My mother and I will be in London March 19-March 26. We would like to take a day trip to both Hampton Court and Bath. I know there is plenty to see in London but since my Mother will never get back she wants to see these two things ,so we are going. Please help me with exactly how to get to these two places. My mother wants to take the guided bus tours (which I really don't like!!!) because she feels more comfortable knowing exactly what is going on. If you could please give me specific directions on how to get to these places (starting from Victoria Station) then I think we could do it on our own and she would feel more comfortable. Thanks for your help.<BR>Sheryl

Sheryl, I would recommend Earl Steinbickers "Daytrips London". It gives very detailed descriptions of routes and sites. I love it. <BR>You could get it at Barnes & Noble OR order it on line. IMO, it is a good investment.<BR>Judy

Sheryl and Judy, in case you haven't heard, there is this wonderful place called the internet where people post all sorts of information about their businesses, including how to get there. And there are search engines so you can just type in something like "Hampton Court" and hey presto you can find the official web site of Hampton Court and get the official directions, instead of asking a bunch of strangers to wrack their brains and maybe not even remember right, or checking in a book that was published months ago and might not have been right even then. If you can't figure out how to do this, then maybe mom is right, you DO need a guided tour. Sheesh, boards like this are for information that is NOT available elsewhere.

Sheryl, we just went from London to Hampton Court, and it was marvellously easy. Take the Tube (or a taxi) to Waterloo station. Go to an area marked Tickets. Tell them you want two one-day return tickets to Hampton Court. If you already have a Tube travelcard, the price is reduced somewhat. Ours were 3.5 pounds each (with the Travelcard discount). Then check the board for the departing trains & find your train & go. They run quite frequently, I think one every half hour. The train terminates at Hampton Court so you don't have to worry about missing your stop. When you get to the stop, follow the signs to the palace--you walk about 5 minutes & are at the palace gates. The palace is amazing & guided audio tours (& I think, real people tours) are included with admission. <BR>As for Bath, I know that it's about a 3-hour train ride, and it's quite easy to walk into the center of town from the train station. For more detailed info on the trains, though, you should probably check out britrail.com. Also, one other tip--while we were there, they'd had talks of a Tube strike the 26-28. I think that's been averted, but you might check the Tube's website to make sure--www.thetube.com. Have a wonderful trip!

Sheryl: in a very weird and unkind way, that xxx3 could be right....the internet is grand, wonderful place, and there is a wealth of info waiting to be found. <BR>It is too bad a kinder and gentler response was not given by xxx3. IMVHO, xxx3 is just a pompous shmuck BTW.<BR><BR>Judy

Sheryl: Haven't been to Hampton Court in over 15 yrs. so forgot the route. But, I was just in Bath and my memory is still okay for things that happened last week. It is very easy...from Victoria Station, go to the window where you buy train tickets and check the schedule with the clerk for the times you want to go, there are many trains each day. Tell her you want the quickest train with the least stops. If you go and buy your tickets the day before you can get what they call a SuperAdvance and it's about 15 pounds cheaper for the Bath/London and return ticket. 25.50 instead of 39.pounds. The trains to Bath leave from Paddington Station, so you'll have to take the tube over there. You could also purchase your tickets at Paddington, but it sounds like you'll be staying near Victoria so that will be an easy place to get everything lined up. <BR>You will take the Circle line tube to PAddington. Allow plenty of time for this, because the tube can be delayed. I would say give yourself 1 hour just to be on the safe side. There will be quite a bit of walking up and down stairs to connect. Once at Paddington, you just follow the signs and find the track where your train is and hop on. The quickest train should take about 1 hr. and 15-20 min. If your mom doesn't mind walking, the free tours of the city led by a group of volunteers called the "Mayors Guides" are great. Get info about them anywhere in Bath. Whew, that was a lot of info. good luck.

Sheryl, there is a wonderful Tourist Information site right at the Victoria Station (same side as WH Smith, to the left). If you want to make the best out of time, a guided tour is not a bad idea, specially with Mom along -) At the Victoria Info center, they sell tickets to many tours, including the ones you mentioned. I didn't see a combo Hampton Court-Bath, but there were many alternatives for full days to both paired with some others activity (about $55-60/pp). The tours often pick-up at the Victoria Information Center. Be sure to go there early on your trip and pick up brochures with the specific days the tours are offer (Bath may be the Tuesday-Thursday tour, etc....) Enjoy London.

Thanks to all who replied so kindly with just the detailed type of information I requested. As as matter of course I can use the internet to get information .. which is just what I did! I also can use the search engine but as you may have noticed it isn't working here lately! And finally as I metntioned in my first post I was trying to get info of a very detailed nature to reassure my mother. This is the only trip like this she will probably ever take so I would like for everything to run smoothly for her. If it takes me getting a few rude comments directed at me .. well it is worth it!

Ohmygod, Sheryl, you are even stupider than I thought. I didn't mean that you should use the stupid inadequate nonfunctioning search engine that Fodors pretends to offer us, I meant a real one like www.yahoo.com. You won't find businesses' official web sites using the Fodors search engine, it searches the Fodors postings, for crying out loud.<BR><BR>Here's how it works: you go to www.yahoo.com, you type in "Hampton court" and up comes a list of places, headed by, of all things, the official Hampton Court web site. Then you click on "visitor Information" and lo and behold, you find: "By train<BR>Trains run twice an hour direct from London Waterloo to Hampton Court station leaving at 26 and 56 minutes past each hour. The journey time is only 32 minutes and the palace is a 2-minute walk from the station."<BR><BR>If mom needs more-detailed information than that, you have bigger problems on this trip than finding Hampton Court.

Oh my god xxx3 your even ruder than I thought!

At least I'm rude by choice.