Plenty of Cotswold towns had a station once. Stow-on-the-Wold’s closed in 1962, the branch line into Cirencester went in 1964 and Chipping Norton lost its trains in the same decade, while Northleach never got a railway at all (Parliament threw out the bill for one in 1860). What’s left is a string of stations along the Cotswold Line, most of them in villages, and a few more on the lines that skirt the southern edge.
So the real question is rarely whether a town has a station. It’s which station is nearest, how far away it is and how you cover the last few miles once you’re off the train. The table below answers that for the main towns and a few of the villages, and there’s more on each one further down.
The nearest station to each town
Distances are by road from the town centre to the station, rounded. Direct means a through train to London Paddington with no change.
| Town | Nearest station | By road | Direct to Paddington | The last few miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moreton-in-Marsh | Moreton-in-Marsh | In the town | Yes | None needed |
| Stow-on-the-Wold | Moreton-in-Marsh (Kingham is about 5 miles) | About 4.5 miles | Yes | Pulhams 801 bus from Moreton; taxi or the Robin from Kingham |
| Bourton-on-the-Water | Kingham or Moreton-in-Marsh | About 8 miles from either | Yes | Pulhams 801 bus from Moreton |
| Chipping Norton | Kingham | About 5 miles | Yes | Taxi or the Robin; Pulhams 801 from Moreton; Stagecoach S3 from Charlbury or Oxford |
| Chipping Campden | Honeybourne (Moreton-in-Marsh is about 9 miles) | About 5 miles | Yes | Taxi from Honeybourne; Stagecoach 1 and 2 from Moreton station, a few a day |
| Blockley | Moreton-in-Marsh | About 4 miles | Yes | Stagecoach 1 and 2 from Moreton station |
| Broadway | Evesham or Honeybourne | About 6 miles from either | Yes | Taxi; Pulhams 606 from Cheltenham, a few a day |
| Winchcombe | Cheltenham Spa | About 9 miles | Some trains | Stagecoach W from Cheltenham town centre, roughly hourly Monday to Saturday |
| Burford | Shipton (Kingham and Charlbury are about 8 and 9 miles) | About 5 miles | A few trains | Pulhams X52 from Oxford or Cheltenham |
| Witney | Hanborough | About 6 miles | Yes | Taxi, or frequent buses from Oxford |
| Woodstock and Blenheim | Hanborough | About 3 miles | Yes | Taxi; Stagecoach S3 from Oxford |
| Northleach | Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham, Cheltenham Spa or Kemble | 13 to 16 miles | Yes (only some trains from Cheltenham) | Pulhams X52 from Cheltenham or Oxford; Pulhams 855 from Cirencester |
| Cirencester | Kemble | About 4 miles | Yes | Stagecoach 882 |
| Tetbury | Kemble | About 8 miles | Yes | Stagecoach 882 |
| Bibury | Kemble | About 12 miles | Yes | Stagecoach 882 to Cirencester, then Pulhams 855 |
| Castle Combe | Chippenham | About 6 miles | Yes | Faresaver 95 or 95A, a few a day; otherwise a taxi |
| Bradford on Avon | Bradford-on-Avon | In the town | No, change at Bath Spa | None needed |
The three lines that matter
The Cotswold Line is the one most visitors use. It runs from London Paddington through Oxford to Worcester and Hereford, and between Oxford and Evesham it stops at Hanborough, Combe, Finstock, Charlbury, Ascott-under-Wychwood, Shipton, Kingham, Moreton-in-Marsh and Honeybourne. Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham, Moreton and Evesham get a train to Paddington roughly every hour. The others are halts, & they behave like it: Combe, Finstock and Ascott get one train each way on weekdays and nothing at weekends, and Shipton manages two or three each way on weekdays and none on Sundays.
The Golden Valley Line covers the south-west. Trains from Paddington run through Swindon to Kemble, which is where you get off for Cirencester and Tetbury, then on through Stroud and Stonehouse to Gloucester and Cheltenham. Kemble has a train to London every hour.
At the southern end, Chippenham, on the main line between Paddington and Bristol, is the station for Castle Combe, and Bradford on Avon has its own station on the line out of Bath.
Town by town
Moreton-in-Marsh
Moreton-in-Marsh (no “the” in the middle, in case you were wondering) is the station to aim for if you’re coming from London and staying in the north Cotswolds. Direct trains from Paddington take about 1 hour 40 minutes. Stagecoach buses 1 and 2 leave from the station for Blockley and Chipping Campden, and the Pulhams 801 runs through Moreton to Stow, Bourton and Cheltenham in one direction and to Chipping Norton in the other. If you want to leave the car at home, this is the place to base yourself, and our guide to day trips from Moreton-in-Marsh covers what you can reach from it.
Stow-on-the-Wold
Stow had a station from 1881 until 1962. The nearest now is Moreton-in-Marsh, about four and a half miles away, and the 801 bus covers the gap. Kingham, about five miles away on the same line, is the other option, and from there it’s a taxi or the Robin, the bookable bus that covers the north Cotswolds.
Bourton-on-the-Water
There’s no station in Bourton. Kingham and Moreton-in-Marsh are both about eight miles away by road, and Moreton is the one to pick, because the 801 runs from there to Bourton by way of Stow. Coming from Cirencester, the Pulhams 855 runs to Bourton through Bibury and Northleach.
Chipping Norton
Chippy’s own station closed in the 1960s, so the nearest now is Kingham, about five miles away, with a taxi or the Robin for the last stretch. The 801 also comes up from Moreton, and the Stagecoach S3 runs to Chipping Norton from Oxford by way of Woodstock and Charlbury, which is handy if your train stops at Charlbury.
Chipping Campden and Blockley
Honeybourne is the closest station to Chipping Campden, about five miles away. Moreton-in-Marsh is further, about nine miles, but it has the buses: Stagecoach 1 and 2 run from Moreton station through Blockley to Campden a few times a day, and the 1 runs on Sundays too. Blockley is about four miles from Moreton on the same buses.
Broadway
Broadway has a station, and it won’t get you to London. Volunteers rebuilt it and it reopened in 2018 as the northern end of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, a heritage line that runs down to Cheltenham Racecourse. For the national network you want Evesham or Honeybourne, both about six miles away on the Cotswold Line. Buses into the village are thin: the Pulhams 606 comes through from Cheltenham a few times a day, and some of the Stagecoach 1 and 2 journeys from Moreton station run by way of Broadway.
Winchcombe
Winchcombe has a station on the same steam railway as Broadway, so on running days you can arrive from Broadway or Cheltenham Racecourse behind a steam engine. The nearest mainline station is Cheltenham Spa, about nine miles away. Stagecoach’s W bus runs to Winchcombe from Cheltenham town centre roughly every hour, Monday to Saturday, and Cheltenham Spa station is a bus or taxi ride out of the centre, so allow for that as well.
Burford
Shipton, about five miles away, is the nearest station to Burford, but only a handful of trains stop there and none on Sundays. Kingham and Charlbury, about eight and nine miles away, have trains every hour. The easier way in is the Pulhams X52, which runs between Oxford and Cheltenham through Burford every two hours or so, Monday to Saturday.
Witney
Witney (or Whitney, as it gets spelled more often than you’d think) has no station. The nearest is Hanborough, about six miles away on the Cotswold Line, with an hourly train to London Paddington, and a taxi is the simplest way to cover the last stretch. From Oxford the bus is easier: frequent buses run from the city centre to Witney, and the Pulhams X52 carries on through Witney to Burford, Northleach and Cheltenham.
Woodstock and Blenheim Palace
Hanborough is about three miles from Woodstock, and the station was once called Handborough for Blenheim. Trains to Paddington run every hour. From the station it’s a taxi into Woodstock, or come out from Oxford on the Stagecoach S3, which stops in Woodstock for Blenheim Palace.
Northleach
Northleach never got a railway, and the nearest stations (Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham, Cheltenham Spa and Kemble) are all between 13 and 16 miles away by road. Two bus routes do stop in the town: the Pulhams X52 on its way between Cheltenham and Oxford, and the 855 from Cirencester.
Cirencester, Tetbury and Bibury
Kemble does the job Cirencester’s own station did until the branch line closed in 1964. It’s about four miles south-west of Cirencester, with trains to Paddington every hour, and the Stagecoach 882 runs from Kemble into Cirencester and, the other way, to Tetbury, about eight miles off. For Bibury, about 12 miles from Kemble, take the 882 to Cirencester and change onto the Pulhams 855.
Castle Combe and Bradford on Avon
Chippenham, about six miles away, is the nearest station to Castle Combe, with frequent trains to London. The Faresaver 95 and 95A buses run out to the village, but only a few times a day, so a taxi is the dependable option. Bradford on Avon is the easy one: the station is in the town, with trains to Bath Spa about every half an hour, Monday to Saturday, and you change at Bath for London.
Questions people ask
Which Cotswold towns have a train station?
Only two: Moreton-in-Marsh and Stroud. Charlbury, Kingham, Shipton, Hanborough, Kemble and Honeybourne are village stations that serve the towns around them.
Can you get to the Cotswolds by train from London?
Yes. Direct trains run from London Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh in about 1 hour 40 minutes, with Charlbury and Kingham on the same line, and on a separate line to Kemble and Stroud. There’s more on the options in our guide to getting to the Cotswolds.
Does Witney have a train station?
No. The nearest is Hanborough, about six miles away on the Cotswold Line. From Oxford it’s simpler to take the bus, which runs frequently into Witney.
Does Bourton-on-the-Water have a train station?
No. Kingham and Moreton-in-Marsh are both about eight miles away. Moreton is the better bet, because the Pulhams 801 bus runs from there to Bourton.
Is there a train station in Broadway?
Only on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, which is a heritage line. The nearest stations on the national network are Evesham and Honeybourne, both about six miles away.