Day Trips from London
Some of England's finest places are an hour or two from London by train. Castles, university cities, the coast and the countryside, with realistic travel times and tips.
Some of England's most famous places are within easy reach of London. Castles, cathedral cities, university towns, the coast and the countryside can all be visited in a day by train or coach, and many of the journeys take less than two hours.
Our day-trip guides explain how to get there, what to see when you arrive and whether an organised tour or public transport is the better choice. Detailed route comparisons are also available from our sister site Viamo.net.
73 guides in this section.
Castles and history
Windsor Castle Day Trip
Trains, tickets and St George's Chapel.
Stonehenge Day Trip from London
Tours or public transport, and combining it with Salisbury.
Canterbury Day Trip
The cathedral, the old streets and the river.
Leeds Castle Day Trip
The castle on a lake, and how to get there.
Dover Castle and the White Cliffs
The castle, the tunnels and the cliff-top walk.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
Cities and countryside
Oxford Day Trip from London
Colleges, the Bodleian and a one-day walking route.
Cambridge Day Trip from London
Colleges, punting and King's College Chapel.
Bath Day Trip from London
The Roman Baths, the Crescent and the timing.
Brighton Day Trip from London
The pier, the Pavilion and the Lanes.
The Cotswolds from London
The villages, and how to get there without a car.
Seven Sisters Cliffs
The walk, the viewpoints and cliff-edge safety.
Paris for the Day by Eurostar
Timings, border controls and a realistic plan.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
Castles, houses and history
Hever Castle
Anne Boleyn's childhood home, and how to reach it by train.
Bletchley Park
Where Enigma was broken, under an hour from Euston.
Warwick Castle
A real castle run like a theme park, and who it suits.
Highclere Castle
The Downton house, open only on certain dates.
Chartwell and the Houses of Kent
Churchill's home, and what else is within reach by train.
St Albans
Roman walls and a cathedral, twenty minutes from St Pancras.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
Coast and countryside
Whitstable
Oysters and beach huts, about eighty minutes from London.
Margate
A Turner gallery, an old town and a vintage funfair.
Rye and Camber Sands
A cobbled town and a very wide beach, on one line.
Winchester
The old capital, an hour from Waterloo.
Salisbury
The tallest spire in Britain, and the way to Stonehenge.
Portsmouth and the Historic Dockyard
Nelson's flagship and the Mary Rose, on one ticket.
Box Hill and the Surrey Hills
A proper hill walk, under an hour from Waterloo.
Lewes and Arundel
Two castle towns, both reachable before lunch.
Stratford-upon-Avon
A long day, and whether you should stay the night instead.
The Isle of Wight
Train, ferry, and whether a day is really enough.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
Gardens, palaces and the coast
Hampton Court by Boat
Three and a half hours upriver - and when it is worth it.
RHS Wisley and the Surrey Gardens
Great gardens within an hour, reachable without a car.
Blenheim Palace
A Vanbrugh palace, a Brown park, and Churchill's birthplace.
Sissinghurst and the Gardens of Kent
The white garden - and the truth about getting there by train.
Colchester and Roman Essex
Britain's first city, under an hour from Liverpool Street.
Southend and the Essex Coast
The longest pleasure pier in the world, an hour out.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
Which trip, and how to do it cheaply
Oxford or Cambridge for a Day?
Which you can actually get into, and which suits a first visit.
The Cheapest Day Trips From London
Under £20 return, if you book the right ticket on the right day.
Day Trips From London That Work With Children
The journey is what goes wrong. The trips that stay under an hour.
The Seaside in a Day From London
Six beaches within two hours, from pebbles to actual sand.
Windsor in Half a Day
Castle, Long Walk and Eton High Street, back for dinner.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
Theme parks, with the fare and the queue
Legoland Windsor
Best for under-tens, dear at the gate, and easy without a car.
Thorpe Park and Chessington
One for teenagers, one for small children. Which, and what it costs.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
Cities a day trip now reaches
York in a Day by Train
Two hours each way. It works as a day, if you start early.
Bristol in a Day
Ninety minutes to Brunel's ship and the harbour. Never on a Monday.
Ely and the Fens
Seventy minutes to one of England's great cathedrals. Almost nobody goes.
Brussels by Eurostar
Under two hours, and home the same night. Mind the check-in.
Lille by Eurostar
Eighty minutes to France, and the cheapest Eurostar day out.
Amsterdam by Eurostar
A weekend, not a day. And the return leg is not like the outward one.
Disneyland Paris from London
No direct train now. What the change adds, and what a family pays.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
The coast and the Weald
Hastings and the Battle of 1066
A fishing town and the real battlefield, one stop apart.
Eastbourne and Beachy Head
A seafront, a bus, and the highest chalk cliff in Britain.
Rochester and the Chatham Dockyard
Forty minutes to a castle, a cathedral and the navy's own dockyard.
Knole and Sevenoaks
A house the size of a village, and a thirty-minute walk up from the train.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
The Thames upstream, and north
Henley-on-Thames and Marlow
The best river walking near London, and what the regatta does to Henley.
Hatfield House
Twenty-five minutes from King's Cross. Check the season first.
Whipsnade Zoo and Woburn
One is easy by bus and half price with the ticket. The other needs a car.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
Steam, for people who like trains
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
Cathedral cities and market towns
Norwich in a Day
Two hours each way. Whether a day is enough, honestly.
Lincoln in a Day
A great cathedral, a Magna Carta, and a very steep hill.
Lavenham and the Suffolk Wool Villages
The most crooked village in England, and how to reach it by bus.
Chichester and Goodwood
A Chagall window, a Roman palace and a racing circuit.
Guildford and the River Wey
Thirty-five minutes to a cobbled high street and a river path.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
Great houses within reach
Waddesdon Manor
A Rothschild house that looks French. And the bus that reaches it.
Cliveden
Terraced gardens above the river, and a walk from Taplow station.
Woburn and the Bedfordshire Houses
The abbey is shut, the safari park needs a car. What is left.
Penshurst Place and Ightham Mote
A 1341 roof and a moated manor, four miles apart in Kent.
Bodiam Castle and Scotney Castle
The castle everyone draws, reached by steam train.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
Steam, wheels and small worlds
The Watercress Line
Ten miles of steam, reachable from Waterloo without a car.
The Epping Ongar Railway
The only heritage railway you can reach on a Tube ticket.
Brooklands and the Motoring Museums
The world's first motor circuit, with a Concorde you can board.
Bekonscot Model Village
The world's oldest model village, frozen in the 1930s.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.
Hills, coast and water
The Chilterns and Ivinghoe Beacon
Chalk hills an hour out, and the start of the Ridgeway.
Runnymede and Virginia Water
Where Magna Carta was sealed, and a lake with a ruined temple.
Broadstairs and the Thanet Coast
Seven bays and the best sand ninety minutes out. Not Margate.
Photos in this list: photographer and licence for each image are listed on our image credits page.