To Lacock and Avebury from Bath?

Posted by Dianne (New York City) on 02/07/10 06:01 AM

Hi! Can anyone tell me if it's possible/ how difficult it would be to travel to Lacock and Avebury from Bath? I get the impression there are buses, but I can't seem to find out if they only run in the summer. I'm traveling at the beginning of April. Since I'm somewhat visually impaired, driving isn't an option (I have lots of experience with timetables!).

I'd prefer to travel on my own rather than some kind of group tour, so I can see things at my own pace, although I'd consider a small group, if I can't find another way to get there. Another question I have is about how long it might take to see Lacock and Avebury? I'm planning on finding accommodations in Bath (seems to be more affordable options there), and then doing a daytrip to the other places. Thanks for any help!

Posted by Susan

Atlanta, Ga, USA

02/07/10 09:33 AM

2023 posts

I can't comment on bus transportation as we had a car but Avebury and Lacock Abbey can be seen in about an hour each. The village of Lacock was very charming and we regretted not allowing time to spend there or even staying overnight.

Posted by Dianne OP

New York City

02/07/10 10:24 AM

2 posts

Thanks for the link and the info! From the web I had the impression that Avebury needed much more time than an hour. Mad Max certainly sounds like a good alternative, except they only spend an hour in Lacock, so I'm not sure. But it seems they also go to the Cotswolds, which is just great - I wanted to visit that area too, but couldn't figure out how without a car.

Posted by Bob

London

02/07/10 11:23 AM

291 posts

The Mad Max tour is a day tour that visits Stonehenge, Lacock, Avebury and Castle Coombe.
If you want to visit Lacock properly (i.e. you want to go into the Abbey and look at Harry Potter stuff) then its not long enough there.
The Mad Max tour uses Lacock as a lunch stop at the George Inn.

By public transport is hard to combine both in one day. Lacock is quite easy, just get the train or bus from Bath to Choppenham then there is an hourly bus to Lacock.

To get to Avebury get the train from Bath to Swindsor then there are buses to Avebury from there.

Going from Avebury to Lacock direct is a problem. There are regular buses from Chippenham to Swindson via Calne. Lat time I was at Avebury I seem to recollect tehre was a small bus there going to Calne, so there might be an opportunity but I would enquire further on this bus as it might be a village bus only going a couple of times a day.

Posted by Char

PNW

02/07/10 10:07 PM

194 posts

We did the all-day Mad Max Tour and decided to skip the lunch at the George Tavern in order to see the abbey. We stopped at the bakery and had them make some sandwiches to go. After touring the abbey grounds, we sat on a bench and ate our lunch. We enjoyed the rest of the tour, which has a maximum of 16 people. Our driver/tour guide was very good with lots of information that we wouldn't have had without the tour.

Posted by Ken

Vernon, Canada

02/08/10 10:55 AM

32352 posts

Dianne,

Having a rental car would be the easiest way to see Avebury. I'm not aware of any tours that cover that area from Bath.

For visiting Lacock, I'd also recommend Mad Max Tours. I took one of their tours a few years ago which covered Stonehenge and Lacock, and quite enjoyed it (I had a rental car so toured the Cotswolds after that on my own). They use a small minivan, so the groups are small, and as someone else commented the Guide was wonderful and a "wealth of information".

While the stop in Lacock is fairly short, it's quite a small place so the time seemed quite adequate to me.

Happy travels!