Quaint small town near London
 

I will be in London in March and would like to spend a day in a small town, not too touristy, but which can easily be reached by train from London. It needs to have a nice pub for lunch and at least one historic building or site. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'd ber tempted to go to Brighton (well, I did go to Brighton) on the south coast, a shortish train ride from London.

It's an easy walk from the train station to the seashore, passing by a selection of historic buildings.

BAK

The most obvious is probably Windsor. The Castle, riverside walks, Eton, the Great park, and the town itself.

But if you have been there before or want something different Canterbury or Salisbury would be good choices.

How about Arundel? You can visit Arundel Castle, and it's a lovely little town to walk around in

a great trip would be Winchester..not too far (salisbury is much more of a trip). The High St. is great, the river walk to St Croix Hospital is beautiful. The cathderal and close are lovely. If you have a chance to visit try to attend a sung service (evensong daily but "dumb day" once a week when service is not sung..so you might want to check ahead as well as Sunday services) which is quite moving...great pub- the Wykeham Arms. Winchester is a little off the bus tour path as opposed to Windsor (which is very touristy around the castle). I enjoyed Arrundel which is smaller than Winchester but I think Winchester is really a great day trip. ..another option..check London Walks..They have a daily day trip from London to various places. If something captures your interest, go for it as these are usually well organized and very reasonable.

Hi

We found Cirencester to be interesting.

You can also get to Caerphilly and Cardiff (although that's not a small town) for a day trip.

St Alban's, Marlow, or Henley. I wouldn't try the Brighton daytrip in March . . . weather will be dire, plus the 'English seaside experience' is more tatty than twee (quaint) . . .

HTH!

Marlow is just what you describe. It is 30 miles west of London on the Thames. Many writers lived there (Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein there). It's also a popular spot for boating. That said, I think you'd enjoy Windsor more but it is more touristy because of the castle.

One of my favorite towns is Rye. It's about 70 miles east of London with cobble stone streets & 15th-18th century buildings. It's not far from the town of Battle where the Battle of Hastings took place.
http://www.travelbritain.com/england...ons/index.html

RYE!

You can take a train in an hour from Liverpool Street to Audley End, and there a bus or taxi the 1.5 miles to Saffron Walden, with a prehistoric maze, a fine fifteenth century church, a good town museum, and a solid town square. For lunch the Sun Inn, fifteenth century. Then if you are energetic a bus five miles south to Thaxted, with a fourteenth century church and a Jacobean Guildhall.

Or a train in an hour from Victoria to Faversham, with a gunpowder mill, quayside, two old breweries, an Elizabethan grammar school, medieval abbey tithe barns, 1930s cottage cinema still running, and a church that places the eigthteenth century inside the fifteenth century. Lunch at the Phoenix Inn on Abbey Sttreet: tea on the corner of the market place.

Brighton is a delight, but is neither quaint nor small, but modish and a city. Windsor is touristy. Canterbury, Winchester and Salisbury are large towns, indeed technically they are cities. Ruye and Arundel indeed fit your bill, but are a bit touristy. Marlowe is dull, new, with little to see.

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I think Brighton will be too cold and windy at that time of year.
I'll also be in London in March and have already marked 31st to go to St. Albans, can't wait. Wed and Sat are market days in St. Albans and it's great, we never miss it. The town is lovely, wonderful Abbey, beautiful big park with a big lake and lots of ducks and swans, don't forget to take a loaf of bread to feed them. Oh boy! I'm getting excited as I speak! Great pubs too. The Fighting Cocks pub, down by the park, claims to be the oldest in Britain. The Horn Reborn pub in Victoria St has the greatest ham sandwiches you've ever tasted, huge chunks of crusty bread and thick slices of ham cooked on the bone.... mmmm... YUM! Wanna meet for lunch :-)

http://www.pubutopia.com/pubs/S/St%20Albans/

http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/tourism/attractions.htm

http://www.stalbanscathedral.org.uk/

Thank you all so much for the suggestions. I was afraid I was being too specific in my needs, but it seems there are lots of places that fit the bill. I may need to extend my visit for at least a month to see all of them. You are all great!

To orangetravelcat

The website for Arundel Castle says it won;t be open in March. Would I still be able to see the outside of the castle, and is the town worth visiting without the castle open. From my guide books, the town itself looks great, but I'd like to hear from someone who has been there.

I don't know if the grounds to the castle will be open, but even w/o visiting the castle I think Arundel is worthwhile. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust has a center you can visit, which we really enjoyed, and we also just enjoyed walking around the town, window shopping, watching swans on the river, having afternoon tea. I would go there even without being able to see the castle.

I meant to include this link http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit/arundel/

To Mischka:

Thanks for sending all those great links. I've spent some time browsing them and St. Albans seems perfect. I won't be able to meet you for lunch though, since I'll be in England in early March.

Since I'm limited to probably only 4 day trips from London, I'm leaning towards Canterbury, Rye and Hastings, St. Albans and Cambridge. I visited Dover, Brighton, Salisbury/Stonehenge and Windsor on my last visit (in 1992, much too long between visits). Everyone's suggestions sound fabulous though, so I may have to return sooner next time.

While I love Rye, it's pretty hard to think of it as "not too touristy" and the same with Windsor. While I like Brighton and think the Pavillion alone is worth the trip, it is a pretty "big city" otherwise.
I simply love St. Albans, having stayed there for two weeks once as part of a theatre exchange. It is certainly not touristy, but the abbey, the Fighting Cocks (ONE of several claiming to be the oldest pub in England), and the wonderful Veralaneum (probably spelled wrong) old Roman ruins are all wonderful. And the high street is rather quaint and old fashioned and non-touristy whether you go on a market day or not.

Another vote for St Albans