Winchester and Rye daytrips
 

We're lucky enough to be in London again this November and was planning two daytrips---Canterbury and one-to-be-determined. Would anyone have any thoughts regarding these two choices. Would Winchester be too similar to Canterbury. I read one opinion on this board that after the Cathedral, there isn't much else (If not--apologies in advance!) Rye sounds pretty charming, but I keep hearing that it's small, and since we'll be without a car, I'm wondering if it would be worth the longer train ride town. Our interests are broad, which is making decisions harder.
Even advice as to the prettier train ride would be very helpful. Thanks

I'm a Winchester lad (now in London) and can heartily recommend it for a dayout. It's an ideal size for a day and well served by trains from waterloo.

Other than the cathedral (fantastic) there is the college, the great hall and the town itself.

Take a virtual tour here:

www.vrwinchester.co.uk

Rye is also very nice, but much smaller and offers less.

Winchester used to be the capital you know (and we're still moaning about it)

With apologies to David West, I've spent a weekend in both places and much preferred Rye. But this was before I discovered the Fodor's website :), so in all fairness, let me copy from a previous thread some sights David suggested (most of which I didn't see!)

"The Cathedral
The College (my old skool!)
The Great Hall and Arthurs Round table (which you can see on this interweb thingy at http://www.winchester.gov.uk/visiting_winchester/

The Westgate museum (get them to show you the grafitti by King Charles I who was imprisoned there)

St Cross via the Watermeadows and the college.

In addition to what others have mentioned I liked the ruin of Wolvesey castle and walking along the river's edge."

I did ofcourse see the cathedral and was lucky enough to arrive while a rehearsal for an evening concert was going on. I "tucked" myself up behind the organ pipes.

But Rye has much more charm, IMO. I love antiques & Rye was filled with charming antique shops. Also, we had a car & visited Hastings, a funky seaside town and the town of Battle where the Battle of Hastings took place. Without a car, I'm not sure you would be able to do that. There are also a number of castles near Rye (Bodiam, Pevensey, Hever) as well as Sissinghurst gardens, Chartwell House. Here is a website that will help you with Rye & the area.

http://www.rye.org.uk/out_about.htm

You're both a terrific help to me with my research---more than you'll know. Quite the best website on Winchester that I've seen by far! And Rye is sooo up my alley---hmmm. I have much to consider
Best regards,
Bettyjane

Rye is a lovely town in which to spend an afternoon or part of a day. We visited a few years back as a day trip from Canterbury. I'm not sure I'd do it as a day journey from London, especially without a car. It's a very sweet place that deserves a visit but perhaps not as a sole destination.

If it were a choice between Winchester and Rye, I'd take the former.

Either will be lovely. Have a great time.