London has a centrifugal effect: Bus routes, Tube lines and roads seem to conspire to draw you into the center toward the famous museums, Houses of Parliament, the river, churches, parks, grand arcades and theaters. You can stay occupied in the city for days without a thought of leaving town. Yet within a few hours of the capital, there are cathedrals, castles, medieval university towns, Roman ruins, Neolithic monuments, great country mansions, beautiful countryside and much more to give you a taste of England's complex, layered history.
Of all the historical and cultural sites near London, Salisbury, Oxford and Windsor are particular favorites of mine. All can be reached by car or public transport. If you're renting a car, be prepared for left-side driving on narrow, winding roads. If traveling by train, be sure to ask for a Cheap Day Return, which is less expensive than unrestricted, multi-day tickets.
On the way to Salisbury, stop by Stonehenge, the Neolithic monument whose origins remain a mystery.
(Photodisc)
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Windsor Castle and Eton
Windsor is for royalists. Brace yourself for shops filled with teaspoons, ashtrays, snow globes and every kind of trinket imprinted with images of the royal family. But if you can see past the tourist traps, the town with its awesome castle and nearby Eton and Legoland are good choices for a family day trip close to London. Castle aficionados will also want to consider visiting Leeds and Warwick castles, which are slightly farther away but still easily visited in a day.
I traveled to Windsor from Paddington Station, changing trains a few minutes away from my destination in a town called Slough (rhymes with "cow," as in poet John Betjeman's ode to the town: "Come friendly bombs, and fall on Slough / It isn't fit for humans now / There isn't grass to graze a cow."). The poet had it right. Through the smudged train windows were chimney stacks and shoddy business parks and power plants and row upon row of decrepit Victorian terraced houses. Teenagers who should have been in school loitered around the station. In the distance, the stone turrets of Windsor Castle loomed over Eton's vast lush green playing fields like an impossible dream.
Five minutes later I was in a different world. On the hill toward the castle, rows of twee shops sell everything from Georgian furniture to high-end ladies' fashion to expensive real estate to, inevitably, souvenirs. Women in smart suits wandered in and out of the shops and restaurants. I spotted a coach spewing tourists and followed them into the castle.
The castle at Windsor is one of the queen's official residences and the largest occupied castle in the world. It was established by William the Conqueror more than 900 years ago, high above the River Thames and a day's march from the Tower of London, to guard the western approaches to the capital. Since then, Windsor Castle has been extended by successive sovereigns, some of whom perceived it as a fortress, others as a palace -- hence its somewhat eclectic mixture of architectural styles.
The State Apartments are open year-round (except when the queen's entertaining), the Semi-State rooms from September to March when not in use. Yes, the royal family really lives here, but don't expect to see them -- they're experienced at keeping clear of public trails. The decor is overwrought; more interesting is the art hanging on the walls. The apartments are furnished from the Queen's Royal Collection, one of the world's finest art collections, including paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Gainsborough and the famous triple portrait of Charles I by Sir Anthony Van Dyck.
I prefer St. George's Chapel, a glorious Gothic structure begun in 1475. Ten sovereigns are buried here, including Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour, and Charles I. (Note that the chapel is closed on Sundays except for those attending services.) The charming Queen Mary's Dolls' House and the Drawings Gallery are also worth a visit. The gallery features changing exhibitions of material from the Royal Library at Windsor Castle and a selection of treasures such as drawings by da Vinci, Holbein and Canaletto.
The Great Park, once a hunting ground, stretches north and south from the castle, covering 5,000 acres. I climbed a hill to a statue of King George III, who was nicknamed Farmer George for his interest in agriculture. The monument of the king mounted on horseback commands sweeping views of the castle and, beyond, the suburban sprawl of Slough -- an unfortunate view, I thought, for a king who, like Betjeman, imagined an England full of green rural spaces.
You may not be able to see the royals at Windsor Castle, but in nearby Eton you can get a pretty good idea of how the nation's aristocracy educates itself for leadership. The walk across the Thames from Windsor to Eton takes about 10 minutes. Eton is a charming village filled with bookshops and antiques stores and is home to the country's most powerful public school, Eton College. Public in this instance means as private as you get; "public" was in contrast to private tutoring, which was how most aristocratic boys would have been educated in 1440, when Eton College was founded to provide free education for 70 poor scholars.
