Thorpe Park

A theme park for all the family. The entertainments range from tame roundabouts for toddlers, a farm (complete with rare breeds of sheep, goat & cattle) to Colossus a 10 loop roller coaster!

Other rides include Loggers Leap ( a water flume), Ribena Rumba Rapids (white-water rafting) and Depth Charge (plunge down a 40ft slide in an inflatable raft).

Thorpe Park is currently closed for the winter and reopens on 20th March 2004.

Buy tickets online at the Thorpe Park website or by phoning 0870 444 44 66.

Hampton Court Palace

Once the home of King Henry VIII, Hampton Court can now be visited by mere commoners. It's an excellent day out. Costumed guides (many of them history graduates) show you round the former royal apartments. Although knowledgeable they aren't stuffy and will make your visit a treat. Ask them why there are crosses marked on the walls in the corners of the courtyards!

Hampton Court Palace was originally built in the early 1500s for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. He was forced to hand it over to King Henry VIII in 1528 who further expanded it. Things to see: the magnificent State Apartments of Henry VIII and William III, 60 acres of immaculate riverside gardens and the world-famous maze.

Open every day except 24-26 December. The palace opens at 9:30 (except Monday - 10:15) and closes at 6pm (summer) or 4:30 pm (winter). Information line: 0870 752 7777

For more details visit the Hampton Court website.

Cliveden House is a historic building owned by the National Trust but leased to Cliveden Hotels and run as a top five star hotel. The extensive & picturesque gardens, together with some of the rooms, are open to the public. The house was owned by the Astor family and was the scene of the 1960's Profumo scandal involving Christine Keeler.
Closed December to March.

London

The Tower of London, West-End Theatres, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Nightclubs & Royal Parks - there just isn't enough space here to do justice to London.

Just make sure you allow plenty of time!

Chiltern Open Air Museum

A collection of historic buildings ranging from a 1940's prefabricated house through Victorian farm buildings to a reconstructed Iron Age House. Many of the buildings have original furniture and you may find costumed guides who'll explain how people lived.

The museum is open daily 10:00 am - 5:00 pm (last admission 4:00 pm) until 31st October. Follow the signs (with a horseless cart on them) from junction 17 of the M25. Tel 01494 871117. 24 hour information line 01494 872163. More details from the museum website. Distance about 12 miles.

Oxford

Oxford can be reached by car or train via Slough. The university is the major attraction although the Oxford Story, a "dark ride" puts things into perspective and is well worth a visit. Open topped buses tour the streets - keep your Windsor tour ticket and you can get £1 off the price of Oxford tours from the same company. (You can't miss them - the buses are identical.) Distance about 45 miles.

Stratford upon Avon

Home of the immortal Bard, William Shakespeare. And the world famous Royal Shakespeare Company which puts on productions of Shakespeare's work year round. Distance about 85 miles.

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