Recommendations for days out by train?

[Guest]

Sometimes I like to get on a train with my bike and go for a wander somewhere that isn't London, but I find that places that don't seem that far away on a map can take longer to reach than you'd think and the fares vary hugely. (How can it take over two hours and require going via St Pancras to get to Canterbury?) My current favourite is King's Lynn and the Norfolk coast - only ?20 with a network railcard and some excellent off-road cycle paths if you want to get out into the countryside - but it's too far to do very often.

Can anyone recommend places that you can get to in about 1-1.5 hours from here with some interesting sights to see and that aren't too busy? Not a fan of Brighton but anywhere else would be great and a bit of coast would be a bonus.

Thanks.

[katie1997]

Ms B - I vaguely remember there was another thread on here a while ago about good cycle routes within easy reach of ED which may be useful if you can find it!

My friend who lives near (ish) Brighton goes cycling on the South Downs, not sure exact route.

You could take the central line tube out to Essex (Loughton or Theydon Bois) for a lovely day out cycling in Epping Forest.

[nylonmeals]

Eynsford in Kent is great - castle, roman villa, hope farm and riverside forest. Easy from Peckham Rye

[zeban]

The high speed trains are excellent. I bought a normal ticket to Ramsgate and then a ?4.80 supplement to use the high speed train. Took an hour.

[ianr]

> Eynsford in Kent is great - castle, roman villa, hope farm and riverside forest. Easy from Peckham Rye

I see you can't now actually go onto the castle site (looks like just a few wall remnants) as "Due to vandalism the site is closed until further notice", according to its English Heritage page. Though, as you say, Lullingstone is very close. And Down House is only a short ride from there. I have done DH by bike from ED, but train can get you most of the way.

[Alan Medic]

I assumed nylonmeals meant Lullingstone Castle which is alive and kicking. It's home to a pretty unique 'World Garden' where one of the family collected plants from all over the world and created this garden in the shape of the atlas view of the world. There used to be a little known series on BBC about how the family were trying to maintain the Castle. The guy whose garden it is was once kidnapped in the Amazon forest while searching for plants and held hostage.