We will be in London in early April and have the following full day activities planned. They are more than 1 hour by public transit from the British Museum area where we are staying. Are there good alternatives, such as taking a tour that includes transport?
* Bletchley Park
* Bath
* Hampton Court Park
Thank you
Posted by
Singapore
637 posts
Taking a train is going to be faster than being driven on a tour bus - Bletchley Park and Hampton Court are both easy day trips from central London. Bletchley Park for example is about an hour by train from London, compared with more like an hour and 45 minutes driving. Not to mention a train is more comfortable.
Bath can be done as a day trip but personally I'd recommend at least staying overnight. By train it's about 1.5hrs, by road more like 3hrs.
If you wanted save time, you could take a taxi from the hotel to the station, rather than taking the tube.
Posted by
near San Francisco
5593 posts
Bletchley Park is a great day trip by train. Just allow yourself plenty of time - there are lots of exhibits across all the different buildings. You can easily spend the entire day there, including lunch at an onsite restaurant.
Posted by
London
80 posts
Agree with others here that the train is the best/fastest way to get to these places. If you want something a little more scenic, you can take a boat to or from Hampton Court Palace- either from Richmond or as far up as Westminster- more info here: https://www.thamesriverboats.co.uk/index.asp
It's certainly not the fastest way but if the weather's good I think it's the most enjoyable.
Edited to add: The sailings look to be starting a bit later in the season this year (14 April) so not sure if that will be too late for you.
Posted by
OP
Alberta
37 posts
Thank you
Posted by
Los Angeles
4898 posts
I've done daytrips to Bath, York and Oxford via train. Easy peasy, just ask the Man in Seat 61 how to do it (hint, you need some sort of discount card to save money).
And that is the way I would order them as well.
Posted by
Buckinghamshire
204 posts
There's a number of other easy day trips from London that haven't been mentioned: Cambridge, Canterbury, Brighton (for the Pavilion as well as the pier).
You've mentioned Bletchley Park - are you interested in WW2 in general or the code-breaking aspects particularly? If the former, you have the Imperial War Museum (perhaps more focused on WW!) and HMS Belfast both in central London and the RAF Battle of Britain bunker at Uxbridge (end of the Piccadilly line plus a walk or taxi ride). All are worth a visit.