Review London and Bath/Cotswolds itinerary and offer suggestions

Itinerary suggestion: If you're starting at Stansted, I'd suggest renting a car there and then returning it at Bath. Otherwise, you'd have to work your way through London to get to Bath by train. First stop could be Cambridge Univ which is just a 30 minute drive north of Stansted. From there you could continue to Warwick (see the castle) and then maybe to nearby Stratford-upon-Avon. Stratford is just 20 minutes away from the Cotswolds where you want to stay. You could visit Oxford & Blenheim Palace from the Cotswolds, and en route to Bath visit Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, etc. Many choices of places to see on the drive depending on your interests.

Stansted is a good place to start out if you haven't driven in the UK before.... small airport with not too much traffic in the area. Cambridge is suggested as your daughters will probably be interested in exploring the campus, plus a visit to King's College Chapel is something to remember. Cambridge has 'park and ride' stops all around the city, so you don't have to deal with finding a parking place in town. This could be your sightseeing on day one, and then you'd want to spend the night without going much farther..... I have stayed just north at the Huntingdon Marriott which is at the intersection of the A1 & A14.... very nice, good price and easy access to the motorway. Next day you could go to Warwick (just over an hour drive) & see the castle, visit the Shakespeare venues in Stratford in the afternoon, and then mosey on down to the Cotswolds for the night. The M25 that circles London is a highway you'll want to avoid on your first trip.

Tim, thanks so much for your response. You brought up a terrific point. I didn't realize that there were limited trains from Stansted. I just assumed that trains ran all over. I would not like to train it to London (I heard that Victoria station is under construction this year??) and I am not sure that I would like to rent a car either when that trip from the airport would be 5 hours as opposed to a 2 hour train ride from London to Bath. But is the care ride an easy one since we will be trying to drive on the opposite side (not to mention trying to not get lost!)? We are actually flying in from a few days stay in San Sebastian, Spain. Our flight only listed Stansted as an option. Thanks again!

I would train from London to Bath rent a car. You can use mad max for tours to Stonehenge, Avebury. however, i would suggest use Bath only as a convenient transition place (spend one day seeing it),. From Bath i would use a car to see Tintern Abbey and the Wye valley, then leave Bath and see Stonehenge, Avebury (both convenient by car), spend as many days as possible in Cotswolds. Just drive around (wonderful), see all the recommended villages. You dont need to change hotels within the Cotswolds, they are all very convenient- maybe pick one or two hotels that appeal to you. Most villages in Cotswolds have very limited activity at night, other than restaurants. Probably dump you car in salisbury , see the cathedral and area. Train to Oxford, Cambridge if they appeal. There are also a number of cathedrals you could see if that appeals. I love Devon and Cornwall, but to do them properly, you need to abandon Cotswolds and Stonehenge, see Devon and Cornwall (still suggest Tintern) and dump you car. train back to London

Who says there are infrequent trains? Isn't every 15 minutes any good? Every 15 minutes on the quarter, right about 45 minutes to Liverpool Street Station in London, stops twice or thrice. 9 stops on the Circle Line (yellow) or Hammersmith and City Line (pink) (take whichever comes first) for half an hour or so. Crossrail projects are knawing at the tube so check that direct service is available. 1:24 or so from Paddington to Bath on a frequent service. Less than 3 hours or so airport to town centre. Would that help?

Thank you ALL for your wonderful tips and suggestions to help us plan out this trip! Based on your suggestions, I think we have been able to formulate a basic plan to be able to book hotels and a car rental (that's next on my list!!) and then we will investigate what we can explore each day. We decided to rent a car from Stansted and since our arriving flight is at noon, we will drive straight to Oxford and eat a late lunch there and tour around for a couple of hours. Then, we will head to the Cotswolds where we were able to find a lovely B&B in Broadway. Hopefully, we won't arrive too late and will be able to have dinner there. Have to check on approximate driving times from Stansted-Oxford-Broadway. We will have 2 1/2 days to explore all of your suggestions. We are thinking one day for up north (Shakespeare and Warwick - although my 19 year old girls looked at the website and thought it looked more for younger children??), one full day to see all of the rest of the Cotswolds, and finally ending up in Bath and spending at least half a day exploring there before we train it back to London. I also want to see Stonehenge, but I am not sure if we will have enough time to worm it in... unless we can take a train back to London from a different area other than Bath. ?? Finally, we have 3 full days slated to explore London - possibly training it to Windsor Castle as a short day trip. I feel pretty good about organizing the London sightseeing options, but I am not as familiar with everywhere else. So once again, I thank you for all of your kind help and suggestions that you provided! That's as far as I got! A lot to do in just a week, but it all sounds absolutely wonderful and we can't wait!

Your daughters may be right about Warwick. It is alright, and very "castle like", but it really is quite small. You might find Blenheim more interesting. It is very close to Oxford, between there and Broadway. Warwick is a bit out of the way. Also, if you are going to see Windsor Castle, that will put a nice check mark in the castle column. Stratford is convenient and very interesting.

In my opinion, Blenheim Palace and Hampton Court rate very high and are quite comparable. Both are "houses" rather than castles, but with a lot of interesting stuff. Both have great gardens and grounds. Woodstock right outside Blenheim gates is a nice little town/village to walk through with some interesting inns/pubs. I would recommend doing one of them.

The girls might really like Cambridge...beautiful college town with a great shopping area, cafes and just nice place to walk around. Beautiful buildings, etc.

Warwick. It is alright, and very "castle like", but it really is quite small Yeah, but real castles aren't all that big, mostly. Every time you put in another stone you have to source said stone, and there's that much more to have to defend. A Warwick Castle is the real thing, hammed up a bit.