Staying outside London
 

Does anyone have any experience on staying in a city outside London, then taking the train in daily? I'm trying to save on London stiff lodging accommodations, and I'll have a Britrail pass. <BR>

Yes, I stayed outside London in the suburb of Richmond last year. No sweat. The Richmond train station had both fast surface trains and tube trains. The tube was a little slow due to many stops, but very convenient if going to a particular location. If just going into the city, the fast (express) surface trains were very quick. I had a London Visitors Travel Pass which was accepted on surface trains, Tube, and virtually all buses inside the motorway loop. The train trips were a daily experience, sometimes good, sometimes a bit frustrating. Example of frustration was outbound in the evening on a Friday of a holiday weekend. Standing room and frequent long stops on the tube. Overall though, I loved it. Richmond made you feel much closer to the British than the hustle of central London. I recommend staying in the outskirts for relatively quiet, pleasant evenings. We never had a long wait for a restaurant out there.

I agree with the previous poster about Richmond. While going to school in London, I had experience living in both central London and Richmond. I loved living in central London (Kensington specifically)....but since you want the outskirts, I highly recommend Richmond. It is convenient by train or tube, as the other poster explained. Also, Richmond is a fun place....there are many wonderful restaurants, many great shops, lots of pubs, a couple of theatres (plays), and some parks, including Richmond Park which is the largest Royal park in London. I can't help you on accomodations as I didn't stay in hotels. Richmond is a bit upscale, so you may have to call around to get a reasonable price.

We've stayed in Windsor and liked the small town feel alot. There's frequent train service into London - 45 min. to an hour. <BR>

<BR>We stayed at The Swan in Streatley-on-Thames which has lovely views of one of the most beautiful river valleys in England. There is a train service across the river (about a mile away) to London - quite fast abut an hour. You can also stay more simply and cheaply a the John Barrleycorn pub in Goring nearer the station or slightly further out much more opulently at he Beetle and Wedge on the River which also has superb views and great meals in their Boathouse restaurant. Don't use the main restaurant unless you ae feeling really, really rich. Goring is a great place - small village on a beautiful stretch of river - and it has a really great shop called the Fine Food Club which sells nothing but British speciality foods.

<BR>Last summer we stayed in Datchet...a 'suburb" of Windsor. Very convenient train to London on the hour. Great local pubs and restaurants. Only draw back is that the last train is just after 11 so if you are at the theatre in london it is a bit of rush. The internet has many listings of bed and breakfasts outside of London. Cheers!