Day Trip from London
 

Hi. I am going to be in England in early September for 12 nights, including 6 nights in London. I am planning to have one day trip on the train from London. The pass covers anywhere in England, however I don't wish to spend more than 1.5 - 2 hours maximum each way on the train. Can anyone offer any good suggestions for a day trip. I have visited the following on a previous trip: Windsor, Stonehenge, Warwick Castle, Yorke, Stratford and will be going to Bath and Cornwall on the upcoming trip.

What sort of things are you interested in?

York, Canterbury, Salisbury, Winchester, Bath, Brighton ... what are you interested in ? Cathedrals? Castles? Countryside/small villages? Cities? Markets? Name your pleasure and someone on this board will have suggestions.

My interests (from a holiday perspective) include: history, old architecture (medieval houses, castles), small villages, but also markets and shopping, in particular small shops with locally made crafts etc. Someone has suggested I try going to Norwich in Norfolk, another suggested York (although I have been there).

Another possibility, in addition to those mentioned, is Dover. Fairly small town, about 2 hours from London, has the famous white cliffs, plus the castle, which is of pretty substantial historical importance (having guarded the closest approach to England for centuries). Not sure about the shopping, though.

In regard to your interests, I suggest:
1) Winchester
2) Norwich
3) Canterbury ( with a side trip to Dover)
4)Lincoln
5)Cambridge
6) Salisbury
7) Sherborne

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll do some more research on the cities mentioned.

We just returned from a trip that included a brief stop in England. On our drive from Southampton to London, we stopped in Winchester. The cathedral is beautiful! The day we were there (Friday), there was a market on the cathedral grounds. I thought it was a charming town!
Annette

For your plans the BritRailEngland pass is too much as all you need is the much cheaper LondonPlus Pass, covering nearly all the places mentioned above and for places slightly outside its bounds you can buy a cheap supplemental ticket. For details: www.budgeteuropetravel.com has current prices as does www.raileurope.com and www.ricksteves.com

Hi PalQ. I haven't looked into point-to-point fares, but I need the 4 day Britrail England Pass to cover the following journeys:
London - Bath
Bath - Truro, Cornwall
Truro - London
Leaving me with one day spare for a trip from London. Bath and Cornwall are both beyond the bounds of the Britrail London Pass. I haven't seen info on supplementary fares so am unsure what it would cost to do it that way. I might check the websites you mention and compare the cost.

How much do you pay for the Britrail pass? There are probably cheaper ways of doing London-Bath-Truro-London.

I don't think a BritRail Pass is cost effective for that few journeys. Have you priced them individually?

Hi Geoff and janisj - I haven't priced the trips individually yet (a friend thinks he can help me), but coming from Australia our dollar is a lot weaker than the $US, so paying for individual fares in GBP might be expensive. A 4 day Britrail England pass (1st class) is AU$450 which equates roughly to GBP190 / US$330. The same friend (who's a British ex-pat) thought it was a good price, but I am still planning to check the point to point fares.

Yes with your itinerary can't see how the BritRailEngland Pass wouldn't be a good deal, especially if going first class. The LondonPlus pass doesn't nearly cover most of your trip so forget that (plus it's not good at all on the London-Bath line) - you can look at advance discounted fares and lock yourself into non-refundable, non-changeable trains but even then i think you'd not save that much - BritRailEngland pass can be used on any train any time - in first class on many InterCity trains you even get free food, often, as the case with Virgin Trains, tons of free food and drink (perks for first class are not promised with the pass but i usually get them in first class though how much varies from train line to train line (about 28 separate train lines in UK - pass is good on all of them) - for flexibility the pass is a no-brainer compared to walk up fares.

May I suggest Bakewell... a charming little village with Chatsworth, the home of the Duke and Duchess which is one of the famous and most magnificent homes.. It is the quintessential little village.