The cotswolds

My wife and I were in the Cotswolds and loved it! We stayed in Chipping Campden, which was a great little town that did not seem to be toooooo overrun by tourism madness, and then drove to other areas in the Cotswolds from there--like Stratford Upon Avon, etc.

Though driving in the area was stressful at the start since I'd never driven on the "wrong" side of the road (especially narrow ones in the Cotswolds), the freedom it gave us to just explore was wonderful. I highly recommend it!

Check out this website:

http://www.cotswolds.info/tour-worcestershire-gloucestershire-oxfordshire.shtml

Has all the Cotswold towns, maps, to-do, etc. I hope this helps!

We stayed in Chipping Campden as a base. Great place to stay for it's High Street, restaurants, and shopping. Good luck!

We also stayed in Chipping Campden. We stayed at the Poppy Bank B&B at the north end of town. We did have a rental car so we were able to see all of the Cotswold towns plus the smaller nooks and crannies. We also visited Hidcote Manor Gardens just out of town. You would have a tough time seeing everything if you don't have a rental car.

If you don't have a rental car, I would suggest staying in Bath and taking the fully day Mad Max guided mini-bus tours. Two that I would recommend are 1) fully day tour of the Cotswolds, 2) full day tour of Stonehenge, Avebury, Lacock and Castle Combe.

I have linked a list below lising the 10 most beautiful villages in England. The list shows Avebury, Castle Combe, Bourton-on-the-Water and Lacock among the 10. You see all 4 of these on the Mad Max tours. We were able to see the 4 mentioned above in the rental car.

CLICK HERE to see the Mad Max website.

CLICK HERE to see a list of the 10 most beautiful villages in England.

We stayed in Stow-in-the-Wold as our base, and visited Chipping Campden, Moreton-in-Marsh (where we arrived via train, taking a taxi to the Stow Lodge), and Bourton-on-the-Water by local bus. RS is correct in that relying on bus transport in the Cotswolds CAN be frustrating, but it doesn't have to be. Plan ahead, know the schedules, don't try to spread yourself so thin in a single day, take your time...and it's actually a lot of fun combining walking and bus. You really get to chat with the locals, seniors, especially, who rely on the bus for shopping, appts, etc.

You can take the train from Paddington station in London to Moreton-in-Marsh. I would suggest staying in either Bourton-on-the-Water or Broadway, they are both quaint, relaxing villages. You can take a taxi from Moreton-in-Marsh, Bourton-on-the-Water is 8 miles and Broadway is 7 miles. You can get a bus from Bourton-on-the-Water or Broadway to few of the other villages.

We stayed in London and booked a day tour through Gray Line. We booked a number of Gray Line tours. You can book them while in the U.S. or after you get over there. Gray LIne picked us up and returned us to our Crowne Plaza Kensington Hotel.

Cotswolds: the fun of the cotswolds is driving around, all on country roads, aim at villages with interesting names. You dont need an itinerary- just drive around at your own convenience. The larger places are Chipping Camden and Stow on the Wold (Stow is a village square a couple of hotels and a few side streets); popular villages to visit include Bourton on the Water; Burford, Bibury, Broadway (with the best and most expensive hotel- Lygon Arms) Upper and Lower Slaughter, Upper and Lower Swell (my comment on interesting names), Stanton, Stanway. Definitely include Woodstock and its adjacent Blenheim Palace, and many many other villages. It does get very popular with the English locals during weekends, so i would reserve for a Friday and Saturday night, but during the week it should be fine. There are "thousands "of other villages in the cotswolds almost as cute. many B&Bs, tons of intersting pubs. Fairford church has pre-reformation stained glass windows. Compton Wynyates is an interesting manor house which can be visited.
Best way to see it is by car- you can go and stop where you please. also good place to walk. Check wensites for more information

Also stayed in Chipping Camden at the Volunteer Inn...hotel is above a pub on the main street, so lots of fun and the noise ended early. Drove to all the surrounding villages to sightsee. Guided by maps and signs the first few trips, then gps... worked great. I am a photographer so loved it.You can see some of my photos from England on my website at terrykathrynlawrence.com Having been there in the winter and summer, both are great. Go to the Tea Room for Cream Tea (warm scones served with fresh jam, clotted cream and either coffee or tea...yum)
Don't be afraid to drive there, just takes a little practice. I find it helpful to only rent an automatic in England or Ireland. Manual shift adds one more thing to think about.