My husband and I will be in London over New Years for 5 nights. We prefer to get away from all of the big town atmosphere. Can anyone recommend some small quaint towns for a day trip? off the beaten path in London? restaurants? Nothing fancy? Things to do, things to see?

Just curious, if you "prefer to get away from all of the big town atmosphere" why don't you just stay in a smaller town instead of London? Take a day trip INTO London if there's something in particular you'd like to see. When I'm in the UK it's generally for a month or 6 weeks and only a few days of that in London.

I agree that it makes little sense to be based in London if the goal is to go sightsee outside of London. Greater London covers a huge area, so if you really want out-of-the-way little quaint places, don’t start out in London, start out in a little out-of-the-way quaint place.

Just one among a million that definitely qualifies as a little quaint out-of-the-way place: Castle Combe (www.castle-combe.com) where you can stay at http://manorhouse.co.uk and be in easy driving distance from fabulous (but overrun in the middle of the day) Bath, also Winchester (whistle the cathedral tune if you’re old enough), even Stonehenge, and much more.

While staying in London:

http://www.amazon.com/Tourists-Guide.../dp/1626360510

http://goodnightlondon.blogspot.com/...tly-under.html

www.urbangentry.com/?PageID=559

>>restaurants? Nothing fancy? Things to do, things to see?<<

There are (literally) thousands of restaurants in London - some are quite 'fancy' but the majority aren't. What is your budget? As for things to see/do - a guide book will help you a LOT.

Have you been to London before? If so where have you gone/what have you seen?

>> Can anyone recommend some small quaint towns for a day trip? off the beaten path in London? <<

If you haven't been to London, you are only in London for 5 nights/4+ days you'll hardly have time for an out-of-town trip. If you drop the "Q" word -- there are any number of historic towns day-tripable from London.

Have no idea what you mean by 'off the beaten path' in London. It is a city w/ millions of people and nowhere is remote/off the beaten path. I am a bit curious - the major sites are world famous for a reason - and none are isolated.

Well not sure if this is your thing but it is off the typical tourist path
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-graffiti.cfm

You could also look up Dennis Severs House

To get a more villagey feel take the northern line to hampstead, lots of nice pubs and the Heath is a nice walk.

Also you could take the overland train from London bridge to Blackheath - they have a great farmers market on Sundays and it's only 20 mins from London bridge and has lots of pubs and restaurants for lunch etc

You could also take the district line or a train to Richmond, there are loads of pubs along the river and you could pair that with a visit to Hampton court palace.

Hope this helps!

Visit St Albans http://www.enjoystalbans.com/

Cathedral city, Roman museum, Verulamium Park only 20 minutes by train from St Pancras

Yes to Richmond. Barnes also has a village feel to it. It has some nice independent shops and pleasant pubs.
In the more central part of London
, the Inns of Court have a peaceful feel to them. I think that London Walks do a tour of legal London.

Yes, they do a tour of legal London http://www.walks.com/London_Walks_Ho...s/default.aspx
If you look at the website, you might get other ideas.
You don't have to book. You just turn up at the nearest tube station to the walk and pay the guide when you get there

It would help if the poster explained which beaten path she's anxious to avoid. And why.

The TRULY beaten paths (like the tube from Victoria to a City office at 0815) I can understand. Staying clear of the things most sensible people do - visiting the British Museum, walking along the South Bank, nibbling at Borough Market or one of the burgeoning number of popup eating places, attending evensong in a cathedral or a concert, opera or decent play - just because lots of others do them is simply deranged.

This site will send a daily e-mail with all kinds of ideas for things to do in London:

http://londonist.com/subscribe?utm_s...3316-218032281

London has 8,000,000 people or so - the paths are all well-beaten.

The rest of your questions are unanswerable. Things to do? Tons - go look at the Fodors pages on London. Places to eat? Again, tons - YOU'RE ASKING BROAD QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LARGEST CITY IN WESTERN EUROPE.

And what means "quaint" to you? You're an American or Canadian (presumably) asking about England, the bar for "quaint" isn't high.

Do this for a walk where you won’t see any tourists and you will see quaint oldfashioned shops and houses, also nice river views, and a few pubs and tea rooms along the way for sustenance:

Get yourselves to the Hammersmith tube station. Walk across the bridge, turn right into Lonsdale Road and follow it along until you get to White Hart Lane, take it, turn left at Rosslyn Avenue which becomes Woodlands Road, turn left at Vine Road and right at Station Road. At Barnes station take a train (to Paddington, Preston, Swansea, and a couple other places - see www.thetrainline.com) or a bus (33, 72, 265, 969).

Going outside of zone 1-2 in London will get you off the beaten path for at least 95% of tourists.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...rvices-map.pdf

Why are you going to London if you prefer "small quaint towns" and want to get off the beaten path? London is one of the biggest cities in the world. I'd consider something smaller and quainter and perhaps a daya trip to London.

Thanks for that link Nikki! I've subscribed today and we'll see how it goes...I like the update on top London restaurants for set price lunch!

Me too Nikki. I just subscribed.

Just in case Cindy hasn't been run off yet: From time to time I opine on this forum that London is ok but visit and then get out. That may be the OPs idea and if so, there are some good suggestions here (and criticisms). Perhaps consider Bath for a couple nights, with a Mad Max tour. (Someone recently posted that they did that and it brought back fond memories).