Day or weekend trips to see a bit more of England are very worthwhile if you have time. The following are some suggestions of towns and cities near London that are worth visiting, with approximate train journey times in brackets.

Suggested day trips from London include Rye (1hr 30 mins) a picturesque medieval town of cobbled streets and half-timbered buildings; Arundel (1hr30 mins) a small town by the river Arun with a castle and cathedral; Chichester (1hr45mins) an attractive, busy small town near the South Coast (as well as the excellent nearby Weald and Downland Open Air Museum which is highly recommended) and Winchester (50 minutes by train from London) a beautiful city famous for it's cathedral; - all these places are in the South of England. Brighton is another popular day trip from London and is also a popular weekend break. If you are planning to stay the night, this list of hotels in Brighton may be useful.

The Georgian city of Bath (1hr 30mins) in the West of England also makes a very popular day or weekend destination from London. This elegant small city with 18th century Georgian terraces of honey coloured stone gets very crowded in summer and an overnight midweek visit is recommended to explore the city when the day trippers have gone home. For a list of Bath Hotels with online booking, take a look at TravelNow. Bath is Britain's only World Heritage city, famous for its Roman Baths and Georgian architecture. The Roman Baths Museum is well worth a visit and contains Britain's best non-military Roman remains. Bath is best explored by simply walking around the streets, particularly the Royal Crescent and the Circus. A walk along the attractive river Avon is also worthwhile and boats can be hired in summer. The Boater on Argyle Street is a pleasant pub by the river while Sally Lunn's Refreshment House in North Parade Passage is not only the oldest house in Bath, but also serves good food. The bakery Scoffs in Kingsmead Square serves tasty snacks and light meals and also has a cafe.

The historic University cities of Oxford (50 mins) and Cambridge (1 hour) are both easily accessible from London and make good day trips. These ancient university cities are popular summer destinations and advance hotel bookings can be made at TravelNow for both Cambridge Hotels and Oxford Hotels.

Beautiful Leeds Castle in Kent is another good day out and special offers are available on combined coach or rail trips that include the entry fee. For castle fans, Warwick Castle (in Warwick!) makes another good daytrip.

Frommers Best Day Trips from London: 25 Great Escapes by Train, Bus or Car.  Table of Contents: List of Maps. The Best Day-Trip Experiences. Planning Your Day Trips. Bath. Battle. Brighton. Cambridge. Canterbury. Dover Castle. Greenwich. Hampstead. Hampton Court. Hever Castle. Kew Gardens. Knole. Leeds Castle. Monk's House & Charleston. Moreton-in-Marsh & the Cotswolds. Oxford. Rochester. Rye. St. Albans. Salisbury & Stonehenge. Sissinghurst Castle Garden. Stratford-upon-Avon. Winchester. Windsor & Eton. York. Appendix A: England in Depth (Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince). Appendix B: England's Art & Architecture (Reid Bramblett). Appendix C: Useful Toll-Free Numbers & Websites. Index. This book can be ordered online at a discount price directly from amazon USA for fast delivery in the USA and Canada, or in the UK from amazon UK.

Weekend Breaks and longer trips from London:

In the North of England: the Lake District; Durham and York all make excellent destinations, but warrant more than a day to explore. If you go to York, don't miss the excellent Barley Hall. Prices for apex return fares to York from London cost from £36 on GNER (Great North Eastern Railways) if you book at least 7 days in advance.

Scotland is also well worth a visit - for more information see our Scotland Guide. There are often special rail travel offers for train trips from London to Scotland. See the Great North Eastern Railway Web Site or Q Jump for more details. Tip - on most rail services you are only allowed to break your journey on the return - so if you wanted to go to York and Edinburgh from London, book a return from London to Edinburgh and then stop off at York on your way back to London. This saves the expense of buying two tickets and means visitors to the UK can save money by booking a ticket to their furthest destination, travelling there first and then stopping off anywhere of interest on the return leg.

For more information on museums and attractions throughout Britain, as well as links to information on the cities and regions of the UK, try the very useful Museums around Britain Guide.

For Hotel Bookings throughout the UK, try this list of UK Hotels with online reservations or this directory of useful UK travel sites. More UK hotels can be booked online at the Active Hotels website who offer reservations for UK hotels in a number of popular destinations; including Bath; Birmingham; Brighton; Cambridge; Canterbury; Cardiff; Edinburgh; Glasgow; Liverpool; Manchester; Newcastle; Norwich; Nottingham; Oxford; Stratford; York and Windermere. Why not extend your day trip to a weekend break by taking advantage of hotel special offers on short breaks - popular UK weekend trips range from city breaks in Edinburgh or Bath; to a peaceful weekend away in a Lake District self catering cottage. If you are looking for a short break on the Continent, the huge range of low cost flights on budget airlines departing from London's airports means that long weekends or midweek breaks can be enjoyed in Amsterdam; Barcelona; Berlin; Brussels; Paris; Rome and other popular destinations at a very reasonable cost. For budget hotel accommodation in any of these cities, try Accommodation Line, an established operator specialising in hotel reservations in the major European cities and beyond.

More ideas for weekend trips and last minute breaks can be found at lastminute.com, who offer ski weekends; London weekends; country hotel breaks; activity weekends and other weekend breaks in the UK and mainland Europe.

Getting around on public transport - save time and money by booking train or coach tickets in advance. Book rail tickets online at QJump or buy your coach tickets on line from the National Express website.

UK train bookings site QJump offers any easy way to reserve a ticket for your rail journey on any of Britain's railway services, including GNER (East coast main line, including London to York and Edinburgh); Virgin Rail (West Coast main line including Oxenholme and Penrith for the Lake District); Midland Mainline and Scotrail (trains in Scotland). Tickets can be delivered by first class post or special delivery to UK addresses. Alternatively, you can collect your tickets from a range of train stations. For the lowest fares book on offpeak trains and as far in advance as possible. More information from the Q Jump Train Booking site.

National Express coach services cover most popular routes and are usually a cheaper way to travel than the railways. Look out for bargain offers including funfares - from £1 to £7 one way available on selected services for travel to, or from, London Victoria coach station and Leeds, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Leicester, Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham, Cambridge, Brighton, Portsmouth, Southampton or Swansea. Other budget travel offers include their Go Anywhere fare where most journeys are £9 one way, or £18 return, when you book online seven days in advance. More information from National Express coaches.

Visit London Offers : The Go London campaign celebrates great value in London. There's something to suit all budgets in nightlife, accommodation, attractions and much more. There are currently 120 offers available in the following categories: Things to See and Do (34); Shopping (25); Eat, Drink and Party (27); Accommodation (22) and Travel (12). Visit London is the official visitor organisation for London (formerly known as London Tourist Board and Convention Bureau).

Save time - book your day trip train tickets online! Click here. Web page by London Links, Dundonald Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6RY, United Kingdom. E-mail: londonlinks@hotelsandflights.com © Copyright 1998-2004. London Links. All Rights Reserved.