London side trips

I would take a bus tour thru the cotswolds. It would be most time effective and the convenience is worth alot. Cotswolds are terrific, picturesque and wonderful for families. Every village can be so diff so take an escorted tour so you see more. the cotswolds are really not very assesible independently unless you have a car and more time. my second trip there was in Nov 2006 and by car.

Rick says Moreton is the only Cotswolds town with a train station, and I have a feeling it will be expensive transportation for two people for a day trip. And you're going to have a problem getting around the area after you get to Moreton. It's not the best day trip to try to do from London. The subject of taking a day-trip bus tour from London to the Cotswolds has been discussed previously on this helpline, you may be able to find those discussions by searching in the search box in the upper right corner of this webpage

You could look into Original London Walk-also explained in rick's london book-for great day activities. Two hour walks in various london venues are listed in their brochure-at information centers, and many hotel info shelves. Walks are very reasonable and great values. Also consider OLW's explorer days, to different areas outside london like windsor, canterbury, stratford, and cotswalds depending on the day and season. These day trips start with cheap day return train tickets, and are not cheap, but very do-able, and with guides, very rewarding. Have done actually dozens of walks and several explorer days.
Larry from Springfield

Bath is a perfect daytrip. Easy to do, and pretty town, easy to walk about. Besides seeing the actual " Baths" and going through the Museum there, one can also walk a few blocks to the " Costume Museum" which I enjoyed very much.

In response to the original question: there is a train station in Ashford from which Eurostar train leave for Paris under the "chunnel." Ashford is in the same area as Canterbury and Dover. I don't know how good or frequent the connections between these towns would be. For a train ticket to Paris you need a ticket "Ashford to Paris." Not all London to Paris trains stop in Ashford. Dover (or Canterbury) is do-able on a daytrip from London. Rick describes this trip in his books. As far as I know, the Eurostar to Paris or Brussels now leaves from St. Pancras train station. I suggest you read a travel book or two, then ask your questions.

Thank you very much for all your helpful advice. I have read many guide books but they always give several options and I like to hear first hand from people who have done it. Since my original post, I have decided to try and see Blenheim castle. I understand that it is about 30 miles from Moreton. Is it relatively easy to get there by bus?

Melanie - If you are going to Blenheim and not the Cotswolds DO NOT go to Moreton first. There is no need. You can train from London Paddington directly to Oxford where you pick up the #20 bus to Woodstock. Alternately you can take the bus from Victoria Coach Station to Oxford and pick up the #20 bus.

My family really enjoyed Dover. The castle and bunker tunnels are really worth the tour. I think the bunkers were actually more interesting to our teenagers than the castle. For them, WWII is just a history book lesson, but for them to get to see how things actually worked inside the bunker was an eye-opener...especially the room where the ships and planes were tracked with a giant "Battleship Game" board in lieu of radar.

Would highly recommend this trip. It's easy to take the train all the way from London to the little Dover Priory station. From there you can take a 10 minute taxi ride up to the castle - or you could walk if you're really industrious!