Day trips from London around Christmas

Rick lists several in his book London, including: Greenwich, Windsor, Cambridge and Bath. He knows his daytrips from London. The first two are not far away.

Brighton is only 50 minutes from London Victoria or London Bridge by fast train, and the trains are frequent. A day return is around £13.

You get to walk by the sea and I'd recommend a visit to the pavilion - George IV's bizarre oriental palace pictured here http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/?id=1226570&refnum=295810 - and a walk through the Lanes (the oldest area of town).

Many small boutique and specialist shops if you are in the mood for shopping and there are also a vast number of restaurants and pubs for grazing.

If you stay down for the evening and would like a taste of an old fashioned English restaurant I'd recommend Prompt Corner - http://www.promptcorner.com/ - which is not cheap but is atmospheric and value for money. Otherwise Preston Street, which runs up from the sea and is 15 minutes walk from the station, is choc a bloc with restaurants of all kinds and prices.

For planning trips generally check: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/index.html

The subject of day trips from London has been frequently discussed here in the past, and you can retrieve these discussions using the search box in the upper right corner of this webpage.