Day Trips from London

In order to get a good train service, that would imply the place is a town and not out in the country. Some suggestions (not in any order):

• Portsmouth
• Winchester
• Hampton Court (technically inside London)
• Lewes and Rye (longer distance, could do one or combine if you want a long day).

Just to add to what Chris suggested......Canterbury.

It's not quite what you asked about, but one trip that many poster here mention having enjoyed was to Bletchley Park, where the World War II codebreakers worked (as depicted in The Imitation Game). There's now a whole museum there about their activities.

How about the Isle of Wight?
We enjoyed it for a day. Train to Portsmouth, then ferry across.
We took the bus and got off where it looked interesting.
Hope you find somewhere good.

I have a couple of suggestions that seem to fit your parameters, probably all a little farther than you were thinking of, but all within two hours by train from London. Bury St. Edmunds and Ely are both lovely towns, easily walkable and full of history. Maybe a trip to Stamford by train and the nearby beautiful Burghley House. I don't know if there is a bus out to Burghley House or if you would need to go by taxi but the property is gorgeous and I also enjoyed strolling around Stamford.

If you are a fan of Call The Midwife you can train out to the Historic Chatham Dockyards and tour where it and other shows have filmed. http://thedockyard.co.uk/whats-on/call-the-midwife-location-tours/
30-40 minute train ride from St Pancras. Pleasant 1/2 day sojourn.

You might also check out Richmond Park area and Twickenham. One year near Christmas was resting my feet at the Royal Academy of Arts and I overheard some one mention the artists collective open house on Eel Pie Island. How can one not go to a place with such an intriguing name?

Google and discover its famous residents over the years. I trained to Twickenham and wandered. Then found the bridge to the island but not before stumbling upon the intriguing York House gardens as well as watching the early morning rowing club enjoy an outing along the River. Had a pleasant lunch at the White Swan pub. Research Twickenham and Richmond Upon the Thames.

If you are willing to go farther and spend a night or two I love Lyme Regis. Stayed at a fantastic AirBnB and meandered along the Cobb and beaches keeping an eye out for fossils. I did have a car rental so didn’t train there but know you can train from Waterloo to Aximinster then take a bus to Lyme Regis.

In London use the tube and explore Hampstead and then stroll through the Heath into Highgate to visit the famous cemetary. From there tube to Kentish Town to lunch at Wahaca above the tube station or the Oxford Taver Pub on Kentish Town Rd OR walk from the tube station along Kentish Town road over the Camden Lock Market and find a food stall for your nosh.

Lastly you can always walk along the Thames path from Tower Bridge to Rotherhite and then to the Surry Quays neighborhood. Trust me no tourists to avoid.
If you have an interest check out the Sands Film Studio...http://knowledgeoflondon.com/sandsfilmstudios.html

All of these areas will provide freedom from hordes of tourists ( well Camden Lock market won’t but you have the adjacent canal to walk and explore. )

Enjoy.

Another vote for Stamford. Other possibilities include

Norwich,
Lewes,
Birmingham/Manchester (plenty of museums and art galleries) or
the London suburb of Richmond combined with Richmond Park.

I'll add Kew Gardens which to me took a full day. Plan for it on a sunny day, not on a weekend if you can help it.

I just got back from the RS Southern England tour and loved Canterbury, the Historic dockyards at Portsmouth (really this was the ONLY place I felt we did not have enough time....loved touring the HMS Victory and the Mary Rose and did not even make it in to the other museums) and Dover. I obviously went to Dover Castle on the tour bus so not sure how handy it is from the station but it was very interesting.

I'll also suggest Salisbury. Love the Cathedral, the Close, viewing Magna Carta, also if you haven't been to Stonehenge and have an interest (I realize not everyone does) it's an easy local bus ride out from town on the local bus.

Although now that I re-read your original post you are looking for places without other tourists so not sure any of these qualify!

I second Pam's suggestion of Salisbury and Stonehenge.

Is that where Salisbury steaks come from?

Sadly a fellow American has shown a lack of knowledge about USA history. Salisbury steak is named after an American Doctor, James Salisbury who created it.

Nothing to do with Salisbury England just like West Virginia has nothing to do with James Dickey's novel, Deliverance.

I wrote a long dissertation about how you should come to Portsmouth but deleted it by mistake. I have now spent too much time in the sun, drank too much beer and watched England lose to Belgium and I'm in no mood to rewrite it. Suffice to say, Portsmouth fits your bill for a day trip.

*I might be inclined to rewrite my original post tomorrow.

Claudia I was joking around. On occasion we need to lighten up and be a bit silly.

Not easy to discern you were joking, Mike from WV

Sorry Norma I'll work on it. I should have used a 😀 because you're right.

Friends, we are planning three day trips from London: Windsor, Cambridge and/or Oxford, and Liverpool. I am a fan of Newton, Hawking, and the Fab Four. I would like to stay overnight at some of these places but we have limited time and finances.

Any thoughts on this? Thank you. Big Mike from Boone County!

Boone county Mike now you've hitchhiked onto Graces original post seeking opinions about towns you wish to visit outside London. Bad form.

To get proper responses create your own post. I'm pretty certain you'll get responses and opinions.

Ok. Grace didn't mean to hijack your thread.

We're interested in the same places so I'll be watching this thread.😀

Give this site a gander... http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk/londondaytrips.html

Nicole, one rarely hears "gander" any more . I like it. Thanks for the link.

You are the bees knees.

Mike...sweet, daddy-o... ;)