How far is the Cotswolds from London?
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The Cotswolds is an extremely popular destination for tourists from all over the world. So whether you live in London and you're planning a trip to the Cotswolds, or you're travelling to the UK from abroad and arriving at a London airport then you may be wondering how to get to the Cotswolds from London and how far the Cotswolds is from London.
The Cotswolds covers a large area so we will use Ealing or Paddington and Cirencester as our token start and end points when measuring the distance from London to the Cotswolds. By this measure, the Cotswolds is approximately 80 miles from London. But this, of course, varies depending on the actual route that you take and which Cotswold town or village you are visiting.
How to get from London to the Cotswolds
To travel to the Cotswolds from London you would typically use a car or public transport (train or bus).
Travelling from London to the Cotswolds by car
If you are driving to the Cotswolds by car then you would probably leave London on the M4 or M40 and be able to drive directly to the Cotswold town or village of your choice.
If you are travelling to the Cotswolds from London by car and you prefer motorways then you will drive along the M4 motorway from London to Swindon where you will exit the motorway at junction 15 on to the A419 which takes you all the way to Cirencester. This is a total distance of approximately 92 miles taking around 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Alternatively you could take the M40 towards Oxford, the A40 from Oxford, around Witney to Burford where you would then drive to Bibury and on to Cirencester. The is a shorter route that taking the motorway, a distance of 80 miles, but will taking longer - around 2 hours.
How far is the Cotswolds from London by train?
If you are travelling by train then Cirencester's nearest railway station is at Kemble (around 7 miles from Cirencester) on the Cheltenham-Swindon-London line. Also, trains run to Stroud, Gloucester and Cheltenham (for the Midlands and North) and to Swindon (for London Paddington, Reading, Bath, Bristol and South Wales).
Paddington to Kemble is an average journey time of 1 hour 11 minutes according to trainline and is a direct line with no changes. When you arrive at Kemble you can then hire a taxi to Cirencester.
London to the Cotswolds by bus
Another option is to travel to Cirencester by bus from London Victoria Coach Station. London Victoria Coach Station is just 300 metres from the tube network, and is served by the Victoria Line, the District Line and the Circle Line.
The journey from Victoria Coach Station to London Road Cirencester will typically take between 2 hours 15 minutes and 2 hours 30 minutes.
So, how far is it from London to the Cotswolds?
As we have discovered in this blog, the Cotswolds is a large area, so the exact distance from London to the Cotswolds depends on which part of the Cotswolds you are visiting.
So the distance from London to the Cotswolds ranges from about 75 miles to 120 miles.
Last updated: 23 August 2023 - Please note: This blog was first written over a year old and things may have changed since the blog was written.
