Winchester as a day trip...?

11-02-2003, 12:47 AM

We are thinking of Winchester as a "day trip" from London? Is it worth a
visit? If not...any suggestions?

Thanks,

jb

11-02-2003, 01:02 AM

"Jbrodie1750" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > We are thinking of Winchester as a "day trip" from London? Is it worth a
    > visit? If not...any suggestions?
    > Thanks,
    > jb

It really depends what you are looking for.

Have you been to Brighton ?

11-02-2003, 01:38 AM

    >> We are thinking of Winchester as a "day trip" from London? Is it worth a
    >> visit? If not...any suggestions?
    >> Thanks,
    >> jb
    >It really depends what you are looking for.
    >Have you been to Brighton ?

Here's the situation...we want to avoid the jet lag scenario of crashing at the
hotel a few hours after landing at Heathrow...so we thought if we immediately
headed out of town it would keep us awake. What are we looking for? A small
town with on the order of Rye (but we have already been there) that has a good
used bookshop!

Thanks for your advice.

jb

11-02-2003, 01:46 AM

"Jbrodie1750" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > >> We are thinking of Winchester as a "day trip" from London? Is it worth
a
    > >> visit? If not...any suggestions?
    > >>
    > >> Thanks,
    > >>
    > >> jb
    > >
    > >It really depends what you are looking for.
    > >
    > >Have you been to Brighton ?
    > Here's the situation...we want to avoid the jet lag scenario of crashing
at the
    > hotel a few hours after landing at Heathrow...so we thought if we
immediately
    > headed out of town it would keep us awake. What are we looking for? A
small
    > town with on the order of Rye (but we have already been there) that has a
good
    > used bookshop!
    > Thanks for your advice.
    > jb

Then I'll withdraw the suggestion of Brighton (not too easy to get to from
heathrow), try Windsor & Eton, or Oxford - But both might be a little larger
than you are looking for.

But getting over the jet-lag isn't easy - I find that some good melatonine
based sleeping pills help - but you cant get them in the UK.

11-02-2003, 02:06 AM

    >Then I'll withdraw the suggestion of Brighton (not too easy to get to from
    >heathrow), try Windsor & Eton, or Oxford - But both might be a little larger
    >than you are looking for.
    >But getting over the jet-lag isn't easy - I find that some good melatonine
    >based sleeping pills help - but you cant get them in the UK.

Melatonin and Eton..sounds like a good combination!

Thanks!

jb

11-02-2003, 08:24 AM

> We are thinking of Winchester as a "day trip" from London? Is it worth a
> visit? If not...any suggestions?

Depends on what you are looking for. There is a magnificent Cathedral that
is worth visiting, and at the top end of town are dome Museums, the great
Hall and the round table which are all worth a visit.
If you are into military history you will enjoy Winchester, there are 4 or 5
Military museums with a very good reputation.

11-02-2003, 12:28 PM

"freeda" <> wrote in message
news:bo2ift$1648jk$...
    > > We are thinking of Winchester as a "day trip" from London? Is it worth
a
    > > visit? If not...any suggestions?
    > Depends on what you are looking for. There is a magnificent Cathedral that
    > is worth visiting, and at the top end of town are dome Museums, the great
    > Hall and the round table which are all worth a visit.
    > If you are into military history you will enjoy Winchester, there are 4 or
5
    > Military museums with a very good reputation.

And it's got an excellent train service from London. A train every half-hour
most of the time - takes just under an hour.

As a place it's vastly superior to Brighton.

Jonathan

11-02-2003, 12:36 PM

"Jbrodie1750" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > >> We are thinking of Winchester as a "day trip" from London? Is it worth
a
    > >> visit? If not...any suggestions?
    > >>
    > >> Thanks,
    > >>
    > >> jb
    > >
    > >It really depends what you are looking for.
    > >
    > >Have you been to Brighton ?
    > Here's the situation...we want to avoid the jet lag scenario of crashing
at the
    > hotel a few hours after landing at Heathrow...so we thought if we
immediately
    > headed out of town it would keep us awake. What are we looking for? A
small
    > town with on the order of Rye (but we have already been there) that has a
good
    > used bookshop!

Winchester is a great town but perhaps a little too far
on day 1. Try somewhere a little closer, Greenwich might
be a good idea, there's the National Maritime Museum and
the Cutty Sark as well as the Royal Observatory.

You can get there either by the Riverbus, which gives a nice
view of the Thames or by the Docklands Light Railway

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/river/mar_thamesclipper.shtml

Keith

11-02-2003, 01:23 PM

(Jbrodie1750) wrote:

    >Here's the situation...we want to avoid the jet lag scenario of crashing at the
    >hotel a few hours after landing at Heathrow...so we thought if we immediately
    >headed out of town it would keep us awake. What are we looking for? A small
    >town with on the order of Rye (but we have already been there) that has a good
    >used bookshop!

Are you going by train? I can only speak for myself, but the worst
thing to do after an overnight flight is to get on a train. The
gentle rocking puts me to sleep in minutes. To avoid jet lag, I would
just head right into London on the first day and save the day trip for
the next day, after you've acclimated.

K

11-03-2003, 01:22 PM

In article <>,
(Jbrodie1750) wrote:

    > >> We are thinking of Winchester as a "day trip" from London? Is it
    > > worth a
    > >> visit? If not...any suggestions?
    > >>
    > >> Thanks,
    > >>
    > >> jb
    > >
    > >It really depends what you are looking for.
    > >
    > >Have you been to Brighton ?
    >
    > Here's the situation...we want to avoid the jet lag scenario of
    > crashing at the
    > hotel a few hours after landing at Heathrow...so we thought if we
    > immediately
    > headed out of town it would keep us awake. What are we looking for? A
    > small
    > town with on the order of Rye (but we have already been there) that has
    > a good
    > used bookshop!

Winchester is a small and very historic town; the main attraction is the
cathedral but Olde Englande in general is thick on the ground. The only
bookshop that comes to mind is, I think, called The Winchester Bookshop.
There are some lovely forests and attractive little villages in the area,
for which you'd need a car.

An interesting alternative is Lewes (pronounced like Lewis). Georgian and
earlier architecture, castle, big arts scene, and two excellent bookshops:
Cumming's and Bow Windows, both on the high street. Also not far from
Brighton if you wished to pursue another poster's suggestion and see that
town.

Heathrow -> Lewes by train should take about two hours via London
Victoria.