Looking for good "base" in England with train access into "old town" for day trips

The immediate things I can think of for 'historic towns with direct rail access' are Canterbury, Bath, York, Chester, Oxford and Durham. I can't really think of much else to say than that though.

Maybe York for the longer time and Salisbury for after?

The stations don't tend to be in the 'picturesque central "old town"' with the medieval road system, but more on the outskirts. That's so that the trains don't have to run through the centres.

In fact I have been wracking my brains for a few minutes and can't come up with one.

It is easy though to use the "Plus Bus" ticket available at many stations to have access to the local bus network - which often does go right into the centre - for a very modest price. You can only get that Plus Bus ticket in conjunction with a train ticket to that destination. In Nottingham it also includes the tram.

York for one stay.

Most of the suggestions have been for cities and you asked for towns. If you want a town rather than a city, I would suggest either Whitstable or Faversham in Kent, both of which have pleasant, older town centres and are within easy reach by train to Dover, Canterbury, Leeds Castle etc. There are good local walks from both towns.

Thanks so far. Lots to check out here.

To clarify, I guess I don't mean "center" of old town, just close to old town. Like it is most other places in Europe. We have done this strategy in Italy, France, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia.

"We spent a day in London recently and even walking seemed difficult"????

Do you mean because there were a lot of people on the pavements??

I meant because the cars were always coming the other way than I expected. So you really had to think before crossing the street. I imagine this would make biking difficult as well.

I meant because the cars were always coming the other way than I expected. So you really had to think before crossing the street. I imagine this would make biking difficult as well.

Riding a bike on the "wrong" side is easier than driving. You don't have top worry about sitting on the other side of the vehicle, or the controls (gear lever) and mirrors being on different sides.
I'm the opposite way around, I went to school by bike in England, and now live in a country that drives on the wrong side of the road (Switzerland).

I meant because the cars were always coming the other way than I expected. So you really had to think before crossing the street.

We do have cars in places outside of London...

• Trains that claim to serve any historic town will get you close enough to the center.

• If you don't want to visit many indoor sights, you might want to base yourself in Yorkshire, where you can find scenic train lines running from York toward Scarborough or Harrogate and from Settle to Carlisle.

• Some villages, such as most in the Cotswolds or Lake District regions, are not served by train, but there are some buses or taxi service (to call) from the regional rail hub.

• Many towns along the south coast have train stations, but not necessarily fast connections. And that's opposite from the direction you're heading.

• See rail maps at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/maps.aspx but I didn't find one that marked the scenic railways.

• Britain's newspapers online can be a good source for articles like this: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/gallery/2013/mar/03/britain-10-best-rail-journeys

I found an article on top 10 train day trips from London and they listed: Windsor, Brighton, Oxford, Cambridge, Salisbury, Bath, Canterbury, Faversham, Rochester, and Colchester. Thoughts on that list?

The article listed times from specific London stations, so do different routes go out of different stations in London? I was hoping that by staying close to a train station you would be close to any location for a day trip. I've never seen a city with so many train stations!

Up north it seems like York, Chester and Stratford-upon-Avon are favorites. But central to those is Birmingham... is that a good place to stay though?

"The article listed times from specific London stations, so do different routes go out of different stations in London?"

Yes they do, although sometimes you have routes via more than one station. Often, however, one route is faster than another. For instance, from London to Cambridge, you can leave from London King's Cross and take about 45 minutes, or from London Liverpool Street and take 75-90 minutes.

"I was hoping that by staying close to a train station you would be close to any location for a day trip."

In smaller cities and towns, that can be the case. But that simply won't work in London. Remember London's train system is very old, so separate routes, with their own stations, were started independently by different companies. Some cities with a similar situation (say, Berlin) have now built a central station that handles all trains. Others, including London and Paris, and for that matter, New York and Chicago, haven't. (New York and Chicago have now put all their Amtrak services in one station, but for regional rail, you still have to go to the correct station for your destination).

If you stay in a smaller place like Chester, you will be able to use one station for all train trips. I also wouldn't be so focused on your hotel being right near a station; you can always take a bus or taxi to the station, if the pretty center is farther than you want to walk.

To find rail options, use the National Rail website. Unless you have a special reason to do otherwise, if you put in a city and are given station options, choose All Stations. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Instayed in Bristol (hotel was a short walk from Temple Meads station but in an area with no decent restaurant options). From there I was able to visit Cardiff and Bath. Imfound Bath rather dull visually (Georgian architecture) and was glad I hadn't spent the extra moneey to stay there; it's only about 15 minutes from Bristol. There are day-trips to the Cotswolds by van run out of Bath that can be taken if you stay in Bristol.

Chester works as a base for northern Wales, though it's about an hour from Conwy. You probably wouldn't be able to take the Snowdonia rail trip if you were staying in Chester, but there are a couple of other historic railroads within striking distance.

The article listed times from specific London stations, so do
different routes go out of different stations in London? I was hoping
that by staying close to a train station you would be close to any
location for a day trip. I've never seen a city with so many train
stations!

London is a HUGE city. It's a hub for rail services going off in all directions.

Very few train lines run through the very Hub of central London itself; they run from stations arranged in almost circular fashion around the centre.

Picture the rail system as a compass-face. To get to somewhere that lies in a particular direction you will (generally) need the mainline station in that compass point of central London. So for example Bath is west; you leave from Paddington, which lies to the west of central London. York is to the North-East so you leave from Kings Cross in the NE of central London. There are some exceptions...

Otherwise, imagine the chaos with train lines to every town or city criss-crossing central London!

What we have instead is an exceptionally good public transport service - particularly the tube - that links most of the big railway stations very efficiently.

When checking trains online via www.nationalrail.co.uk, if unsure where they leave from, select London (all) as its start point.

Ludlow, Shrewsbury, chepstow, Winchester, Totnes, Lostwithiel, Harrogate, Chichester, Ely, Sherbourne,

Newcastle is an idea. The train does drop you off in the Central Area and the Premier Inn is an excellent/reasonably priced hotel directly across the street from the train station. It is also an easy tram ride in from the Airport.

Newcastle could be a jumping off point for a Hadrians Wall exploration. It takes about an hour to get there on the train, but then you can take the Hadrians Wall Bus which covers most of the key spots. It is also a short distance from Durham.

In my post promoting Bristol as a base I failed to mention that it works for day-trips to Wells.

Ludlow is very attractive and is now a foodie hotspot. I found lodgings there quite expensive, and I'm not sure it's well-positioned for day-trips by public transportation. I'd check both travel time and cost.