Private day trip from Bath
Abbeys, Romans & Wool Towns
Roman Cirencester, two great abbeys, and the towns that wool money paid for.
£615 for one guest · £645 for two · lunch included
- Duration
- 8 hours
- Party size
- 1 to 4 guests
- Pickup
- Bath hotel or station
- Lunch
- Included
- From
- £615
The southern Cotswolds were built on wool money, on top of Roman foundations, around monastic houses that shaped the whole region. This day follows that thread through four towns that each show a different part of it.
It is the widest of the three routes, taking in Lacock and Malmesbury before turning north to Tetbury and Cirencester. If you want to understand why these towns are as grand as they are, this is the day.
Lunch is a set meal at a country pub on the route.
What you are paying for
What your £615 includes
The car and guide are charged once for your party. Only lunch scales with numbers, at £30 a guest.
A private car, for your party only
A five-seat car with air conditioning, carrying no more than 4 guests. There are no shared seats and no strangers, so the day can change shape if you want it to.
Pickup and return in Bath
We collect you from the front of your hotel, or from Bath Spa station, and bring you back to the same place. No parking, no single-track lanes, no return timetable to watch.
Frazer, for the whole day
One person drives, hosts and answers the questions, and he has lived here for more than 25 years. There is no rota of drivers and no script.
A set lunch at a country pub
Lunch is booked ahead and included in your total at £30 a guest, at a pub on the route between Malmesbury and Tetbury.
Four towns, and the longest drive of the three days
Around eight and a half hours door to door. This route covers the most ground, which is why it costs a little more than the others.
One price, settled before you travel
The car and guide are charged once for the party and lunch is charged per guest. Nothing else is owed on the day unless you order it yourself at the bar.
Your day, hour by hour
Where we go, and when
Times are how the day normally runs. Frazer adjusts them as it goes if somewhere is worth longer, or if the weather makes a different order better.
9.00am
We collect you in Bath
From your hotel or from Bath Spa station, confirmed with you the day before.
The Royal Crescent, Bath, where we collect from hotels across the city 30 minutes driving
East into Wiltshire
Out through Batheaston and across the clay vale, with the Cotswold scarp behind you.
9.35am
Lacock, and Lacock Abbey
The National Trust owns almost all of Lacock, which is why there are no aerials, no yellow lines and very little newer than the eighteenth century. It is the closest thing in England to a village preserved whole.
Lacock Abbey at its heart began as a medieval nunnery and later became the house where Fox Talbot made some of the earliest photographic negatives. The cloisters survive largely intact. Abbey admission is not included, so it is your call whether to go in.
Lacock Abbey 
The chapter house at Lacock Abbey 35 minutes driving
North to the Avon
Through Corsham and up towards the Wiltshire and Gloucestershire border, following roads that were carrying wool eight hundred years ago.
11.30am
Malmesbury, on its hill
Set in a loop of the River Avon, Malmesbury claims a longer continuous history as a borough than anywhere else in England.
The surviving fragment of its abbey still serves as the parish church, and it is large enough to make clear how vast the whole building must have been before the tower fell.
Malmesbury Abbey 25 minutes driving
Into Gloucestershire
North-west across open country, crossing into the Cotswolds proper as the stone changes colour again.
1.00pm
Lunch at a country pub
A set lunch on the route, included in your total at £30 a guest. Tell us about dietary requirements when you book so we can pass them on in advance.
2.15pm
Tetbury, and its Market House
The Market House of 1655 sits on stone pillars in the middle of the road, and the streets around it are lined with the houses that wool wealth built.
Good for antiques, and an easy town to walk after a long morning.
Tetbury Market House, standing since 1655 
Long Street, Tetbury 25 minutes driving
North-east to the Roman capital
Along the Fosse Way for part of the run, which is as close as British roads come to a straight line, and for the same reason.
3.45pm
Cirencester, the second city of Roman Britain
Corinium was the largest Roman town in Britain after London, and Cirencester still follows its street pattern.
The parish church on the market place is closer to a small cathedral in scale, with a porch that was once the town hall. The Corinium Museum holds the mosaics if you would like to go in; admission is not included.
The Market Place, Cirencester 55 minutes driving
Back to Bath, by 5.30pm
South down the A433 and home, with the Cotswold escarpment on your right for most of the run.
The route
A loop, not a line
Drawn from the real positions of each stop, so the shape of the day is honest.
- BathWe collect you in Bath
- LacockLacock, and Lacock Abbey
- MalmesburyMalmesbury, on its hill
- TetburyTetbury, and its Market House
- CirencesterCirencester, the second city of Roman Britain
What makes this day different
One clear thread runs through the whole day, from Roman foundations to monastic wealth to wool, so the stops build on each other rather than repeating.
Two of these towns are large enough to have real high streets, which makes for a different day to a run of small villages.
It is the route to pick if you have already done the Bibury-and-Bourton circuit and want something with more substance.
Good to know
Not included
- Admission to Lacock Abbey, which is National Trust and charged separately
- Admission to the Corinium Museum in Cirencester
- Drinks and anything ordered beyond the set lunch
Before you book
Tell us about dietary requirements and anything that affects walking when you book, not on the day. The pub needs notice and the route can be planned around it.
Access and terrainQuestions about this day
Do we go inside Lacock Abbey?
Only if you want to. Admission is not included, and the village and cloisters are worth the stop on their own. Frazer will tell you on the day whether the queue is worth it.
Is this day tiring?
It covers the most ground of the three and involves the most walking, mostly on flat town streets. If you would rather a gentler day, The Cotswolds Day Trip is the one to book.
Can we swap Cirencester for somewhere else?
Yes, within reason. Message Frazer before you book and he will tell you honestly whether it fits the driving.
Is Malmesbury really the oldest borough in England?
It holds the oldest surviving borough charter, granted by Alfred the Great in 880. Several towns make competing claims; this is the one with the paperwork.
Prices
What your party pays
| Party size | Car and guide | Lunches | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 guest | £585 | £30 | £615 |
| 2 guests | £585 | £60 | £645 |
| 3 guests | £585 | £90 | £675 |
| 4 guests | £585 | £120 | £705 |