Cotswolds Day Tour

[Patti22]

We are arriving in London before our London - Barcelona trip in Sept. Have looked at lots of tours to the Cotswolds but would appreciate any CC past experiences.

[Stelladoro]

Hi, three years ago, we did a day tour with www.walks.com. In the morning, we toured some of the countryside and two villages in the Cotswalds, and then spent the afternoon in Oxford. It was a wonderful, full day and Richard, our guide was very informative.
There's no need to prebook the tour. Just show up on the date of tour at Paddington train station, where you meet the tour guide.

We will be visiting London again this year and plan to do another day tour with this company. The good thing is if your plans change because of rain, etc, there's no need to cancel, as you haven't pre-booked and paid for the tour.

[psygist]

We stayed in Cheltenham for a few days prior to a cruise. We rented a car and drove to several Cotswold villages. It was quite a wonderful and memorable experience. Each village is unique, picturesque, and quintessentially quaint! If you go on a tour, you'll likely only get a sampling, but many of these villages are close together and you might get to visit a number of them in one day. Most memorable for me were Chipping Camden, Bibury (Arlington Row cottages are fabulous), Bourton on the Water, and Stow on the Wold.

However you choose to tour the Cotswolds, enjoy!

[Patti22]

Thank you for the information. So much to see, so little time!!!

[newport dave]

Here are a few photos I took last year when went for a weekend to whet your appetite.
















Hope you have a great time.

[Patti22]

Thank you, newport dave. We can't wait to see this area. Patti

[Britchic4]

You might want to visit Stratford upon Avon too - if you are going to Chipping Camden it's only 25 minutes away. Broadway is lovely too, and if you are driving try to visit Snowshill - there's a National Trust manor property there with a wacky collector's stuff filling it top to bottom but the houses nearby are truly picturesque.

[startpacking]

I would definitely recommend a visit to the Cotswalds.

I have been to the area several times, most recently with London Walks (www.walks.com) last year, the tour was terrible. The guide (don't recall her name) had about 40 or 50 on the tour and hearded everybody around as if we were catttle. She gave little information about the region and clearly didn't want to be there. She did a poor job as a tour guide. I have been on a few London Walk tours (in London and day trips) and this was one of the worst.

[SailorManBilly]

Originally Posted by newport dave

Here are a few photos I took last year when went for a weekend to whet your appetite.
















Hope you have a great time.

Wonderful pics!! Can you identify each of the pics and the towns? We're traveling to the Cotswalds and id love to visit these places you've given us pics of!

[helpthejuggler]

Originally Posted by SailorManBilly

Wonderful pics!! Can you identify each of the pics and the towns? We're traveling to the Cotswalds and id love to visit these places you've given us pics of!

Here is my guess
1, 2 Bibury (but might be Lower Slaughter)
3, 4, 6 Burford
5 Bourton on the water.

[newport dave]

Originally Posted by SailorManBilly

Wonderful pics!! Can you identify each of the pics and the towns? We're traveling to the Cotswalds and id love to visit these places you've given us pics of!

I'll list the places in order of the photos, they were all taken from the main street running through the towns/village. For Bilbury, I've also listed the Post (Zip) Code of the Swan Hotel in the photo, as the village is that small it isn't on maps. So you'll need for the Sat Nav. It's also on the B4425 road which runs from Cirencester to Burford.

1 - Bilbury (GL7 5NW)
2 - Bilbury
3 - Burford
4 - Burford
5 - Bourton-on-the-Water
6 - Burford

There are also loads of other olde towns to visit, inc. Moreton-on-the-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold etc.

The link below is an excellent site for Cotswolds information.

http://www.cotswolds.info/

[newport dave]

Originally Posted by helpthejuggler

Here is my guess
1, 2 Bibury (but might be Lower Slaughter)
3, 4, 6 Burford
5 Bourton on the water.

Spot on.......have you been snooping on my PC....

[helpthejuggler]

Originally Posted by newport dave

Spot on.......have you been snooping on my PC....

I have an unfair advantage, we live just south of the Cotswolds, so visit these places quite often.

[Bob++]

As a one time resident of both Chipping Camden and Burford I am a little prejudiced. Be sure to have lunch in a pub - I could suggest a couple but in fact there are very few bad ones, and anyway they change hands all the time.

I would suggest that Oxford is not really worth the time as you can see very little from street level.

Bourton-on-the-Water is a tourist magnet and gets very busy on weekends. Most other places get busy but can cope well with the crowds.

[Mairnealach]

Originally Posted by Bob++

I would suggest that Oxford is not really worth the time as you can see very little from street level.

Turning into a quiet, suburban road and seeing this

http://www.headington.org.uk/shark/

was the highlight of my visit to Oxford.

Dermot