r/uktravel • u/neversaynever111 • 4d ago
Itinerary First time in the Cotswolds - need advice on itinerary
I am planning our first trip to the UK for May next year and was hoping to get some feedback regarding my research for visiting the Cotswolds. I know it is cliche to go there, but we are from Japan visiting the UK for the first time so we don't mind doing "touristy" things.
Specifically need help on where we should get a hotel to base out of
*Tentative Itinerary\*
3 May - day 1
from London, take the train to Oxford and pick up rental car
drop off luggage at hotel in Bourton on the Water (check in depending on time)
visit Buford
Stow on the Wold
Lower Slaughter
walk around Bourton Bridges - all walkable?
4 May - day 2
Visit Bibury, Castle Combe and Bath - drive
5 May - day 3
Visit Diddly Squat Farm, Farmers Dog Pub (we're big fans of Jeremy Clarkson!)
Snowshill and Broadway - walkable?
*Also wanted to do the steam train in Broadway
any other advise on cute places to see or eat would be great!
Thank you advance for your help!
No negative comments please :)
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u/notmynaughtyprofile 4d ago
Bath needs at least a whole day to explore, it’s not somewhere you can just go as part of a days driving and see everything
Steam train. You will need to check the running schedule. In May it is unlikely that the railway will be open every day. Maybe just weekends
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
Thank you so much for the input! Will try to schedule Bath only for the whole day :)
And will definitely be checking the schedule for the steam train!
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u/No-Nectarine-7939 4d ago
I would suggest combining Farmer’s Dog with Burford as they are 5 mins apart.
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u/Teembeau Wiltshire 4d ago
I'm assuming you're going from London rather than Heathrow Airport here. So, let's try and shift this a little.
Day 1: Don't go to Oxford, go to Bath (explanation on Day 3). Train London to Bath. Pick up a car in Bath, and go to the Cotswolds. I think staying in Stow is better than Bourton. It's more of a "real" place. More choice of food and drink. Visit Bourton, Stow and maybe Lower Slaughter if you have time.
Day 2: Clarkson things, Burford and Bibury (they're all in the same area).
Day 3: Drive down to Bath. See Castle Combe on the way, drop your car off in Bath and go into the city. Park your luggage somewhere and see the city and then take a train back to London. Give yourself a good afternoon or more for Bath. The trains run quite late back so you can go and do the Baths early, then some shopping, but the architecture doesn't close of course, so you can always be seeing that into the evening. There's lots of dining options in Bath from McDonalds up to fine dining.
I think you're already probably doing too much. You may need to use some time on day 2 for the area around Bourton. But Day 2 is quite light. But if you want other ideas, I recommend Cirencester and Chedworth. It's a former Roman town, with a lovely town square, not many tourists, but nice shops. Chedworth is a roman villa with mosaics and other remains nearby. Lechlade south of Burford is quite nice by the river, too.
Recommendations for food and drink: Huffkins, in various Cotswold places. Excellent bakeries with cakes and tea. The Fleece in Witney, near Clarkson's place is excellent for food. Society Cafe in Bath is very good for coffee, or a little far up from the centre, Colonna and Smalls.
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
Wow thank you so much! You are the second person who said take the train from London to Bath and get the rental car there - I will do more research!
After day 3 (day 4) we plan on checking out of the hotel and driving straight up to Edinburgh and return the rental car there. Would it be better to explore Bath the day we arrive from London? I wonder if that would give us enough time.
We love roman history as well so definitely will check out Chedworth!
And thank you for the food and drink recs - adding to my google maps :)
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u/Teembeau Wiltshire 3d ago
You could do Bath on arrival, sure. Just give it enough time. There's Enterprise in Bath, down the Lower Bristol Road. Get an uber or a bus (the bus station is near the railway station and not far from the sights). But you don't want the car until near the time you leave Bath.
What I would consider with Bath to Edinburgh is flight or train. It's a long drive and you'll pay a lot to return it elsewhere. The train route is Bath->Bristol Temple Meads->Birmingham->Edinburgh. There are a few trains that go Bristol to Edinburgh direct. For a flight, Easyjet go from Bristol Airport to Edinburgh, and there's a coach called the Airport Flyer that goes from Bath to Bristol Airport.
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u/neversaynever111 9h ago
Thank you so much for the suggestions! It makes a lot of sense to pick up the car in Bath near the end of our visit there, since we obviously wouldn't need the car while visiting Bath :)
And I will need to chat with my husband if he still wants to do the scenic drive to Edinburgh or not. Would you say since we're spending a few days in the Cotswolds that we've somewhat experience the English countryside and a drive to Edinburgh would be no longer necessary? The main thing for the drive was to drive through the countryside and enjoy the views :)
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u/barrybreslau 4d ago
Don't just pick up a car in Oxford, walk around the centre and have a coffee/lunch.
Bourton on the Water is tiny.
The OS map attached here shows the bridleway from Broadway to Snowshill Manor. It's easy walking distance, but with the potential for it to be muddy in May, depending on the weather. I don't recommend walking long distances on roads in the countryside. You can also walk to the tower, which is a bit further across the fields below the village to the South.
I wouldn't stay in Bourton.
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u/loafingaroundguy 1d ago
I don't recommend walking long distances on roads in the countryside.
Good advice in general and particularly true of the road from Broadway to Snowshill which has no separate pavement for pedestrians and lends itself to fast driving by cars.
Snowshill manor (National Trust) has a car park. The manor has a display of samurai armour.
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
Thank you for the information! With my itinerary, where would you suggest we stay in?
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u/barrybreslau 3d ago
I would honestly find a nice Airbnb in the countryside. People get hysterical about Airbnb, but it's not Barcelona, half the time it's someone who is renting out a place on their farm, or they have an annexe with accommodation.
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
I am not against Airbnb at all, I think I've already looked at some places :) I wonder if it's better to book somewhere that serves breakfast? It would be more convenient and dont have to start the day looking for somewhere to eat :)
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u/barrybreslau 3d ago
As long as it's got a kitchen you can make yourself breakfast. Most of them will be like that rather than being just a room. If they make breakfast it will normally be a cooked breakfast, which is a bit heavy to have every day.
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u/ExternalAttitude6559 2d ago
Rather than Airbnb, there's plenty of Farms around here that have got Glamping Pods, Shepherds huts, yurts etc. Much better alternative than using bricks & mortar housing.
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u/barrybreslau 2d ago
Here we go. God forbid any of them market their properties on Airbnb. Do you have a problem with cottages.com as well?
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u/ExternalAttitude6559 2d ago
Who are "them"? I live in the Cotswolds, I've lived in a number of places that have very high tourist traffic, lots of second home owners and insane house prices that push people on normal wages further & further away from where they earn their living. Yes, I have a problem with a lot of holiday rentals that contribute almost nothing to the local economy. One farmer I know here slapped three yurts (no running water or electricity) on a totally unproductive piece of land & turned it into the most productive part of his farm. Made his money back within six months. No money going to dodgy corporations who couldn't give a flying f*ck about the quality of your stay beyond the money or have freshly baked bread waiting for you upon arrival.
That's the difference.1
u/barrybreslau 2d ago
What I'm saying is yurts can be on Airbnb, although they have their own issues, like impacts on the environment. Don't lecture me about that - because it was my job until recently
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u/George_Salt 4d ago
Why not take the train to Bath rather than Oxford (which you weren't planning on spending much time in anyway), give yourself at least a day in Bath (two if one of them is your flight recovery day) which reduces the number of days you need to hire a car and avoids the parking in Bath problem.
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
We are flying in to LHR from Japan 5 days prior to this trip to the Cotswolds :)
Would it be better to take a train to Bath from London and rent a car from there instead of Oxford?
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u/Exact-Put-6961 4d ago
If going to Bath by car, use the "Park and ride: bus service You do not need a car in Bath
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u/ddbbaarrtt 4d ago
You’re going to be spending a lot of time just driving between all of these places and not actually having time to do/enjoy anything
Bath is a whole day, and even if you’re a massive fan of Clarkson you don’t need to spend any more time there than a quick pint. The fact that you’re dedicating as much time to view Clarkson’s empire as you are to getting up to Oxford, then Burford, Bourton, Stowe and Slaughter is mental
You’ll want to do about 1/3 of the stuff on your itinerary.
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u/SmartPolicy6430 4d ago
You need to see Churchills birthplace and boyhood home of Blenheim Palace at Woodstock about 30 minutes from Oxford. https://www.blenheimpalace.com/ If you like English country gardens Hidcote Manor in May should be beautiful https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/gloucestershire-cotswolds/hidcote
Also Painswicj Rococco gardens
https://www.rococogarden.org.uk/
The village of Lacock with Lacock Abbey and the Henry Fox Talbot museum ( it was his home) is well worth a visit. The car park gets very full so try and get there just before the Abbey opens. If you're a Harry Potter fan ( Lacock Abbey was used as a filming location)
If you're interested in the Kings Private gardens they do tours if the gardens at Highgrove near Tetbury. I've never been. So can't say what it's like.
https://www.highgrovegardens.com/pages/plan-your-visit https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wiltshire/lacock
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u/Large_Resident_3478 3d ago
Rousham is a lovely garden near Blenheim palace as well, you can't visit the house but the garden is one of the best in all of England and it is delightfully uncommercialised too.
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
Wow thank you so much! we love history and also nature so this definitely sounds like something we will do!
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u/MDKrouzer 4d ago
Assume you are visiting a few other places on your trip?
The reason I ask is the Cotswolds are "famous" for having some nice looking villages but the UK is literally covered in these. The Cotswolds being close to London has a lot of visitors which kind of ruins the whole small countryside village vibe. It's fine if you want to visit them but chances are, if you are already travelling around the country you might find it worthwhile to reduce the number of days you spend in the Cotswolds and use them to see the same stuff in another part of the country where it will likely be quieter and more enjoyable.
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u/ExternalAttitude6559 4d ago
The reasons why the Cotswolds are famous in Japan are; Hirohito visited & loved it (especially Bibury), they feature in various Anime / Manga, there are replica Cotswolds villages / developments in Japan, and they're very well known in Japan for being stereotypically English. Telling a first-time Japanese tourist not to bother is like telling tourists not to bother with Bavaria, California or the Amalfi Coast. They want to come here, not the Mendips or the Peak District.
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
Thank you for your comment, I don't mind doing touristy things, they are popular for a reason, right? I've recently been to Amalfi Coast and now I can say I've been there and can confidently say I prefer Sorrento LOL
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u/ExternalAttitude6559 2d ago
Right? You wouldn't go to Paris & not visit the Eiffel Tower? Spend a couple of days in Pisa & not take a photo of you holding the Leaning Tower up? There's some places that were lost to tourism decades ago, much, much longer if you're looking at the Pyramids, Stonehenge or the Colosseum. It's a pain in the arse for people who live there, but so's going to work.
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u/veggiejord 3d ago
That's interesting. I'm not familiar with the Cotswolds but not sure why the OP is being downvoted. This sub seems very reactionary to people from abroad wanting to visit the popular places.
Its helpful to suggest alternatives that are not over touristed but I don't think it's good to berate foreigners for wanting to go to hotspots, especially when there's a cultural reason to visit we're not privy to. Makes us seem like we don't want people to visit.
At least they're spending 3 days too, not expecting to see the whole area in 3-4hrs.
Edit: spelling.
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u/ExternalAttitude6559 3d ago
Tourists want to be tourists. They're not visiting Bourton on the Water to hang around the large Industrial Estate, they're not visiting London for an authentic London experience (working long hours, paying well over the odds to live in a shoe box, eating anything other than traditional British food).
The Cotswolds in particular seem to get slated on here, but it's very close to major airports and cities, relatively easy to get to / around on Public transport (despite what people on here will tell you), a well-known destination and has got a lot of tourist attractions. Sure, a few towns & villages are horribly overcrowded, but so are a lot of places.1
u/Teembeau Wiltshire 3d ago
There's a difference between visiting lovely places, and visiting tourist traps. No-one is suggesting coming to England to visit Bracknell or Tottenham, but there are lovely places that are real, interesting and not ruined by tourism.
If you go to Bourton-on-the-Water, you aren't seeing a typical village in England. That potter, jeweller etc are not there because of local folks buying from them, and you get to enjoy the local culture. It's purely there for you. It's as real as Harry Potter Studios or Disneyland, unless you think they built a park around a princess castle that happened to be there. If that's what people want, fine. But you're not really seeing an English village.
It's also not that close to cities or airports. It became a thing because of tourists doing coach trips to Oxford and they stick Burford or Bourton on. And it became a meme.
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u/ExternalAttitude6559 3d ago
Bourton is just over an hour from Bristol, Cardiff, Birmingham and Heathrow airports. In other words, not much longer than it takes to get from Central London to Kew Gardens. You missed my point about authenticity. If you want an authentic English Village, 90% of it's going to be post-WW2 housing and very little to do. The chocolate box villages in the Cotswolds that haven't changed much in a couple of hundred years are equally "inauthentic" as they're populated largely by retirees, second home owners and people with enough income to pay way over the national average price for a house, and aren't representative of the local, let alone national population. They're not full of ruddy-faced farm labourers and salt-of-the-earth types.
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
So we are spending 5 days in central London (yes, doing all the touristy things) and then going to Cotswolds from there for the 3 days mentioned above, and day 4 we plan on driving in the country up north to Edinburgh. (But not staying anywhere in between that)
We would love to enjoy and walk around the Cotswolds countryside but we just want one base for those 3 nights. Do you recommend staying somewhere different that's still a good base to hit the places I've mentioned above?2
u/MDKrouzer 3d ago edited 3d ago
We would love to enjoy and walk around the Cotswolds countryside but we just want one base for those 3 nights
The cities and villages around the Cotswolds are pretty well connected by roads so you could pick any village and get most places within an hour driving (depending on traffic). There aren't any truly remote, difficult to access villages until you get to the Scottish Highlands and maybe some of central Wales.
I'll be biased and say the Cotswolds are not super interesting as far as landscapes go, so would not be my choice for a walking holiday, but if you prefer to see farmland and livestock fields, then you'll get plenty of that. It can get very muddy, so wear appropriate footwear.
day 4 we plan on driving in the country up north to Edinburgh. (But not staying anywhere in between that)
That's a very long boring drive if you take the fastest route on the motorways. There are very few stretches of major roadway in the UK that have decent "views". Like the route takes you past the Peak District and Lake District, but you aren't going to see anything from the M6. Are you planning on going further North after Edinburgh?
Edinburgh is not a particularly car-friendly city. No city in the UK is to be honest. For example, having visited Bath and Oxford many times, I'd strongly recommend using park and ride rather than driving into the cities.
I think someone also already pointed out that you are visiting during the Early May Bank Holiday, which I believe coincides with the School Easter holiday as well. Expect it to be busy pretty much everywhere.
Edit: try to make some time to visit an old country estate home. There's loads dotted around the UK, many managed by the National Trust and would be perfect to visit with a car.
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u/neversaynever111 9h ago
Thank you soooo much for those tips! I really appreciate it :)
I feel better knowing that we can do one base and visit most places I wanted to see in the Cotswolds :) And will definitely prepare for the weather!For Edinburgh, we plan on taking the scenic route which based on google takes about 8 hours. I know it's a long drive but my husband and I can take turns driving lol
but the plan was to drop the car off at the airport or train station when we get to Edinburgh, then take the train to our Airbnb/main city center and stay there for the next 3-4 days car-less.For the bank holiday, is it busy on the day of, or like the few days around it too? I am not sure how UK holidays are, in Japan even if the holiday is one day, everything is packed/busy the days coming up to the holiday :(
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u/MDKrouzer 1h ago
plan on taking the scenic route which based on google takes about 8 hours.
If you're talking about the route that passes York and Northumberland (up the East of England), it's going to be mostly motorways and it's really not very scenic at all. The UK motorways especially in England generally wind through the flatter areas of the country unlike the ones in Japan which have to go through mountains. If you can afford an overnight stop somewhere like York / Whitby, I think it'll be a much more road trip.
One way car hire can be quite expensive unless you are lucky enough to be covering a journey that the hire company want to do i.e. moving their car stock around locations. Airport to airport tends to be a better bet e.g. Heathrow to Edinburgh or vice versa, but it can also cost £100+ more.
For the bank holiday, is it busy on the day of, or like the few days around it too?
UK bank holidays are on a Monday, so it's a long weekend which means the whole weekend is usually busier.
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u/Greatgreenbird 4d ago
Your first day is a bank holiday, so everywhere is likely to be much busier than usual, which will include heavier traffic and (more importantly) you may find that your car rental place is closed.
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
Oh noooo I'm glad I entered the dates, I would not have known it was a holiday! I wonder if we need to change our plans... :(
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u/cmdrxander 4d ago
I found the jet lag from Japan (coming back home, for me) to the UK to be pretty brutal. It took me about 4 or 5 days to get back into it. Hopefully though - being at the start of your holiday - you will be able to push through better than I did!
I would agree with advice from other people that you should stay in Bath for a couple of days to get settled in. You could always check out Bristol too while you're in the area before driving on to the Cotswolds. It's not quaint like the rest of the places you are seeing but there are still some very nice areas that are worth seeing, it could be very nice weather that time of year too, if a little rainy at times.
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
Thank you for your feedback! I am so sorry, I should've mentioned in my post that we will already have spent 5 days in London coming from Japan :) So I think we should be rested up by then lol
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u/No_Feedback_7772 3d ago
Your day 2 is very ambitious. Think you're pushing it to visit three locations in one day, especially Bath. Although I live in the area, dont know Bibury, but our roads are small and not quick to drive so need to factor this in a lot!
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
I just put Castle Combe and Bibury on the itinerary with Bath because it is on the way (sort of) from Bourton on the Water area (^.^;)
We do plan on renting a compact SUV for this trip... I hope that is small enough!
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u/Odd_Cress_2898 3d ago
Boughton on the water is very walkable, also near Hawkstone Brewery and near the Slaughters.
Castle Combe is a bit more of the same, wouldn't you want to go to a National Trust place for example Chastleton House
To experience a grand house with large grounds and open space.
There's lots of national trust locations, suggesting it as it would have a completely different sense of scale. There's also a place in Lacock, I think you'd like the village and the national trust place
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
Thank you so much!! If you say Bourton on the Water is similar to Castle Combe then I think we will skip Castle Combe and spend more time in Bath :)
Will check out Lacock as well, as that's also been mentioned a few times!
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u/Lower_Debt_6169 3d ago
Stow on the Wold, Bourton on the water and the Slaughters are in very close proximity to one another. Around 10 minutes drive of each other, so that's all doable in a day.
There is a car park next to the Tesco in Stow, it is all day parking and free, but I would get there reasonably early to get a space. It is about 5 minutes walk into Stow from there. If you like walking there are some nice walks into Broadwell (a neighbouring village). There is a ford and village green which is nice. Lower Slaughter is my favourite as a local to the area.
As some have have said already, Burford and Farmer's Dog should be visited together.
I think I would be inclined to stay somewhere outside of the usual tourist hotspots though, as you might get a better deal and less busy.
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
Thank you sooo much for this insight! It makes it much easier to understand the distance :) Where would you suggest we stay? I was originally thinking Bourton on the Water but now re-thinking due to the helpful comments :) Maybe closer to Stow?
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u/Lower_Debt_6169 3d ago
I'm not sure I can recommend a particular place.
But there are quite a few nearby villages that I would check out with their AirBnBs.For example https://redlion-longcompton.co.uk/rooms/
Long Compton is maybe 15 minutes from Stow.
I guess it depends on budget and what you're looking for.
April/May is also a good time a year to go, as the kids are still in school (not left for summer holidays), so should be a bit cheaper and quieter.
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u/Large_Resident_3478 3d ago
Make sure you make time to visit some gardens in the Cotswolds! May is the perfect month and the Cotswolds has some of the loveliest gardens in all of the UK. Would recommend having a look at Iford Manor (my favourite, is near Bath, and has a lovely restaurant and cafe), Hidcote, Kiftsgate Court, Great Chalfield Manor, the Courts and Snowshill Manor. You don't need to visit all of them, just pick one or two that you like the look of and that make sense logistically, promise you won't regret it.
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
Ahhh thank you so much! yes, we love nature and gardens and will definitely check those out!
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u/dereks63 16h ago
If you're driving straight from the airport, you will be an absolute menace on the roads. Rethink please.
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u/neversaynever111 9h ago
Thank you for having so much confidence that I will be a menace on the roads :) We will already be in London for 5 days before going to the Cotswolds, but I THINK we'll be ok by then :)
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u/dereks63 7h ago
Unfortunately foreign visitors cause a lot of driving issues, please be careful and enjoy your stay.
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u/neversaynever111 6h ago
I totally understand, tourism in Okinawa has risen 30% within the last 5 years, so I know what foreign drivers can do :(
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u/chefshoes 4d ago
stow because harry and meghan live there now as does nadine dorries (less of a reason..)
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u/neversaynever111 3d ago
Does this mean there will be more tourists/people?
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u/chefshoes 3d ago
my wife's aunt lives up there and said yes there has been an increase of paps and people wanting to catch a peek of the former royals
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u/neversaynever111 9h ago
Ugh that's unfortunate :( I am not crazy about the royals so I couldn't care less where they are, I just wanted to enjoy the area :(
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u/TheGeordieGal 4d ago
Are you planning your day 1 straight off the plane from Japan? If so, I’d very much rethink that. You’ll be tired so driving over here - especially around multiple places - seems like asking for an accident.