Cotswolds Signature

Meet your driver for a private train station transfer in London.

Enjoy a relaxing train ride from London Paddington Station to Bath.

Upon your arrival into Bath train station, you’ll be met by your local private driver-guide with vehicle. Start your discovery of the Cotswolds with a self-guided audio visit of the Roman baths.

The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath. The house is a well-preserved Roman site for public bathing.

The Roman Baths themselves are below the modern street level. There are four main features: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and the Museum holding finds from Roman Bath. The buildings above street level date from the 19th century.

Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England. It is situated 99 miles (159 km) west of London and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Bristol. The city was founded, among surrounding hills, in the valley of the River Avon around naturally-occurring hot springs where the Romans built baths and a temple, giving it the name Aquae Sulis. The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987, and has a variety of theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues, which have helped to make it a major centre for tourism, with over one million visitors.

Enjoy lunch in one of the local eateries in the area. Suggestions include the excellent Kitchen at the Roman Baths or a local gastro pub (http://www.ringobellswidcombe.co.uk/. (Not included).

After lunch continue with your driver-guide and sit back and take in the sights on your driving tour, stopping at opportune moments to take some picturesque shots and to stretch your legs. Take in the city views from the Skyline, Royal Crescent, The Circus & Lansdown Crescent.

Heading out of Bath, you’ll pass through Castle Combe (if you decided not to take an early lunch you could also have a lunch stop here) and a stroll around the village before moving onto Malmesbury. Visit the abbey and take in the stunning Abbey Gardens before arriving in Tetbury to view the Chipping Steps where the annual Woolsack Races are held. The day continues with a drive through Cirencester, the second city of Roman Britain and later a major wool trading town, with a late afternoon arrival in Bibury where you can take a walk along Arlington Row and it’s iconic Cotswold stone cottages which are possibly the most photographed and picturesque site in the Cotswolds. At day`s end, you’ll be dropped off at your accommodation in Minster Lovell.

Tonight you will enjoy dinner at leisure.

Set off this morning in the company of your driver-guide. You are in for a treat today as you hit some of the highlights of the region! Start off by visiting Stratford upon Avon (approx. 1hr 15 drive) for a self-guided visit at Shakespeare’s birthplace, before being driven to Hall’s Croft - a grand Tudor building, home to Shakespeare’s Daughter and doctor husband, finishing the Shakespeare connection at Anne Hathaway’s cottage - the family home of Shakespeare’s wife.

Moving onto Chipping Camden, you’ll have the opportunity to stop for lunch. A recommended spot for a bite is the Eight Bells www.eightbellsinn.co.uk, (not included) before walking along the elegant terraced High Street to the Market Hall which dates back to 1627.

Driving past the “wool church” of St James and the 17th century Alms houses of silk merchant Sir Baptist Hicks, you’ll make your way to Broadway. Drive through the town and maybe stop for a spot of light shopping or some window browsing. Moving on through Snowshill, enjoy a short stroll through this delightful unspoiled Cotswold village before photo stops at Upper and Lower Slaughter, as well as Bourton on the Water. At day’s end, you’ll be dropped back at your accommodation.

Departing the hotel this morning with your private driver-guide, your first port of call will be a visit to the local ruins of the Minster at Minster Lovell before driving to Swinbrook via Asthall, and Asthall Manor childhood home of the scandalous Mitford sisters. Arriving into Swinbrook, you’ll get to visit the Norman Church of St Mary with the magnificent Fettiplace monuments, and see the final resting place of four of the Mitford sisters in the churchyard.

Next stop is Stow on the Wold, known as the “antiques capital of the Cotswolds”, and historic market town.

You may like to stop for lunch at one of the many local establishments en route to Chastleton House, a rare gem of a Jacobean country house. (Open March – October). Continue driving through Chipping Norton, the highest town in Oxfordshire, before arriving at Blenheim Palace, the largest Palace in the country, home of the Dukes of Marlborough, World Heritage Site and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. You’ll be returned back to Minster Lovell late this afternoon via Woodstock.

Leave your accommodation this morning in the company of your driver-guide (and luggage!) for Oxford for a walking tour covering some of the great sites of the world famous University city. See the Sheldonian Theatre, Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera. Walk through the lanes seeing many of the thirty eight colleges and through the picturesque Christ Church Meadows. You’ll also get the chance to see the Great Hall of Christ Church and the Cathedral, and the famous Covered Market.

Bid farewell to your driver-guide at approximately 1pm this afternoon at the Oxford train station.

Enjoy a train ride from  Oxford to London. The train takes around two hours.

Meet your driver for a private train station transfer in London.

Consider any number of shared or private tours such as a guided tour of the TATE modern museum, a city highlights tour, a hop on hop off city tour taking you to all of the main sights within the city and allowing you to get on and off as often as you like. For activities further afield, consider a day trip to Oxford and Blenheim palace or Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath. Please speak to your Sales Advisor if you would like more information on optional tours and activities that you could add to your itinerary.

Spring is probably the best time to visit, Kew Gardens but at any time of year this 120-hectare expanse of lawns, formal gardens and greenhouses has delights to offer, As well as being a public garden, Kew is an important research centre, and it maintains its reputation as the most exhaustive botanical collection in the world. Its wonderful plants and trees aside, Kew has several specific sites within its borders. You will come almost immediately to a large pond overlooked by the enormous Palm House, a hothouse of metal and curved sheets of glass, and housing all sorts of exotic tropical greenery. Just northwest of Palm House is the tiny but irresistible Water Lily House, dating from 1852. If you head northwards, you’ll come to the stunning Princess of Wales Conservatory. Beyond that is the Kew Gardens Gallery bordering Kew Green, which houses exhibitions of paintings and photos. Heading westwards from the gallery you will arrive at the red-brick Kew Palace, a former royal residence once known as Dutch House. If you cut southwards from the palace across the lawns you’ll pass a long lake running roughly west to east. To the southwest is Queen Charlotte’s Cottage, a wooden summerhouse used by George III and surrounded by bluebells in spring. Come out of the station and walk straight (west) along Station Rd, cross Kew Gardens Rd. and then continue straight along Lichfield Rd.

The English Tea Room at Rocco Forte’s Brown’s Hotel serves one of the most famous afternoon teas in London and was voted The Tea Guild’s ‘Top London Afternoon Tea 2009’. The sophisticated and stylish interior is a clever mix of both tradition - thanks to the original wood paneling, fire places and Jacobean detailed plaster ceiling and contemporary style, with Paul Smith lighting, fashionable fabrics and original artworks. Relax to the sounds from the Baby Grand Piano and indulge in a choice of 17 teas, including Brown’s own blend, along with a selection of succulent finger sandwiches, an assortment of delicate pastries, fruit and plain scones with clotted cream and strawberry preserve, as well as a choice of freshly baked cakes from the trolley.

Tube Stop: Hampstead. Sprawling Hampstead Heath, with its rolling woodlands and meadows, feels like a million miles away- well approximately four- from the city of London. It covers 320 hectares, most of it woods, hills and meadows, and is home to about 100 bird species. It’s a wonderful place for a nice walk, and you can follow in the footsteps of luminaries such as the poets Coleridge, Keats and Pop as well as painters Hogarth and Constable who all lived around here. Constable studied the clouds and skies above Hampstead Heath, painting more than 100 ‘skyscapes’ that he would later match subjects in his most famous paintings.

If walking is too pedestrian for you, sections of the heath area are laid out for football and cricket. Walk up Parliament Hill or the hill in North Wood, an on a clear day you’ll be able to see all the way to Canary Wharf and the Docklands. Those of an artistic bent should make a beeline to Kenwood House but stop to admire the sculptures by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth on the way. If you work up a thirst, there’s no better place to quench it than at the atmospheric- and possibly haunted- Spaniard’s Inn which has fascinating history and a terrific beer garden.

There are some great restaurants in the West End of London.Here are a few suggestions: J Sheekey, an incredibly smart seafood restaurant, Mildred's, London's best veggie restaurant, Sketch, the trendiest place in London, specializing in some of the best french food you'll ever taste, or for those looking for something simple and cheerful, enjoy a nice meal out at Zipangu. Or try the amazingly stylish Corrigan’s Mayfair http://www.corrigansmayfair.co.uk

Meet your driver at your hotel and be taken to Heathrow Airport by a private transfer.