Great Western Coffee Shop

From Hello Magazine (https://www.hellomagazine.com/travel/20210630116430/best-day-trips-from-london-by-train/)


Brighton, Windsor and Bath.   Yes, I recommend them all, and all served by GWR (though I would not use GWR London to Brighton)

For those of you who don't live in London ... where would your seaside, historic town and stunning city to visit be?

Let me start - from Melksham:
Seaside - Weymouth
Historic Town - (oh help - choice of many but most are cities ...) Oxford?
Stunning City - London

To Weymouth then X52 open top bus to Bridport (best on a market day - Sat or Wed) via West Bay. Then X51/53 to Lyme Regis and on to Axminster for return to starting point.

From Bristol,

Seaside: Dawlish/Dawlish Warren (I had to resist the urge to nominate Severn Beach there).

Historic Town: As Bath and Oxford are the obvious ones, may I suggest, as alternatives, Exeter or Portsmouth?

Stunning City:  Easy.... Cardiff.

Seaside: To be accessible by train I would suggest Tenby or Saundersfoot

Historic towns a bit of a problem as so few have railway stations.  Malmesbury, Tetbury and Cirencester have all lost theirs.  So perhaps Sherborne. 

My stunning city would be either Bath or Oxford

Seaside - Portsmouth/Southsea
Historic city - Chichester
Stunning city - Winchester.

From Bath:

Seaside - my choice would also be Weymouth. I still remember visiting for the first time on a sunny Saturday morning and just loving the walk along the promenade, just a stone's throw from the station.

Historic town - Gloucester. It has some absolutely wonderful old buildings dotted around the centre, such as the New Inn. A surprisingly large number, in fact, and good information about them both on boards and inscribed into paving slabs.

Stunning city - Bristol, it's harbourside on a sunny day is always a lovely wander with a view of such a variety of ships and boats.