Driving vs the train

Matt-the strike you refer to is probably the 48 hour Underground strike you can also read about  here. Enjoy your vacation when you arrive here.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8094456.stm

Dear Kernowphile - Since you are a resident of the Costwolds, I have a questin. We are thinking of staying for 3 or 4 days in Bath in order to go see the area, including the Costwolds. One place we might stay is supposed to be an hour away from Castle Combs. Based on this website it seems like one would want to travel around. We will have a car, but walking by foot also appears to be an ideal way to really see the Costwold area. Would Castle Combs be a good place to start, then branch out either by car or on foot from there? 

Input from others is solicited as well. We plan to go to the Liverpool/Blackpool are along with York after Bath - then down to London.

Thanks Matt  

To be honest, I have never been to Castle Combe

I always think of the area around Bath as being separate from the Cotswolds although it is only a few miles away and certainly a good place to base yourself for day-trips.

Hope this helps!  

To those of you who helped me scope out my trip to England last summer, Thank You.   The suggestions I got from members of this website made planning the trip more fun and proved to be very applicable.   My family did a basic loop trip. We flew in, then drove to Bath. Set up a base camp there so we could do day trips to the Cotswold and Stonehenge; then drove up to Brimingham and took the train to York. We stayed in York a couple of days, then took the train down to London.

My original intention to go to Liverpool, Blackpool, Scotland, etc, were all met sceptically by folks on this site due to our limited timeframe. We are hoping to come back one day to visit the country more. I have never enjoyed a vacation more and all three kids learned a lot about western civilization - something we sometimes do not embrace as well as we might in America. The history, the people, the natural beauty, the cultures - what an incredible place. 

My only complaint - and I am just kidding - no one, including the rental car company bothered to tell me that you do not have stop signs. I was ready for the driving on the other side of the road experience, but the roundabouts were another thing alltogether. That first day, driving from Heathrow to Bath, everyone asleep, driving through the pouring rain and realizing that every intersection was a free for all will be etched in my memory forever.  

 Thanks a lot. The input, the hotel links, the advice, and the hospitality provided us via this great site will ensure that once we get another chance to go to England, we will be there with your help. 

Matt in San Francisco,

Glad you and your family enjoyed your holiday Matt. Perhaps no one mentioned about not having stop signs as we do have them; look just the same as US ones and solid white line across the road. But, they are far less common than Give Way triangular signs with broken white line across the road which you must have seen countless times, so if there's no traffic to give way to, you can carry on without having to stop needlessly.

You probably also noticed a distinct lack of 30 MPH signs in towns and villages apart from where it starts and stops? Did anyone mention it's street lighting, or lack of, that is the basis for our speed limit system here since 1934? It's not quite the free for all at roundabouts it might appear----though I do wonder about Hyde Park Corner????

If you didn't get a copy of the Highway Code, you can read all about it here......Glad you had a safe and enjoyable holiday here.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/index.htm