London to Cotswolds: a storybook day trip, by public transport

London is a remarkable city, but nothing is more quintessentially English than the storybook towns of The Cotswolds. Big cities can wear at the nerves. These towns soften the edges.

Trouble is, I kept being told they aren’t accessible in a day trip without a car. But with a little patience and planning, I found myself sipping tea in Stow-on-the-Wold by noon and on the train back to London before sundown. Here’s how I did it:

I decided to focus in on four towns in The Cotswolds that are all relatively close to one another: Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter.

The route.

The quickest route by public transport is:
London —> Kingham by train (transfer in Oxford) [2 hours]
Kingham —> Stow-on-the-Wold by the 802 bus [15 minutes]
Stow-on-the-Wold —> Bourton-on-the-Water by the 801 or 802 bus [20 minutes]
Bourton-on-the-Water —> Lower and Upper Slaughter and back by foot [1-2 hours, roundtrip]
Bourton-on-the-Water —> Kingham by the 802 bus [1 hour]
Kingham —> London by train (transfer in Oxford) [2 hours]

It’s a full day, but a lovely one. And it’s even possible to add a little stopover in Oxford on the way home. If you want to move slower, I recommend eliminating Stow-on-the-Wold or only walking to Lower Slaughter and not to Upper Slaughter (which is very similar). But you can certainly do it all — I did!

Planning ahead.

The first step is to check the bus times, as the bus comes the least frequently. Check the 802 bus schedule to see when you could be picked up from the train station in Kingham. You’ll pay on the bus directly through contactless payment.

Then, head to TrainLine to by a train ticket* that lines up with the bus pickup time. For example, I took a 9 am train from London that arrived in Kingham around 11. The bus is pretty well-catered to the train, and it will even wait up to 10 minutes for a late train.

*When buying your train ticket, see if there is an option to buy an open return, meaning you can return at any time. If you’re going on a weekend, it may automatically offer you a ‘super off-peak’ option (the whole weekend is considered ‘super off-peak’) which is usually much cheaper. For reference, my ticket was £44.19 roundtrip.

Now, use the bus timetables to plan the rest of your day. Once you arrive in Stow-on-the-Wold, you can use either the 801 or the 802 buses to get you down to Bourton-on-the-Water, and from there you’ll travel on foot. I recommend 1-2 hours in Stow-on-the-Wold and the rest of the afternoon for the other three. On the way back, you’ll need the 802 bus to Kingham, so be sure to pay attention to when the last bus leaves.

Bring a little cash if you’d like. The public restrooms typically charge 20-30 pence, and some places have a card minimum, which makes it difficult to buy small items like postcards. That said, I didn’t have any cash on me, and I managed to get by. The buses all take card, and I took advantage of restrooms in restaurants & in the Model Village Museum (more on that later).

Save the maps on Google Maps for the towns you’re visiting. This will be especially helpful if you need to look up the locations of the bus stops (though the towns are small, so they are usually easy to find).

Odds & ends. I recommend a spare charger if you have one, especially if you’re using your phone to pay for bus tickets or to house your train tickets. Your signal will be weak, so your battery will drain fast. Also, there may be some downtime. On the day I went, one bus was delayed 25 minutes, and my train back was a bit delayed too, so I was grateful to have brought along my Kindle.

It’s go time.

I took the underground to the Marylebone Station in London. A metro tip if you’re not familiar — more than one train often comes to the same platform in London, so pay attention to the names on the trains to make sure you’re taking the right line.

From Marylebone Station, I took the train to Oxford, which was around 1.5 hours on Chiltern Railways (which TrainLine automatically selected).

In Oxford, I had a quick, 10-minute transfer to the train to Kingham, which was operated by Great Western Railways. It’s very simple, as the station isn’t particularly large. At the station, the train was listed as the train to Hereford, which is the last stop on the line. Your TrainLine ticket will also tell you which platform the second train is on. Once on that train, it’s only a few stops — about 25 minutes to Kingham.

Once I got off the train in Kingham, I saw the big red bus waiting in the corner. I actually overheard two American girls straight in from New York, on the phone with a cab driver who told them they’d have to wait two hours for a cab to Stow-on-the-Wold. They were thrilled when I told them the bus was headed there in just 5 minutes, for around £2. And from there, it was just a quick and very scenic ride to the first stop!

Stow-on-the-Wold

A beautiful little cottage town, Stow-on-the-Wold winds and weaves up toward a quintessential square. I headed first to the St. Edwards Church. The church itself was open, and I found a lovely women’s knitting group inside. But it’s most famous for what’s around back — a doorway with trees grown into it that looks like it’s straight out of Lord of the Rings. It’s actually said to have inspired Tolkien’s Doors of Durin.

Then, I wandered toward the square to find tea rooms like the famous Huffkins Stow and the slightly quieter Lucy’s Tearoom. The latter is where I chose to stop for ‘cream tea,’ a choice of tea plus a scone with clotted cream and jam. I sat there reading peacefully in the window, looking out over the square. Another, slightly heartier option is Cotswold Baguettes, which I was told by a local is infamous. Then, I caught the 801 bus down to the next town:

Bourton-on-the-Water

Stepping off the bus in this town made my heart swell a little. The main stretch of town runs along a river, and everyone was out picnicking in the grass and dipping their toes in the water. I walked along the water for a bit, wandering in and out of antique shops, candle stores and the like.

Then, I made my way down to the Model Village, where I paid £4.50 to walk through a 1/9th replica of the whole town. It was quick, but good fun to have a little Jack and the Beanstalk moment.

From there, I went back to the water, where I plopped down and had a little cucumber and feta sandwich I’d packed. I thought about how wild it was that in just a few hours, I could be in such a different place from London. Heavenly.

Lower Slaughter

Next, I made my way up to The Slaughters, which by the way, are far less graphic than the name implies. I read that it’s actually a mispronunciation of an old English word ‘slothre' which means something like ‘muddy place.’

There happened to be an 801 bus leaving Bourton-on-the-Water as I was headed there, so I was able to board the bus and request a stop up at the main road, cutting off some walking time. I recommend it, as the first part of the stop is not too scenic. But you’ll need to press the button to request, or it won’t stop.

Once off, you want to look for a footpath called Warden’s Way. This will take you up to Lower Slaughter in about 20-30 minutes, and it’s very scenic, taking you alongside fields where wild flowers are blooming. It’s actually part of a much longer loop, which you can do if you have more time.

Lower Slaughter feels far more remote than the other towns. It’s really not a town — more of scenic village walk. It’s a lot of picturesque resorts and manors on acres of land. Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow are rumored to live there. But don’t expect cafes or restaurants, save the ones inside the resorts (which I have no doubt are lovely).

Upper Slaughter

From there, I followed Warden’s Way up to Upper Slaughter. Google Maps kept me on track. At times the path led me to gates I had to open, and I wasn’t sure it was right, but it was. This was my favorite part of the day. I felt totally alone with nature, aside from a few other passerbys along the way.

That said, if you want a slower day, you might consider cutting off this portion, or just going partway to Upper Slaughter and not all the way there. Once there, there’s a picturesque loop down to cottages by the water, but there’s really nothing to do but walk and take in the landscape.

From there, I followed Warden’s Way back down all the way to Bourton-on-the-Water, which took about 45 minutes. I had a little ice cream and read by the river until the 802 bus arrived to take me back to Kingham.

Oxford

I caught the train from Kingham to Oxford along the same route as before. The open return ticket allows you to break the journey, so I decided to leave the station at Oxford and wander for a bit. I went to the university and checked out the Bodleian Library. It was closed for a private event so I couldn’t go outside, but the exterior was incredible, and I hear the interior is even moreso.

I wandered back through town, where I found a pub and had a good ole hamburger to end the day. Then, it was back to London on the train just as the sun was setting.

In summary,

It was a fast-paced day, but also one that left room for still moments. Depending on the bus schedule and the pace you like to move, you may choose to narrow down what you see. But regardless of what you choose, you can expect to be dazzled by the countryside charm of The Cotswolds.

Got questions? Drop them below or send me an email. I’m happy to help!