day trips from london on national rail
 

I am from the States, but am in London right now for a few more weeks. Does anyone on this forum have suggestions for nice day trips on the national rail from London? I do not have a car, so it has to be by rail...Have looked into Brighton and Stonehenge, any other suggestions? I am hoping to visit a more village-like setting or historical. Thanks.

Hi
You can get from Kings Cross to York in less than 2 hours - regular and usually efficient service. York is a beautiful city, most definitely historical, and very compact so you can be out of the station and into the centre within minutes.
Loads to see - the Minster is magnificent and worth the journey alone. www.yorkminster.org
There is a superb National Railway Museum a 3 minute pedestrianised walk from the station (free entry) and outside the Museum is York's own 'eye'.
www.nrm.org.uk
You can walk the walks, visit museums, take a boat trip down the river, etc etc. I live locally so give me a yell if York appeals and you have any questions. Some websites you might find useful -
www.yorkshambles.com
www.york-tourism.co.uk

You'll get lots of suggestions for day trips (there are literally hundreds of places within a 90 min direct train journey from London), but they'll all be off brief unless you're a lot clearer about what you're asking us for.

It's hard to think of anywhere more historical than Stonehenge - and Bath's pretty antique by the standards of practically anywhere in the world outside western Europe.

If you mean "village like AND historical", you're struggling - at any rate if you mean "somewhere where lots of things have happened", since the reason a village won't have grown is that nothing's ever happened there. Oxford, Winchester and Canterbury have many charms - but, just as in York, village like atmosphere ain't one of them.

Bath, perhaps? Or for even smaller, Ely or Rye? Rye might be the very thing.Any may have smaller-town stations along the way as well (e.g. Tonbridge on way to Rye). You mentioned historical - Rye might be the very thing you're looking for.

Arundal - castle and small town. If it were easier to get to I would have suggested Corfe Castle, but I don't think it is easy by train/bus.

If you want something bigger then Salisbury - definitely a city, but compact feel to it, lots of interesting shops/buildings - a great cathedral and a bus of walk up to Old Sarum for a castle.

I would vote for Salisbury/Stonehenge and Bath, also. (We're going to Salisbury ourselves by rail in late July, then picking up a bus there. I went to Bath in 2005 and, while not repeating with my DH, am SO glad I got to go then.) We're also going by rail to Canterbury/Dover in July, so that would be another choice for you to consider. We definitely had York on our list but we don't have the time this trip; you don't say how many trips you want to take, but I'd check York out, too.

Corfe Castle is a good suggestion: take the train to Wareham, then it's a 15-minute bus journey (www.wdbus.co.uk route 142/143).
Nearer to London on the same railway line are the stations in the New Forest, such as Brockenhurst, or Christchurch, a very attractive old town, like Wareham.