day trip from london

I think York might exceed your two-hour limit, and offers so much to see that an overnight or two-night trip would be better. But there are lots of other options -- Bath for the Roman ruins and abbey and Jane Austen, Oxford or Cambridge for great university buildings, Canterbury or Winchester or Salisbury for great cathedrals (and Stonehenge a bonus with Salisbury), Brighton for a historic seaside resort, many others you'll hear about soon. Plus shorter day trips to Windsor or Hampton Court or Greenwich, much closer to London.

York is exactly two hours if you take the direct Virgin East Coast train from Kings Cross. We just did that today. ; )

I would choose York over Bournemouth or Bath any day. Only been here an hour and I love it already. I am only on Rick Steves now because my husband is in the shower and I needed to look something up. Now it is back outside!

I would vote for Bath. It's an easy train ride to/from London and the city is really a joy to visit. There is enough there for "intensive" sightseeing, or you just as easily spend the day wandering in and out of historic sites and shops. If you're a Jane Austen fan, you can take a look at the Pump Room (and have a tasty, if overpriced, tea there), or visit the Assembly Rooms.

Caroline

I went to York for a day from London and loved it. I was there for 6 hours and saw everything I wanted without feeling too rushed (the City Walls, York Minster, Clifford's Tower, and the Shambles) but you could stay for a few more hours.

During another visit to London I went to Canterbury for a day, for a few hours, to see the cathedral and the Norman castle. I would have stayed longer but it was raining.

I've always combined a day trip to Canterbury with an afternoon in Dover. They easily connect by bus or train and Dover Castle, overlooking the Channel, is just beautiful. There's also a fascinating little Roman museum in Dover but you can easily spend several hours just at the castle.

Oxford or Cambridge are also lovely. Brighton is a fun day trip, especially if the weather is nice. Whitstable is another little beach town in the opposite direction that has a lovely pier area, rocky beaches, and a castle as well.

We LOVE to do day trips from London by train. Here are some of our favorites:
York, Bath, Winchester, Canterbury, Dover, Cardiff Wales, Stratford-upon-Avon, Brighton
York is great as a day trip (also good as a 2 day stop over on the way to Edinburgh)!
Bath is nice- I think it is better at Christmas time as they have a huge Christmas market.
Cardiff is a fun, funky, slightly more modern city. The castle is in the center of town. And is has some interesting shopping in the Victorian market and a nice smallish mall.

Don't forget to pre book specific trains - which you should do as soon as possible to get the cheapest prices. If you just show up on the day and pay, it will be more costly - though you would have the freedom to return on any train. www.nationalrail.co.uk

thanks all - I am leaning towards dover or Canterbury. the only drawback with dover is that I will want to go swimming in the harbor and I don't know if there will be time for both. brighton is one we have not thought of but a good idea to research a little.

I will want to go swimming in the harbor

watch out for the ferries then....

I have done Bath on a day trip, which is perfect for the amount of time needed to see the town and get a feel for it. York can be reached on a high speed train, making this a possible day trip. I have wanted to do Canterbury myself, and Rye-- both day trip possibilities!

I like this website...

http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk/londondaytrips.html

I'm not sure how up to date the transport info is, but it certainly gives a great overview of what places are interesting and how long it takes to get there up tp 2 hours away.

If you can manage transport links then these two sites (6 miles apart) bookend a nice day from London...
Winston Churchill's home at Chartwell http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/chartwell
Anne Boleyn's home at Hever http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/

The trip to anne boyelns house sounds interesting - plus I would be able to get a swim in too. thanks for the great idea.

Nicole, that web site is fantastic! We will be using that site to help us plan, not only for our upcoming trip during Thanksgiving week, but for subsequent visits to London. Thank you!

Tim - I stumbled over it myself a few years back and thought it was brilliant. It's been bookmarked ever since. We were going to pick something from it last year as a day trip, but decided to head to Greenwich for an afternoon...