side trip from London and Oxford
 

I'm visiting friends in London and Oxford for 10 days, starting Easter weekend. I'd like to take a day trip from London (the Saturday before Easter) and maybe one from Oxford the following week to visit sights I hadn't managed yet.

My thoughts are:

From London: Cambridge, Hatfield House/St. Albans, Wilton House/Salisbury

From Oxford: Waddesdon Manor, Wilton House/Salisbury

Any thoughts on which is best? Also, are there other places I should visit that I haven't listed? Maybe I've seen them, but maybe I haven't and am missing out on something I hadn't considered.

Thanks

Hard to answer without knowing your interests. I can tell you day-trips I am considering from London: Brighton, Canterbury.

I might have included Cambridge, but I'll be doing that on a car trip after my time in London. That car trip will also include other places that might have been daytrips from London (e.g. Bath). It will also include Oxford, and places I'll be visiting from there include Burford & Woodstock.

You've got some kind of thing about stately homes, which not everyone else necessarily shares: there are other things to do here than poke around old toffs' drawing rooms.

But you'll find far deeper insight into this interest of yours (and a longer list of alternatives) in Simon Jenkins' Thousand Best Houses than you'll ever get on this board. Order it now and Amazon'll doubtless get it to you by tomorrow.

I know while you lived in Oxford you got to a LOT of places so I'm reluctant to make other recommendation since you may have already "been there, done that"

I am sort of surprised you haven't been to Cambridge - so that would probably be my rec for your London-based trip.

I LOVE Waddesdon Manor -- The family story, the totally created environment, the "liveability" of the place, the grounds - but it will not fill a day. It might though, if you are depending on public transport - which I suspect you are.

Salisbury and Wilton House together would fill a day - Salisbury Cathedral is wonderful of course.

Topping this.

Just watched a TV show on National Trust focusing on the Waddesdon Manor. It looks absolutely wonderful on TV! Now I have to remember to visit it when I get a chance in the future.

JoeTro - where did you end up going?