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- No car
- Walkers
Banbury as a base for the Cotswolds: two days, by car and by bus
Two days in the north Cotswolds from a bed in Banbury: by car on Friday to the Rollright Stones, Chipping Norton and Stow, then on Saturday by two buses, with no car at all. Who it suits, what the journey costs, and when to stay in the Cotswolds instead.
- 2 days: a Friday and a Saturday
- Base: Banbury
- Day 1 by car, about 50 miles (80km)
- Day 2 by bus: 488 and 801
- Stow about 40 minutes by car
Friday by car: Rollright Stones, Chipping Norton and Stow
Day 1 · Stones first, lunch in the town, Stow or Chastleton after
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9.30am
9.30am 1 hour here
Rollright Stones
About 25 minutes by car. Three prehistoric monuments, open all year, £2 an adult and £1 a child of 7 to 16 by honesty box, QR code or online. Two small laybys, level ground, no toilets: Wyatts Garden Centre, a mile east, has them.
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11am
11am Market town 1.5 hours here
Chipping Norton
About 10 minutes by car. Park free at New Street, OX7 5LJ, for up to 12 hours (2026). Look up in St Mary's six-sided south porch for its green men and devils.
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12.30pm
12.30pm Eat and drink 1 hour here
Lunch at Alberto's
On High Street. Handmade pasta and pizza; lunch is walk in, with no booking. Lunch on Thursday to Saturday only; closed on Wednesdays and Sundays, and evenings only on Mondays and Tuesdays.
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2pm
2pm Things to do 2 hours here
Chastleton House, in season
About 15 minutes by car. Afternoons only in season, from 1pm, on days that vary. Closed for the winter since 2 November 2026, with 2027 dates not found. Satnav GL56 0SP, then the brown signs.
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4pm
4pm 1 hour here
Stow-on-the-Wold
About 15 minutes by car. Out of season, skip Chastleton and come straight here at 2pm. Park free at the Fosseway car park. See the market cross and St Edward's church.
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5.15pm
5.15pm Eat and drink The evening here
Back to Banbury
About 40 minutes by car, by Chipping Norton and the A361. Eat in town: the Reine Deer serves until 9pm.
Saturday by bus: Chipping Norton and Stow-on-the-Wold
Day 2 · Two buses and no car, with four hours on the hill
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8.40am
8.40am Bus
488 from Banbury Bus Station, bay 7
To Chipping Norton West Street at 9.32am, by Hook Norton, on a Saturday (November 2026). Also calls at Banbury station at 8.42am. On a weekday, the 8.10am gets you there in time for the 9.25am 801.
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9.35am
9.35am Market town 50 minutes here
Chipping Norton on foot
Coffee and the town square, or, if you did not see it yesterday, St Mary's. Be at West Street, stop C, for the 10.25am. Parking does not matter today: no car.
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10.25am
10.25am Bus
801 from Chipping Norton to Stow-on-the-Wold
From West Street, stop C. Reaches Moreton-in-Marsh station at 10.45am and Stow Library at 11.05am. Runs at 25 minutes past most hours on Saturdays (2026).
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11.05am
11.05am 4.5 hours here
Stow-on-the-Wold
Four hours and more for the market square, St Edward's, the shops and lunch. Sister-site guide linked below. On the hill, so bring a coat.
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3.33pm
3.33pm Bus
801 from Stow Library to Chipping Norton
Reaches Moreton station at 3.45pm and West Street, stop B, at 4.05pm. The 4.33pm, reaching 5.05pm, is your spare. Do not count on anything later.
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4.45pm
4.45pm Bus
488 from Chipping Norton Town Hall to Banbury
Reaches Banbury station at 5.34pm and the bus station at 5.36pm on a Saturday. Next at 5.45pm, then the last at 6.45pm, reaching the bus station at 7.17pm.
In more detail
Banbury is not in the Cotswolds, and it is better to say so at the start. But it is on the doorstep: Chipping Norton is about 13 miles by road, Stow-on-the-Wold about 20. If you are arriving by train, or want a working town to come back to, or have other reasons to be here, it makes a usable base. This plan shows what that costs in time. Day one uses a car, and day two proves you can do it without one, on two local buses. We have not ridden the connection for this page, so every time below comes from the operators' published data.
Who this suits
It suits someone coming by Chiltern from Marylebone or Moor Street, or with one foot in Banbury's own country: the ironstone villages, Broughton Castle, or Hook Norton and Great Tew, which is another good day from here. It does not suit a first-time visitor who wants Bibury and Bourton before breakfast. For that, stay further south and read Cotswolds Info's without a car itinerary, which bases you at Moreton-in-Marsh, on another railway line.
Friday by car
Lead with the Rollright Stones, because you pay at an honesty box and nobody is there to hurry you, and there is a legend of a king and a witch to go with them. Chipping Norton is next, often described as the Cotswolds' highest town, with its theatre and a church porch worth the stop.
Chastleton is a Jacobean house that stopped changing when the family's money ran out, and it is the best thing on this route if you can catch it. The National Trust's days vary. It has been closed since 2 November 2026 and its 2027 dates are not out, so check first. If it is shut, go straight to Stow-on-the-Wold at 2pm, then on to Moreton-in-Marsh, about 10 minutes away. Going home by the A44 and Chipping Norton takes about 40 minutes on an empty road.
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Saturday by bus
The two buses are Stagecoach's 488, through Hook Norton to Chipping Norton, and Pulhams' 801, which starts at Chipping Norton and runs by Moreton station and Stow to Bourton and Cheltenham. They were not timed to meet each other. On a Saturday, you have about 50 minutes in Chipping Norton between them, and on the way back about 40. Between Town Hall and West Street is a short walk: check it on a map on the morning.
This is the plain cost: about two hours and 25 minutes out and about two hours back, against about 40 minutes by car. Treat the ride as part of the day. On a weekday the first connection is an hour earlier. On a Sunday it still works, with a longer wait. Take the 9.40am 488 to West Street, arriving at 10.28am, then the 11.25am 801, reaching Stow at 12.05pm. Come back on the 3.33pm 801 for the 4.40pm 488, reaching Banbury at 5.29pm, or the 5.33pm for the last 488 at 6.40pm, reaching Banbury at 7.12pm.
If you want to go on to Burford, about 46 minutes from Banbury by car, or Kingham, use the car day and swap them for Stow. We have not worked out a bus connection for them.
If it rains
On the Friday, skip the Stones and take Chastleton in season, or Chipping Norton Theatre, which has films and shows as well as its pantomime, running to 17 January 2027 in the current season. On the Saturday, stay in Banbury, where the museum is free and has a café.
What to skip
Skip Bibury and the south Cotswolds from here: further still than Burford by car, and no bus connection that we have worked out. Skip Soho Farmhouse, which is for members. Do not try to reach Moreton by train from Banbury: there is no direct service, and the 801 bus from Chipping Norton is simpler. Day trips from Banbury has more.