London Day trip

cupcake
Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:15:27 +0000

You can pretty much go anywhere in England on a day trip (ok, if it’s Cornwall or Lake District you want, a very long day trip). It depends on your interests as Novelisto says above. I also suspect a student in London will already have been to Stratford Upon Avon and Bath.

The tube runs round central London. You cannot access any destinations outside central London on the tube. Note sure why so many Americans seem to believe this is some kind of nation-wide system. You can’t go all the way to Windsor or Hampton Court on the tube. Overground train is the easiest public transport for both of them.

I would recommend perhaps York. 1.5-2 hours from Kings Cross station by train.

[Welcome To Visit York Tourist Information - Weekend Breaks Weekday Trip](http://www.visityork.org/)

I think The Shambles in York is the place Diagon Alley is based on. If you are interested in Vikings or Romans, York is your place. It also has city walls you can walk on all round the old city.

Brighton is also a good idea. I am assuming you know it is by the sea. But the beach is stony, not sandy. The biggest attraction here is the Pavilion. That is really in England, not India. Unfortunately they do not let visitors take photos inside, but watch out for the gold dragon holding the chandelier up. I am not sure where trains to Brighton run from. I think Victoria station, but not certain.

[Royal Pavilion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](Royal Pavilion - Wikipedia)

If you are of a conservative nature and/or easily offended, I suggest you avoid Brighton. It tends towards the alternative.

Putting out something random, if you like ships, sailing, the navy or naval history, you might like Portsmouth. There are a couple of sailing ships you can go on (one is HMS Victory, of battle of Trafalgar and Admiral Nelson fame) and you can also take boat tours round the modern naval fleet (but half of the ships have recently been scrapped by the government to save money!). If some of you party are not into ships, there is a huge discount shopping area called Gunwharf Quays right next to the dock yard. You can get to Portsmouth on the train from Waterloo station.

[Portsmouth Historic Dockyard](http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/)

[Gunwharf Quays at Portsmouth Harbour, Shopping, Cinema, Entertainment, Events](http://www.gunwharf-quays.com/)

Totally different - I live near the New Forest national park (I work in London but don’t live there). This is about 1.5hrs by train from Waterloo to the station called Brockenhurst. This is a tiny place though. You can hire bicycles to explore the forest here. In the summer there is an open top bus tour starting from Brockenhurst going round the forest. This is a bit of a primeval experience. It’s full of large animals running wild (none dangerous. Though some of the cows have huge horns), especially small ponies which are quite famous. Children love them. If you like the outdoors, you should go to the forest.

[New Forest Official Visitor Website | Where To Stay | Attractions](http://www.thenewforest.co.uk/)

For train tickets - long distance ones are much, much cheaper if bought in advance. Tickets become available 12 weeks in advance and the cheap ones sell out quickly. You can buy online and then collect at the station at [url=http://www.eastcoast.co.uk]Cheapest Train Tickets for the East Coast > East Coast/url.