrealistic long day. the driver will certainly not feel relaxed at the end

First things first: that's at least six hours of road time. Sixteen hours is a heck of a day trip - - eight to midnight?

map quest says its 1.5 hours to bath. from bath to the cotswolds is 40 miles. . . another hour. from the cotswolds to london is about 2 hours. . . .

Chipping Campden. Wonderful town. We spent 2 days there a few years ago. (We also bought a local bus ticket--it runs a loop through the "storybook" Cotswolds towns.) You can either get a bus tour that way or hop off and hop back on later. However, please make sure to check the schedule--carefully. Have a great time (I'm envious).

Personally, I would do Bath or the Cotswolds but not both. You will have a much more relaxed, enjoyable pace and really begin to get a feel for either locale, rather than just zipping through. Navigating around Bath with a car is pretty stressful...I would opt for a nice day in the Cotswolds. Favorite villages: Bibury, Lower Slaughter, Broadway, Bourton-on-the-Water.

Bourton-on-the-Water and Broadway both beautiful villages. The drive from London to Bath will take you around 2 1/2 hrs, from Bath to the Cotswolds would be around an hour and 15 minutes.

Paul You can reach the Cotswolds by frequent trains from either Bath or London- however there is only 1 village with a station- Moreton in the Marsh - not one of the more scenic villages in my opinion. In addtion Lacock (from Bath, change at Chippenham), Stow and a few other villages are served by very infrequent busses from certain towns outside the Cotswolds. However, once you arrive you are stuck, there is practically no intra-cotswolds transportation system to do any worthwhile sightseeing you will need a car.

megan, I tend to agree with "Ed". The driving times will most likely turn out to be longer than expected (sometimes considerably longer). I've driven throughout that area, and invariably I find that trips take more time than expected, and sometimes a lot longer than MapQuest indicates. One town that I'd recommend in the Cotswolds is Stow-On-The-Wold. There are some nice shops and restaurants there, so it would be a good place for dinner. While the trip may be possible, I'd suggest planning for a VERY long day! You might also consider staying at least one night in the Cotswolds. Either the Old Stocks Hotel or the HI Hostel next door would be good. Happy travels!

My husband and I took bus day trips to Bath, Stonhenge and to the Cotswold's three years ago It was just the right amount of time to visit. We booked the tours on-line through Gray Line Tours.com. They sub out the tours in London. We either were picked up at our hotel in South Kensington, or we met the various tours at a train station. We thoroughly enjoyed the tours to Bath, Stonhenge, the Cotswolds, Windsor Castle, etc. We are returning to London in June and will use the tours again, maybe to even return to the Cotswolds.