If you HAD to choose...Stratford-on-Avon or the Cotswolds?

Don't know the tour group so can't recommend it but CAN recommend seeing the Cotswolds over a visit to Stratford-on-Avon. If they offer a full day tour, take it. More time to enjoy the villages.

Agree with Claudia 100%. Cotswolds are a much better choice if you have to pick only one. TC

Cotswolds for sure.

Ditto...Cotswalds if I had to choose. No doubt about it!

No contest between the two. Cotswolds by a mile.

Oh, I agree too about the vote for the Cotswolds over Stratford. Stratford has some interest but is also very touristy. The Cotswolds are beautiful - also touristy, but some of the villages are much less so and the countryside is lovely.

another vote for the Cotswolds.

Warwick Castle might be an interesting day trip. It is on the river Avon and has some picturesque displays that may make you feel like you are in a Shakespeare Play. The Cotswolds are lovely, but you really need time to linger. Stratford, except for the Swan Theatre for a play doesn't really have that much going for it.

Claudia hits the mark . Stratford is nice and worth seeing ,but the Cotswolds are pure eye candy . The villages are what you dream of as quintessential rural England . Depending on how your tour is structured , I hope you get to see The Slaughters and perhaps stroll along the River Eye , actually a babbling brook that runs trough Lower Slaughter . Enjoy!

I've never heard of "Cotswold Roamings". If they are any good, I'd vote for an all day Cotswold jaunt over Stratford upon Avon. I agree with the above comments. SAV is nice but not enough for a day. Just be sure to vet the tour company.

Another vote for the Cotswolds. My vacation plans for next summer include a weeks stay in a holiday rental. I am so excited, planning lots of walks.

Cotswolds.....for sure!!!!

I haven't been to the Cotswolds, but I have been to Stratford on Avon and it was worth about 2 hours. It cute, its touristy, but really I wouldn't give it another two hours of my life. Choose the Cotswolds.

Have you considered renting a car in Oxford or vicinity and driving in the Cotswolds, the best way to see them. But on your own or on a tour- Cotswolds over Stratford easily

I can't believe I'm saying this but given only one day I'd go to
Stratford-upon-Avon. A single day in the Cotswolds, no matter how wonderful the tour, is simply not enuf time. You'll only end up wanting to go back for a longer time, but, maybe you will. I've been to Stratford a few times and the last time was really good. The HOHO, A tour of Anne Hathaways and a cream tea over the road after, Shakespeares birthplace. Another I can't believe, that anyone could see enuf of the place in 2 hours. Things that make you go "hmmmmmm." Even with the HOHO, we walked and walked. It was a great day.

We have enjoyed Stratford-upon-Avon, both as a day trip and for a couple of nights. We did a 1/2 day small bus (12 people) tour of the Cotswolds from there once. Gave us a nice taste. We booked the tour from the Tourist Information Office in Stratford. Left from the center of town around 12:30 and got back around 6:00ish. If you got the first train from London to Stratford, then walked around a bit, took the tour and caught the last train back to London, you'd have a very full, but nice, day.

I think it depends on what you prefer. Stratford has a couple of sights to check out, Cotswolds is pretty country with charming small towns. I think Stratford is more of a daytrip destination while Cotswolds is a place to relax and take some walks in the country.

If I were to never get back to England again I would more regret not spending a day in the Cotswolds vs. a day in Stratford. I have been to both a number of times, and while I loved SAV (saw a play and Warwick Castle) I would suggest the Cotswolds.