Hi! I'll be in London in May, and was looking for a few interesting places to visit by train or bus. I won't have a car, so something I could use public transport to would be great. I've already seen many of the 'main' sites (Brighton, Leeds Castle, Stratford, Dover, Chatam Dockyards, Hampton Court, Windsor)...but looking for some little gems I might have missed. I looked at Highclere castle, which I can't quite figure out how to get to, if anyone has experience doing that. Thanks so much!! Laurel
York, Oxford, and Cambridge are also very easy to visit by train. Pam
Did you visit Bath yet, its a great daytrip.
Here's a link to an article I wrote about my favorite day trips out of London by train. I hope it is helpful. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g186338-c176673/London:United-Kingdom:London.And.Day.Trips.html
Cathedral Cities: Salisbury, Winchester, Canterbury; Cambridge (easy) Oxford; Blenheim palace
Further afield : York
If you head towards Cambridge, consider going on to Ely and visiting the beautiful cathedral there.
My favourite is Winchester. Castle, cathedral and Winchester school.
If you take the train to either Cambridge or Oxford, you can pick up a Hop-on, Hop-off bus, right outside either station. Then you can tour the two towns very easily. We have done that bus tour twice in Cambridge. We enjoyed Cambridge more than Oxford. You can eat over by the canal, where the students "punt". There is also a small mall, where you can rest, in Cambridge.
About Highclerfe....I believe the best you can do before mid-summer is tour the grounds. It's booked solid for interior tours. If that still interests you, check out some of the walking and day tour companies in London. They'll probably be able to get you there. Good luck.