Colchester

What particularly interests you about Colchester? It's supposedly the oldest settlement in England and it has some sites of historic interest, but it's a fairly workaday place and wouldn't be in my top 20 if you were looking for one place to visit outside of London.

It would give you a good insight into everyday life in an average English town but there are other places with more interest.

Incidentally it's a town not a city. "City" is a very specific term in the UK and only a limited number of places have city status. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_status_in_the_United_Kingdom

Colchester is about as average as a town gets in the UK. There are more interesting places that I would opt to visit - is this for a day trip or the whole 5 days?

Other options for day trips - Rye, Lewes, Bath, Windsor, Brighton, Portsmouth only if you are interested in naval history (the town is a dump), Dover or Bletchley Park.

For the whole 5 days - Chester, York, Bath, Edinburgh, Glasgow or Durham.

Colchester, where Emperor Claudius was declared a God. There was a temple to him there until burned down by Boudica during her rebellion.

What specifically do you want to see in Colchester?
How did you come to choose this as your one trip out of London?

I am not going until September, but was doing some research on places to take a day trip outside of London. Came across this page https://www.buzzfeed.com/chelseypippin/25-wanderlust-worthy-day-trips-from-london?utm_term=.xyOdZj4PA#.deoRKOoLd and thought it was interesting place to start researching. I am more interested in history and architecture and so Colchester looked appealing to me. Thanks for all your replies. Time to get back to researching.

I would say that Colchester is by some distance the least interesting place on that list.

If you're a fan of architecture and history, I'd choose a cathedral city like Winchester or Canterbury, or maybe Cambridge, which is a stunner.

Colchester is not too popular with some British service personnel, as that's where the "Military Corrective Training Centre" is located. You may get some good ideas from the official website - http://www.visitcolchester.com/

One other historic town you could consider is Winchester. The Cathedral is beautiful and if you're interested, King Arthur's Round Table is located there as I recall.

I was born in Colchester and live in Missouri. I generally visit Colchester once a year because I have family that live near Colchester and it is the nearest place to shop. There is an interesting Roman castle in town but It would not be on my must see list of places to go. There is not much else to see in town and the Castle park I feel has been neglected over the years. Unless you have another reason to visit Colchester I would skip it. Go to Cambridge or take the train from London to York.

I'd vote for Durham. Add it to your research.

Consider visiting Norwich - the only 'proper' medieval city in East Anglia. Just over 90 minutes from London Liverpool St, and has castle (like Colchester) but also two cathedrals (a pretty good medieval one, and a interesting Victorian Catholic one), plus plenty of shops, interesting streets, river and a market.

Well darn. I'd sort of decided to do my next trip to London when I could do this London Walks day trip to Colchester. I love Constable.

http://walks.webvanta.com/our-walks/constable-country-colchester

Constable Country is beautiful, Pam (it's not Colchester, just relatively near it.) And Colchester isn't horrible - it's quite interesting. You've clearly visited other places around London so it's great to get out & explore the slightly less tourists areas.

But the OP had chosen it as their ONE place to go to outside of London, and clearly most of us think there are way more attractive & interesting choices!

***Well darn. I'd sort of decided to do my next trip to London when I could do this London Walks day trip to Colchester. I love Constable.***

Hi Pam, this trip was the first London Walks day trip I took outside of London and I loved it. Hilary leads it. I'm a big art fan and really enjoyed going round the sites. Go for it!

But, if I was picking a day trip outside London, and had not been before, there are lots of places I'd pick ahead of Colchester and noted by the posters above.

Katy

Sorry to the OP for taking the thread somewhat off track, but BIG thanks to Jane and Katy! I just love the London Walks and yes, I personally have been to London a number of times so always look for something I haven't done before. That's back on my To-Do list!

I totally understand it would not be perhaps a day trip for a 1st or 2nd visit to London.

(PS Norwich is also on my visit next time list!)

Constable country is beautiful and nearby to Colchester. Now that is worth a visit! Dedham and Flatford are great places to walk and take picnics. Essex/Suffolk have some pretty village that really don't get many American tourists these days. Finchingfield (Essex) and Lavenham (Suffolk) are some of my favorites. The Suffolk coast is also very nice (Aldeburgh). I know I am getting off topic slightly here, but I think East Anglia has some great places to visit to include Norwich and Cambridge. I took a group of teachers to England a few years ago and we stayed in a small Essex village (Farm House Cottage for a week). Its was very reasonably priced and great for touring the area and getting into London and Cambridge. However, we still did not go into Colchester on this trip. Just much more interesting things to see.

Just noticed your post. We have been to England 24 times and see different areas each time. Actually we have seen all of the areas suggested by others and there are many great places. It was about 5 years ago that we went to Colchester. We stayed there in a B&B for 4 nights. Had a car so toured areas around there. We spent one full day in Colchester and really liked it. The museum was great - would have to look back in my notes to see specifically what we saw when we were there and would be glad to do so if you would like this information from me. We love England so much that just being there and walking around is wonderful for us, but we liked our day in Colchester very much. (As I mentioned, we have seen the areas suggested by others - I do think Norwich is wonderful and want to go back there.)

I have no problems with the other ideas that have been posted here. As I said earlier I am not going until early September 2017, so was starting my research now. Am taking my son for his first trip overseas. Will only be my second as I did England, France and Sweden last spring. Now to sit down and research the suggestions. Thanks to whoever posted about London Walks doing day trips. Have been on their walks and really enjoyed them. Will have to see what they will offer next fall. Thanks a lot to everyone who gave me too much to research. Will check each one out.