Hey anons, arriving Birmingham evening Oct 2, flying back evening Oct 6. Thinking of doing a Cotswolds trip in between.Originally planned to rent a car, but now considering taking public transport and cycling/walking parts of it. Walking looks too ambitious, though.Current plan:Birmingham -> train to Warwick, and then Stratford-upon-Avon -> bus to Broadway -> walk/cycle to Bourton-on-the-Hill -> Moreton-in-Marsh -> Stow-on-the-Wold -> Lower Slaughter -> Bourton-on-the-Water -> bus to Bibury -> Castle Combe -> Bath -> Bristol -> train back to Birmingham.Could also try to fit Cheddar Gorge in.Questions:>What's the weather like in early October? Rain/mud/flooding? Raincoat necessary?>Are the roads generally decent for cycling or are there lots of dirt/rough paths? How bad are the hills?>How bad is getting out of Birmingham early morning? Any street around the station/south side I should avoid?>Anything on this route that's not worth bothering with, or anything I've missed?>Accommodation seems pretty expensive in the smaller villages. Any cheap hostels/places to stay along the route?Leaning towards just getting a car because of the tight schedule, but cycling sounds more fun. Any advice appreciated.
You should hire Tirza On Tour to take you in her bus and she talks in Dutch the whole time too for extra color.
Posting from the other thread in case you didn't see it >What's the weather like in early October? Rain/mud/flooding? Raincoat necessary?I wouldn't worry about flooding, but you will probably get grubby from rain splashing up. Id recommend mud guards but other than that you should be fine, you wouldn't have go ford any rivers>Are the roads generally decent for cycling or are there lots of dirt/rough paths? How bad are the hills?Depends, if you went to the peak District they're pretty big but the Cotswolds isn't hilly at allI dunno about the rest sorry. There are plenty of hostels about but that's the cheapest you'll get.I'd have a look at the national cycle routes if you're interested, it's a very easy way to get about, it's well signposted and the routes are all suitable for cyclists, they're not too busy and they go to nice areas for a long distance. I've used it a lot myself and enjoyed myself. I hope you have a great time!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cycle_Network
>>2904729reminder: if the water is brown and/or you cannot see through itdon't try to put a car through it, or swim in it
>>2904688Have you already arranged the flight out from Birmingham? Bristol has an airport that is easy to get to and would be convenient for you otherwise.>What's the weather like in early October? Rain/mud/flooding? Raincoat necessary?Cotswolds and west part of England rainier in general compared to east side of country. Had heavy drought so Cotswolds are brown as muck right now. I imagine it'll normally by October though. A raincoat would be handy if you're going hiking a lot, otherwise umbrella will be fine. Flooding does occur but probably not at the time and places when you're going.>Are the roads generally decent for cycling or are there lots of dirt/rough paths? How bad are the hills?Its hilly but doable, there are a lot of cycling events in that area, so you should be fine.>How bad is getting out of Birmingham early morning? Any street around the station/south side I should avoid?Not bad at all, tickets run cheap in the early morning (pre-08:00) you shouldn't struggle, really. Birmingham is soul-less in general but you're not going to get mugged, don't worry. It is a maze though so do allow some time to get to your station.>Anything on this route that's not worth bothering with, or anything I've missed?Most places are semi-day trips. And the scenic Cotswold villages fill up early. It depends on what you want to see. For a pleasant bike ride through they're all good but if you're expecting 'quaint' Cotswolds villages you're going to see bits of them interlaced with tourist swarms past 11:00 A.M. You may be rushing a bit but a lot of these villages like Stow-on-the-Wold and Moreton-in-Marsh don't have much to 'do', they're more nice places to stop for a coffee. Considering Bath and Bristol you are spreading yourself thin. Broadway you'll want to hike to the castle.
>>2904688>Accommodation seems pretty expensive in the smaller villages. Any cheap hostels/places to stay along the route?What did you expect? You might get lucky with a YMCA hostel in the country but otherwise Bath and Bristol are where you'd have to go to get cheap accommodation.
>Bourton-on-the-Waterenjoy
>>2904688>What's the weather like in early October?HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA just assume everywhere in england will rain all the time unless you happen to be in the random 1% of the year where it's beautiful, but we are just coming to the end of that part
>>2904688>Any street around the station/south side I should avoid?which station is it from? there's a direct train from the airport to new street so you don't even have to leave the station ideally. but yeah basically all of it keep your wits 'bout you there's a ton of verile crackheads but you'll be fine if you use common sense>>2904688>Any cheap hostels/places to stay along the routeeverything is overpriced as hell here thanks to the government subsidising the living expenses of millions of uncivilised rubes, consider bringing a tent or check hostelworld>>2904688>Are the roads generally decent for cyclingyes this is one good thing>>2904688>or are there lots of dirt/rough paths?also yes especially if it rains but that's part of the fun.>>2904688>How bad are the hills?depends where, and depends on your calf muscles presumably you are pretty fit to be considering this though
