Day trips to Oxford and the Cotswolds from London

The Cotswolds is one of the most beautiful areas of the United Kingdom and is just a couple of hours from Central London.  One of the easiest ways to experience the best bits of this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is to take an organised tour from London, where you can sit back, relax and have a very knowledgable guide show you around (it certainly beats trying to figure it out for yourself if you've never been!).

Oxford needs no introduction and is legendary across the globe for its academic prowess and stunning architecture.  Being on a mainline railway, it is incredibly easy to access from cities such as London and Birmingham (it takes around 1 hour).

Top places to visit in Oxford

The city has a plethora of incredible places to visit, including the Bodleian Library, The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford Castle, The Ashmolean, Oxford Botanical Garden, as well as the scores of university colleges, quads and gardens that form a large proportion of the city.

If you want to spend time getting to know Oxford, we highly recommend a guided tour to get a real insight into the history of this famous city.

Top places to visit in the Cotswolds

• The villages and towns of Broadway, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton on the Water, Bibury, Castle Coombe, Snowshill & Burford
• Amazing houses and mansions such as Hidcote, Chastleton, Snowshill Manor & Blenheim Palace
• Top attractions including Broadway Tower, The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, Cotswolds Distillery and The Cotswolds Wildlife Park.

It's worth remembering that the Cotswolds is definitely more countryside than urban streets, so be sure you pack for the weather and take a sturdy set of walking shoes with you, together with a rain coat, just in case...