Hello!
I thought it would be fairly straightforward (and fairly affordable) to travel between Bath, the Cotswolds (specifically Moreton-in-Marsh), and Oxford by train. It's looking quite expensive! My husband, teenage daughter, and 70+ year old mother and I will be traveling together and we leave next week! Help!
There are no direct trains between Bath & Moreton-in-Marsh (MIM). This means that you have to switch trains en-route and this is no big deal although obviously not as convenient as having a direct service. Another reason that you are getting high fares is because doing this journey is cheaper if you actually split the ticket into different legs. The following website will work this out for you but will take a commission of 15% of the amount saved:> https://trainsplit.com
If you were to buy an Advance ticket - that would only only be available on that specific train & date - with no refunds - although if an earlier train in the journey was cancelled/late, you would have the right to use a later train on the next ‘leg’ - just tell the guard what has happened. However, some trains have lower prices when/ if they are off peak and the above website shows you which ones these are. You can buy such tickets on the day - providing you know which trains are off peak - which the above website will tell you if you click PROCEED - even if not buying through them.
You can get by train from Bath to MIM in 2 ways. One is to go east (on a London bound train) to Didcot Parkway where you change for another train to Oxford and then change again for MIM. (Some options will tell you to go to Reading but these tend to be more expensive). The other option is to go west the short distance to Bristol Temple Meads where you change for a Cross Country Express to Cheltenham and then change again for Worcester Parkway - where you change again for MIM. (Going this way, some options will say take a train from Bath to Gloucester and then change for a train to Worcester Parkway). You just need to following the instructions for whichever route you take. If the change is at Cheltenham - it will be on the same platform. If at Worcester Parkway - you will need to take the lift to the higher level platform for the change to the other line.
The Cotswolds actually extend south to Bath although most of the ‘better’ villages tend to be at the northern end of The Cotswolds. US citizens on this forum frequently mention Mad Max tours out of Bath as being very good and they do day trips to some of the villages. Having said that, they seem to have improved the normal bus services in northern Cotswolds recently with Pullhams being the main company. They do, for example run a service (801) from Cheltenham to many of the attractive villages - but, I think you would have to take a local bus first the 1 mile from the station to the town centre to get the Pullhams service.
https://www.pulhams.co.uk/busservices/timetables/
It might be worth you getting a Friends & Family Railcard but note the 9.30 rule for weekdays. https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/railcards/
PS. It would have been better if you had put this query in the England forum rather than under general transportation.
GWR offer Groupsave so you can get a 1/3 off Standard Off-Peak tickets if Advances are not available. You don't mention a specific date for this journey but a couple of events might be affecting prices and availability, ie start of school holidays and closure of the line between Didcot & Oxford on 27/28 July.
If you travel after 1043 changing at Didcot Parkway the Super Off Peak Single is £59.80 Bath to Oxford for the 4 of you on group save (£22.70 each) assuming the teenager is of adult age.
Then buy separate Oxford to Moreton in the Marsh Off Peak Day Single for £34.80 for the 4 of you on group save.
That split is cheaper than a Didcot split.
Those tickets are available on any train. That £94.20 total compares to the £284 Advance (train specific) Bath to Moreton you are probably seeing.
It is not worth getting a Family and Friends Railcard (if the teenager is under 16) as you can't combine Family and Friends Railcard and Group Save. Group Save is the better option than F and F, if you include the card purchase price of £30.
That might change if you have other train travel in your itinerary.
It would be messy to do the 3 train route via Worcestershire Parkway or the 2 train/2 bus route via Cheltenham Spa.
It would be equally messy to do train to Swindon then bus Swindon to Witney/Witney to Chipping Norton/Chipping Norton to Moreton, so the £96 route above seems to be the best available for next week.
We were in London and the Cotswolds recently. Expensive, which is what I expected, and I didn't bother trying to economise – it's a holiday, after all. The one change in Reading is the most practical ride.
It's not clear if you are staying in Moreton and Oxford, or just visiting one location from the other. We stayed in Moreton and from here visited a few of the villages close by using the cheap bus service.
This is all very helpful. I'm still working through it!
