Country sites

Not sure I quite understand your question. Do you mean you were going to spend a few days in Bath and are now planning to spend your time in London? Are you asking for day-trip suggestions from London? Somewhere closer than Bath? Or a short half-day trip?

Bath does make a great day trip. It's really easy to do by train, and you can see a lot without staying there. However, as it's a small but busy city, it won't give a taste of "country life", simply life outside London.

If you're looking for something a bit more "country" (although still a town) take a look at Rye.

Or if what you're after is simply a very short half-day breather from central London, Richmond-upon-Thames (still technically in London) is worth a look as it feels a bit more small town and has a huge park with a lot of greenery. Greenwich is another lovely bit of London that feels very green and airy.

If you genuinely want "country life" then you don't get that in a town. But the way you write your question I believe you were using "country life" to include places like Bath, and simply mean "outside of London." In which case you might face a bit of a shock at how big and busy many of our towns are...

I wouldn't associate Bath with 'country life' - that would be somewhere like Norfolk or rural Oxfordshire to me.

Perhaps the Chilterns? Not quite 'country life' but the kind of rural, beautiful area I assume you're looking for.

Kat, "town" and "country life" are two different things. If you want the country, you really need to get a car and get out of the towns.

If you want "real" villages near London, one suggestion I have never seen posted here is an area known as the "hundred parishes" on the borders of Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Essex. See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hundred_Parishes

Somebody posted this yesterday (which was a public holiday). It is the town square in the town I grew up in: https://scontent-frt3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/21167445_10155832335307189_3300772896480697856_o.jpg?oh=0fc08dab0674fedc0961619ff7fff130&oe=5A14E713
There are plenty of towns like this near London. Canterbury and Winchester are two good options for day trips by train.

"There are plenty of towns like this near London. Canterbury and Winchester are two good options for day trips by train."

Except that they are both cities.

Except that they are both cities

As is Bath, and yet it seems as if the OP is looking for an alternative to Bath that's closer to London.

Chris,

I had not heard of the Hundred Parishes even though the village I grew up in is included! Thanks for sharing.

Margaret

off topic slightly, but for Margaret and others, Hundred does not mean 100, it's a very old term for ruling areas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_(county_division)

Steve, in this case 100 parishes means exactly that. It is a modern term.
The old defunct Hundred as a division of a county was originally in Anglo-Saxon time 100 families.

and "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" (there are 3 of them) is the term used when an MP (Member of Parliament) wants to resign.