Escape from London

Any advices about a weekend around London by car?
Something like a nice town, somthing to see and to do but not far..
Many thanks!
Giulia

Few possible places you could go, first few in my list are mainly day trips but could make something out of it.

Leeds Castle (near Maidstone, Kent)
Stonehenge
Lacock and Avebury
Bath

Many thanks mojorob,
I'll will start with my excursions this weekend!
Giulia

I would recommend Brighton. It's not far from London and would make a good day trip by car or even a weekend break!

I would seriously consider going by train rather than car. As you know, London traffic is awful.

I once drove to Brighton from Hammersmith and it took about an hour just to get down to Wimbledon. The train to Brighton is an hour from Victoria.

I too can reccommend Brighton, being my home town. There is tons to do, whatever interests you. If the weather is fine you can stroll along the beach to Palace Pier then take the Volks railway to the Marina. Or, in less inclement weather (as it is now!) you could go shopping in the Lanes (very posh), North Laines (very trendy), Kemptown (again, trendy). We have the Royal Pavilion, several museums and some beautiful buildings.
From Brighton you can go by car or bus into the countryside. There are many quaint villages, castles, ruins, historical buildings, farms etc. The bus service is very good, you can get a one day rover ticket to most places. Driving in and around Brighton can be a bit of a nightmare and parking really expensive. If you want to go out and see the beautiful Sussex countryside though, a car is a good option.
Another option aside from Brighton would be to head west to Oxford, a really fabulous historical city, and out to the Cotswolds. Just take the M40 off the M25 (leave really really early to miss the traffic!!!) and it will take you straight to Oxford in less than a couple of hours if memory serves me correctly.

Wherever you go, have a great weekend!

Thinking about it, you'd probably be better off by taking the train from London to Brighton, rather than going by car.

Also, Brighton has a good bus network, so you'll be able to get around and see the sights by bus if you fancy.

Anyway, if you do visit Brighton, have a great time!

Thankyou to every one!
Brighton was very nice!
I spend there the last sunny weekend...
Giulia

You should head for the Cotswolds - it depends what you want but it looks great and it's a relaxing break from Christmas shopping madness

Leeds Castle is stunningly beautiful and if you can get there as I did on a misty morning in Autumn, even better.

You can buy an all inclusive ticket from Victoria Train Station that includes a day return ticket, shuttle to and from the castle and entry to it. Or at least you could when I went ten years ago...Maybe you youngens can do it on the new-fangled interweb thingy.

Would also recommend either Oxford or Cambridge, though Cambridge has better punting. It's cheaper to get to Cambridge from Liverpool Street station than Kings Cross, though when you get your ticket at the machine, check you get the one that is National Express East Anglia routes only or something like that. Check out times and prices at nationalrail.co.uk. If you book in advance Oxford has cheap tickets by rail.

Although I've never been, I have been told several times about going by train to Otford near Sevenoaks. You can walk along the North Downs way which is beautiful and stay in a Youth Hostel called Kemsing though looking on the YHA website it may have closed down.

Tom