We would like to go on a long and complete guided day trip through the small Cotswold villages, with a minimum of other side trips included (like Blenheim, Stratford, etc.), preferably leaving from London. Can you suggest a good tour company to use?
I don't know of any from London, but you can get such a trip from Stratford-Upon-Avon. You can get to Stratford from London by train (about 1 1/2 hours). Maybe you could check the times of the trips and see if that would work. The one we did was a 1/2 day trip that left Stratford at noon and returned around 4:30 or 5:00. But we were spending the night in Stratford. Feel free to private message me about other day trips- we have been to the UK more than 40 times (and I live sooooo close to you... in Charlotte....)
Here's list of companies that do tours to the Cotswolds from London:
Cotswolds Tours
Thanks! That's helpful!