London and...... somewhere in the countryside

I love Salisbury. If you have an interest in Stonehenge there is a local bus that runs a loop out to the stones and back via Old Sarum. For me this takes almost a full day. The other day you could do a city walking tour, see Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury Museum and the Close. Definitely enough to see for 3 nights/2 full days. I also like to stay at Cathedral View B&B. The owners Steve and Wenda are so nice. If you are interested in a walk the the water meadows, Steve will draw you out a route.

My next favorite small town is Bath. I know many feel they can see it in a day trip but I find way more available to fill my time. I’m going back to Bath in a few weeks and spending 4 nights. This time I’m ending a RS tour there and will have my brother, SIL and her sis along. We are doing a Mad Max day trip to the Cotswolds one day. In the past I also did a MadMax day tour to Stonehenge, Avebury, Lacock and Castle Combe from Bath.

Of course your interests may vary from mine!!

How about the New Forest? There's a direct train from London Waterloo to Brockenhurst, which means you'll need to make a couple of tube changes but that's not difficult. This would be proper countryside as opposed to a town outside London.

How about the seaside and the South Downs? Easy train from London to Eastbourne ( check first for engineering works). From Eastbourne you can visit Beachy Head, Birling Gap, the Seven Sisters (whiter than the white cliffs of Dover), the villages of East Dean and Alfriston, and walk the beautiful South Downs Way. Eastbourne Sightseeing does a hop-on hop-off tourist bus that makes a circuit of most of these sights during the daytime - at least until the end of September ( double check). The former Belle Toute lighthouse is a B&B with gorgeous views and they give a discount for single travelers on some of their rooms. I’m going in a few months.

Another idea is Winchester - lovely small city with an interesting history, cathedral, historic mill, and museum. If you are a Jane Austen fan, she is buried in the cathedral and her house in the nearby village of Chawton is now a museum. I did a day trip to Winchester but couldn’t fit in Chawton.

Thank you! I will start researching all of your suggestions.

Another vote for the New Forest. You could also take a day trip to the Isle of Wight from there. It’s more rural than the other options offered so far without being cut off.

Eastbourne, being a coastal holiday resort will be busy with pensioners in September.

And Winchester is on the same train line as the New Forest so you could always stop off on your return back to London.