We are spending a weekend in London with some friends before heading to Amsterdam for a week..The one day we will be doing the London Eye, River Thames Cruise, shopping, etc..(we have been to London before and saw main sites)..The second day we want to go somewhere outside of London..They are recommending the Cotswold, I am not sure if we would be into this but don't want to be rude..Any thoughts or any other ideas on where to go for the day?.. Thanks.

Before anyone can give you useful advice/suggestions we need to know:

1 - what sorts of things you enjoy

2 - and why the Cotswolds don't sound appealing to you.

If you give us something to work with we can probably help you . . . . . .

I would suggest York - yes it is a long day but it is a fun one. Or, perhaps a day trip to Glastonbury. I did both of these from London during my honeymoon as day trips.

Brighton is so much fun to walk around. It's only about 50 minutes away from London on the Brighton express train. You could take the train right from the Victoria train station in central London, no advanced booking required. If you do go, don't miss the Brighton Lanes, these narrow 18th century shopping lanes in the town center that only sell stuff made in England.

Stonehenge . . . Windsor Castle . . . and Salisbury (the cathedral and the little town are magnificent_.

You can easily see all three in one day.

Enjoy!

Canterbury Cathedral

My two favorite day trips are: A. Hampton Court Palace & Windsor Castle and B. Oxford, Stratford-Upon-Avon & Warrick Castle.

Then there is always Paris as a daytrip.

We had a fascinating day in Cambridge, shopping (what can I say we had our three teens with us), touring the university, eating in the pubs, and enjoyed Evensong at Kings College.

There is an excellent book out that you can get at Barnes and Noble or Borders called something like "50 Daytrips out of London" by someone named E. Steinbreck? He has also written others for other cities and countries too. The reason that I like it is that he tells you how to get there by train,bus or car with what to see, hours and cost.He includes maps of the various towns with basically a 3-4 page "Cliff note synopsis ". I am probably getting the exact title wrong but I think that its pretty close.(I lent my copy of it to someone a few years back and never got it returned!)

I loved Hampton Court. It was an easy train ride from London. My other favorite day trip was taking a train to Bath. That was also an easy trip and it was a wonderful city to see. We did the bus tour as soon as we arrived to acquiant ourselves with Bath. It was a good way to start the day. It is small enough to walk around.

The Cotswolds are beautiful! I would recommend Oxford or Cambridge over Stratford. Bath is also a fun day trip. There is always Stonehenge and Avebury which are interesting.

The book daytrip recommends is "Daytrips London" by Earl Steinbicker. Our 1995 edition has an ISBN number 0803893671 and we used it in November for daytrips to Winchester and Norwich.

We have used this on so many trips it is finally beginning to disintegrate and we may have to break down and buy a replacement.

Ooops, the recommendation was made by DUTYFREE not daytrip.

Thanks for all of the suggestions..Paris is out of the question, we have already been there twice and have never seen the countyside around London...I like all of your ideas, will have to figure out which one is best for us...

Hi
York has been mentioned as a possibility. We live near York and my husband uses the train to work in London once or twice a week. The Rail link to Kings Cross is fast and efficient, with surprisingly good food served too. Have a look at the thread 'Ok everyone, what's so great about York'. It really is a lovely place, plus the station is very central so you won't waste time - you can be straight into the city and enjoying its attractions and then get a latish train back to Kings Cross in the evening, dining on the train. This would be a really good use of time, packing in as much as you can into a day without running yourselves into the ground!

Hi
York has been mentioned as a possibility. We live near York and my husband uses the train to work in London once or twice a week. The Rail link to Kings Cross is fast and efficient, with surprisingly good food served too. Have a look at the thread 'Ok everyone, what's so great about York'. It really is a lovely place, plus the station is very central so you won't waste time - you can be straight into the city and enjoying its attractions and then get a latish train back to Kings Cross in the evening, dining on the train. This would be a really good use of time, packing in as much as you can into a day without running yourselves into the ground! Plus York has something for everybody - shopping, sites, museums etc.

One of my favourite places is on the edge of London - St. Albans. The town, Cathedral and the Verulamium (a Roman town) museum are very interesting. Last time I was at the Cathedral I saw a film on its history and that of the town which really added to my enjoyment. We had lunch at a crepery in an old mill close to the Verulamium.

Go to York!
Get an earlyish train from London and in two hours or so you will be in York. The trains are fast, efficient and modern. Go to www.gner.com or www.thetrainline.com to get Daypex tickets. DO NOT simply turn up at the station on the day and go, as you will end up weeping! You can collect the tikets with a PIN from a machine or from a real person at Kings Cross station. Daypex tickets are rather good value at around £20 return.
In York you can see the very impressive minster (cathedral), walk around mediaeval streets, sample proper English tea and cakes at Betty's (or simply take some away at the third of the price) and, if you are interested, take in the railway museum. You can also walk around the castle and experience York life across the ages, inlcuding the smells, at the Jorvik Vigking Centre.

Nigello - Do you know if you can purchase a Daypex ticket by going to the train station a day or two in advance of the day you wish to travel and still get that 20 GBP rate (as opposed to purchasing the tkts online)?