Day Trips From London
 

My DH and I will be in London in August and are interested in doing a day trip out of London. We have been out to Windsor and thoroughly enjoyed the day. We are interested in going to Bath but not sure if a day would be enough time. We have also considered Oxford and Hampton Heath. Any recommendations or hints, "must things to see" etc. would be greatly appreciated.

This question seems to come up almost every day - it's a pity we don't have "sticky" threads here to handle the most frequently repeated questions. If you search the forum under "day trips from London" you'll find plenty of good info. BTW I think you're confusing Hampton Court with Hampstead Heath - to totally different things.

.. meant TWO totally different things

Sorry, thanks for the correction!!!

Oxford is accessble and wonderful as a day trip. Lots of choices for day or half day trips but I'd vote Oxford!

We spent 4 days in Bath and could have easily spent a couple of more, so you may want to save Bath for when you have more time to give it.

I have enjoyed the following day trips from London:
Dover, white cliffs, castle & WWII caves.
Portsmouth, HMS Victory, Naval museum, shopping.
Windsor, castle, lunch, shopping, strolling.
Cambridge, university, strolling, punting on the Cam.

I can't wait to go back to London so I can go to Hampton Court.

re Hampstead Heath and Hampton Court Palace . . . Both are worth a visit but both are really in London or just on the outskirts.

HCP is about a 1/2 day's excursion from central London by train and back. More if you take a boat back to town.

Hampstead Heath is a walk from the Hampstead tube station on teh Northern line and has great views of all of London plus Kenwood House.

But neither is really 'out of town'.

Oxford or Cambridge or Bath are good day trips. Oxford would be cheapest for transport - either an express bus (the weirdly named Oxford Tube which has nothing to do w/the tube in London), or by train.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. We ended up taking a bus tour to Bath, Stonehenge and Salisbury. It was a great day, and a good introduction to Bath and Salisbury. Next trip we will spend a full day in each of the places. I can hardly wait to walk around the public gardens in Bath!!!