Day Trips from London

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Any more ideas on this topic? I was having an internet search for day trips from London cos I have a few days off this week, but nothing I've seen grabs me so far.

Recently I went on the Dedham Vale walk (go to Manningtree Station from Liverpool St, about an hour), English flatlands, Constable paintings, that kind of thing. That was pretty nice, unspectacular perhaps but quintessentially English countryside and pleasingly eerie in places.

But now my ideas vault is dry. And I don't want to go to Margate.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Thanks for the suggestion - will go there sometime soon.

I went to Dungeness in the end, via Folkestone. Strange place, although I didn't get to see the sound mirrors in the end, cos of insufficient time to walk there, and the fact that the coastal 'road' that passes by the mirrors is a pothole-riven alley.
 

crackerjack

Well-known member
That's what everyone says when I say that I had a good holiday there. And true enough I think that an immigrant was beaten to death there soon after our holiday came to an end. On the other hand, it has got a funicular.

pd459035.jpg

Hven't been to Hastings in 20 years or more and it definitely was horrible back then. Otoh, I know a few people who've moved to nearby St Leonard's and like it, though I can't say if being a good place to live also makes it a good place to visit. But it does seem to have a bit of the same vibe as Leigh-on-Sea in Essex - one of those places people move to when they've got kids/had enough of London but can't afford to live in Brighton.
 

Ness Rowlah

Norwegian Wood
Yeah, Margate is pretty grim, Ramsgate and Broadstairs are marginally nicer IIRC. Deal is quite good - a little english seaside town with a stony beach, a pier with a cafe at the end and north easterlies that could cut diamond.

Broadstairs just "marginally nicer" than Margate (and Ramsgate)? I've stayed for long periods in all those towns (some years ago though) and my rating would be 1. Broadstairs 2.Deal 3.Ramsgate/Margate.

Why Broadstairs? Well there's the beaches, Dickens's Bleak House, Morelli's gelato (http://www.morellisgelato.com/heritage), it's small in size and a short walk away are the "39 steps" https://bestdeadends.wordpress.com/2013/11/23/broadstairs-39-steps/ (just ignore those signs, but if you decide to walk the stairs make sure it's on a low tide).

Deal is also nice very nice, it's where well-off people go with their pensions.

Margate probably has changed with the art and all, so it might be OK now - it's a long time since I've been.
 

Ness Rowlah

Norwegian Wood
Thanks for the suggestion - will go there sometime soon.

I went to Dungeness in the end, via Folkestone. Strange place, although I didn't get to see the sound mirrors in the end, cos of insufficient time to walk there, and the fact that the coastal 'road' that passes by the mirrors is a pothole-riven alley.

Did you go to Derek Jarman's garden? Seen in on telly and it comes up every so often in the papers. Always been keen to go down there for a day.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Not on purpose, but it does look kinda familiar from the photos, so maybe we passed it in the car without knowing. Dungeness is well worth going to, though I don't think I was as taken with it as some others here.
 

Leo

Well-known member
*bump*

will be over in june to visit family in the midlands, then a few days in london to visit friends. also looking for areas within a couple of hours drive/train from london, preferably heading east, south or west. not a day trip, probably have a few days to potter around (posting on this thread because i couldn't find others more appropriate).

any updates on places mentioned at the start of the thread? at various points since 2011, margate has been described here as "pretty awful", "wicked" and "grim", and whitstable was chi chi/oyster bars, etc....what about now? any new suggestions?

thanks.
 

luka

Well-known member
I'm not sure many of these places are suited for someone on a two week holiday. Their charms are discrete. Largely atmosphere. And catch them on the wrong day and it can be really very depressing. The English wallow luxuriantly in mild,persistent depression and it draws us to these decaying littoral zones where the lassitude slows the hands of the clock and even the sea is sluggish.

I'd be more inclined to do the major label big budget a sides. Cambridge, Brighton, perhaps Sittingbourne if you like gardens. Or if it's sunny kew/Richmond and the river round there, or Lea Valley Country Park round Waltham Abbey.

I don't want to be tje guy your whole family blames for that day out in Southend
 

Leo

Well-known member
ha, thank you luka! will look into these.

and to clarify, our entire holiday will be around 10 days but i'm only asking here for suggestions on a side trip of 2-3 days. the other 7-8 days are already spoken for in the midlands and london.
 
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Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Oxford is extremely doable from London, I mean it's 45 minutes brisk drive from west London to east Oxford - though of course it's actually getting through each city that takes the time. Massively touristy but that goes without saying. Many of the obvious tourist things to do/see, places to eat/drink are fairly worthwhile but I can PM you a few spots you might not otherwise encounter. Not all of them are in 'Town' (the city centre) either, which is what the tourist trails tend to concentrate on, of course.

Edit: some picturesque small towns and villages a short drive from Oxford, too. Benjy's suggestion of Uffington (home to this mutha
1431736113455-whh-yq3w2924-nt-commission-air.jpg
and the awesomely ancient Wayland's Smithy) is good, too - about 40 mins drive from the city centre.
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Second Oxford and the countryside around it - can't think of anywhere better outside London to go for a few days. Good even if the weather leaves something to be desired, and on a sunny day it's absolutely glorious. Tbh I've never been bothered much by the tourist hordes either - there's so much of picturesque beauty near the city centre that it'll never all be crowded simultaneously.

Richmond and Kew are also good as per Luka's suggestion (tho' don't come to Sittingbourne, even if you do like gardens - you'll regret it. Maybe that was a typo, it confused me...).

My own RFI - an anyone suggest a roughly two day walk in/around the Sussex/Kent High Weald? There's so many possibilities that I'm getting confused, and ideally want to pick the most enchanting route possible.
 
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luka

Well-known member
Oxford is extremely doable from London, I mean it's 45 minutes brisk drive from west London to east Oxford - though of course it's actually getting through each city that takes the time. Massively touristy but that goes without saying. Many of the obvious tourist things to do/see, places to eat/drink are fairly worthwhile but I can PM you a few spots you might not otherwise encounter. Not all of them are in 'Town' (the city centre) either, which is what the tourist trails tend to concentrate on, of course.

Edit: some picturesque small towns and villages a short drive from Oxford, too. Benjy's suggestion of Uffington (home to this mutha
1431736113455-whh-yq3w2924-nt-commission-air.jpg
and the awesomely ancient Wayland's Smithy) is good, too - about 40 mins drive from the city centre.

no, wait stop, this cannot pass. MY SUGGESTION OF UFFINGTON, sagely seconded by benjy b. otherwise cambridge is much nicer than oxford and also closer to London and there's no point doing both.
 

luka

Well-known member
yeah baboon it wasnt a typo it was absent mindedness. id just read your thing about sittingbourne being the scariest place in England. what i meant to say was Sissinghurst. there's a memorial bench or tree or something to my dad there. it was one of his favourite places so i've been there a fair bit.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
no, wait stop, this cannot pass. MY SUGGESTION OF UFFINGTON, sagely seconded by benjy b. otherwise cambridge is much nicer than oxford and also closer to London and there's no point doing both.

Lol, whoops. I BEG YOUR PARDON LUKE, I JUST SAW BENJY'S POST BECAUSE IT'S AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE.

Oxford and Cambridge both have their charms and aren't quite as interchangeable as you might think. Cambridge is smaller with a greater concentration of nice stuff right in the middle but the surrounding countryside is flaaaat, whereas there are some nice hills and downs around Oxford.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
My own RFI - an anyone suggest a roughly two day walk in/around the Sussex/Kent High Weald? There's so many possibilities that I'm getting confused, and ideally want to pick the most enchanting route possible.

Rye in East Sussex is very picturesque, though it's right on the coast so I dunno how close it is to the Weald. Then again, we're talking about England here, so how far can it be?
 
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