At the end of my upcoming Winter trip I have to make a decision between a couple of places. One spot is Chichester. I have done research. I will be using public transportation. If not Chichester, where and why would you go?

What's the other option, why have you chosen them, where will you be before then...

and do you have to be afterwards

rogerdodger: I'm disappointed in you -- you usually give us MUCH more to work w/ . . . . .

You guys are great!! Here is my whole plan, subject to a lot of changes. Arrive Heathrow Monday Feburary 18. Bus to Cambridge. Tuesday, Duxford RAF museum. Wednesday to Aberdeen to visit a special friend. Thursday to Rannoch. Friday Rannoch to Pitlochry to Penrith. Saturday to Chichesteror perhaps Arundel. Sunday to in the general area. Monday to either Broadstairs or Chatham. Tuesday to Windsor. Wednesday to SFO. So, lets here it for the whole trip.

hi, Roger,

thanks for posting the whole intinerary.

now - tell me why you want to travel all the way from teh very north of england to spend 1 day in Chichester?

All right, it's a reasonably nice place, but there are a loads of equally nice and pssobly more interesting places that you oould visit between Penrith and Chichester:

Whitby, York, Lincoln, Chester, Oxford, bath, even Bristol- they would all make more sense, particularly if you want to be in windsor on the Tuesday.

I would leave souther/south east england til another trip - it is particularly difficult to negotiate on public transport, and you will waste a lot of time waiting for connections.

Another time, be brave, and hire a car.

hope this helps,

regards, ann

The idea that South East England is "particularly difficult to negotiate on public transport, and you will waste a lot of time waiting for connections" is nonsense. There are four trains an hour from London to Chichester, and similar freqencies on many other routes. Schedules are on www.nationalrail.co.uk.

GeoffHamer: true it is easy to get to Chichester <u>from London</u>, but did you read rogerdodger's planned itinerary. Chichester would not be all that convenient for the end of that trek.

rogerDodger: I know you've been all over the place and negotiate the trains w/o any problems. But if it were me I'd skip Chichester/Arundel and Broadstairs/Chatham. I'd stay farther north - isn't there someplace north of the Thames Valley that you haven't explored? It would be easier to go from Penrith to someplace in the general midlands/Peaks/East Anglia/etc and then down to Windsor instead of traveling all the way to the south coast.

hi, roger,

yes, jansij has put her finger on the problem - it is easy to get to and from london, ie north-south,or to travel up and down lines that go into london, but going ACROSS the south-east is much more difficult. and in the few days you have, you'd spend most of your time travelling or changing trains.

that may of course be what you want.

regards, ann

Chichester to Chatham takes two and three-quarter hours with just one change of train.
Chichester to Broadstairs is an hour longer, also with just one change of train.
In both cases, the connection is via London.
Travelling along the coast, there are through trains from Chichester to Brighton, Portsmouth and Southampton, amongst other places.
I wouldn't want to do this sort of itinerary myself, but it is quite easy using trains.

Thanks again and let me explain a bit futher. I have done a lot of train and some bus travel in Great Britain.I have had tons of time in London and most major tourist towns. Two things I really liketo do now. One is doing some off the wall type journeys and I like to think that the train travel is the highlight of each day. Often, the rail trip take the bulk of a day allowing only time for a walk, a pub visit and off to bed. I have met a ton of people and really enjoy doing what I do. Yes, I do visit certain sites, but in large I have seen sufficent castles, homes and museums to last me. So the trip from Penrith, via London, will get me to Arundel by 15:27. Perfect timing for my glass of beer, dinner, shower and bed . I will have the next day to visit sites and the following day should prove of pleasure by taking the coastal trip to Broadstairs. Thanks again and do feel free to make comments.

Monday to either Broadstairs or Chatham.

Definitely pick the Broadstairs option. Chatham is a dump (unless you are only going to the Docks museum and possibly the new Dickens thing, but the town itself, yuk).

...but Arundel's quite nice

hi, Roger

I get it now. I suppose I've spend too long commuting to share in the romance of network southeast [or whatever they are calling themselves this week].

I agree that apart from the docks Chatham is a dump, but the docks are very interesting and I've always had a soft spot for Rochester, which is just next door - Dickens, the Cathedral, and a lot of atmosphere.

I don't know Broadstairs so i can't make a comparison.

Enjoy your travels,

regards, ann

Note that the quickest train journey from Chichester or Arundel to Broadstairs is via London. The coastal journey takes slightly longer: about four hours from Chichester to Broadstairs, changing trains twice, in Brighton and Ashford. There are plenty of places where you could break the journey for a pub lunch, including Lewes where Harvey's brewery is in the town centre (www.harveys.org.uk).