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What interesting place can I visit next to London?

I'm from Argentina and in may I'm going to stay in London for some days. I'm thinking to visit any place next to London (like Brighton or Bath) but I want some advice. I'm an architect and I love history, gardens and modern architecture. If I can go to the beach, better. Thanks!!!!

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Plenty of sand castles in Brighton :) mmm yes!
Saint Albins is an ancient Roman city and the amplitheatre is ever still there... it's one of the nicest places around London that I know of.
Brighton is really nice.It's for your case.You can also visit Cambridge.
There are lots of places that you'd enjoy around London. Windsor is just to the west of London: there you'll find Windsor Castle (one of the Queen's official residences) which dates back 900 years -- it's the largest and oldest castle in the world. This makes it is fascinating architecturally (here's the link for its website: http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page557.asp ) Brighton is about 30 miles south of London and is certainly your best beach option around here (the sea will still be very cold, though, even if we have sunny weather!) There are some fantastic historic buildings here -- from the astonishingly exotic Royal Pavilion ( http://www.royalpavilion.org.uk/palace/the_palace.asp ) to the gorgeous 1930s Shoreham Airport (pictures and a bit of history for you here: http://www.shorehamairport.co.uk/airport-history.asp ) Cambridge, 50 miles north of London, is another brilliant place to visit from your point of view. Its university buildings predominate and they're like an architect's historic sampler, running from 15th-century King's College chapel to 20th-century contributions by Norman Foster and James Stirling. (more info on architecture in Cambridge here: http://www.e-architect.co.uk/cambridge_architecture.htm ) There's also a lovely botanic garden tucked away right in the heart of Cambridge. ( http://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/ ) And Bath would certainly be worth the trip -- it's not 'next to' London since it's about 100 miles west, but by train it's less than two hours. The ancient Roman baths are unmissable, and the Georgian town buildings are some of the best you'll see anywhere. ( http://www.beautifulbath.co.uk/ ) Wherever you visit, have a wonderful time!
Windsor,only half hour by train from London. Hastings by the sea is lovely, again easy to get to by train. It's a pretty fishing and seaside town, just down the coast is an amazing Art Deco building in Bexhill. Hampton Court on the outskirts of London is very historic. If you like gardens, go to Kew Gardens. Also, Oxford is lovely, very English. If you want to go further, then you must go to Lincoln. Roman city, with ruins and the most beautiful cathedral in Europe, plus a castle from the middle ages. About 2 - 3 hours by train or car. Enjoy your trip.
Here are some interesting places not too far from London and which we Londoners also visit, from time to time. YouTube - Brighton Breeze The convoy, as Dean and Ben catch up with the rest of the crowd up front. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2TMy9R8Ri0 - Cached YouTube - Brighton Kite Jumping EXTREME Check out these lunatics usings kites to do things like backflips and massive jumps!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=semzVdaACTU - Cached YouTube - Brighton Bonanza 2006 Part 1 Brighton Bonanaza 2006 Part 1 - Unfortunately the quality is poor. http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=xTlJYdO1e-M&feature=related Next vid-clip is of the Roman City of Bath - it's a train journey away from London and you get trains to Bath from London Paddington on the GWR run : - YouTube - City of Bath, World Heritage Visit WWW.STOCKSHOT.NL for highres version or broadcast video footage. More culture available! The Romans discovered pleasant thermal springs in the county ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NMvSSyFgGw