The best day trips from London are Bath, Oxford and Cambridge, all between 50 and 80 minutes away by direct train and easy to do without a tour, while the Cotswolds are the hardest to fit into one day. Windsor and the Harry Potter studios need only half a day, and Stonehenge works better by coach.
| Destination | Travel time | Transport | Self-guided | Tour | Time needed | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Warner Bros. Studio Tour (Harry Potter)Film sets, props and costumes | 20 min | Train + shuttle | – | € 100.46 | 3.50–4 h | Worth half a day |
 WindsorWindsor Castle and Eton | 35 min | Train, 1 change | £ 58–62 | € 81.17 | 3–4 h | Worth half a day |
 CambridgeColleges, chapel and river | 49 min | Direct train | – | € 163.52 | 5–7 h | Worth a full day |
 CanterburyCathedral city in Kent | 51 min | Direct high-speed train | £ 45–53.40 | € 157.77 | 4–6 h | Worth a full day |
 BrightonSeafront, pier and Royal Pavilion | 58 min | Direct train | – | € 88.23 | 5–8 h | Worth a full day |
 OxfordUniversity colleges and libraries | 1 h | Direct train | – | € 85.50 | 5–7 h | Worth a full day |
 BathRoman Baths and Georgian streets | 1 h 20 | Direct train | – | € 92.93 | 5–7 h | Worth a full day |
 StonehengeStone circle on Salisbury Plain | 1 h 25 | Train + bus | – | € 68.60 | 2–2.50 h | Only with a tour |
 The CotswoldsStone villages and rolling hills | 1 h 33 | Train + bus | – | € 141.17 | 6–8 h | Better to sleep there |
 YorkMinster, walls and medieval streets | 1 h 45 | Direct train | £ 67.20–73.20 | – | 6–8 h | Worth a full day |
 Stratford-upon-AvonShakespeare's home town | 2 h 23 | Train | £ 37.80–39.80 | € 120.80 | 4–6 h | Better to sleep there |
No destination from London matches this filter.
Last checked: · Train times from Great Western Railway, South Western Railway, Chiltern Railways and Trainline; opening days and ticket prices from each attraction's official site or the local tourist office.
Three ways to use your free days, from the single trip we would pick to a full set.
With a single day, go to Bath. It has the most to see within walking distance of a station: the Roman Baths first at 09:00, then Bath Abbey, Pulteney Bridge and the climb to the Royal Crescent after lunch. Leave Paddington by 08:30 and return around 18:00. Book both trains as Advance tickets well ahead, because walk-up fares on this line are expensive.
Give day one to Bath and day two to Oxford, which is a shorter ride and needs no early start: trains leave Paddington almost every 15 minutes. See the Bodleian and Radcliffe Square in the morning, Christ Church after 14:00 and the Ashmolean before it shuts. If colleges bore you, swap Oxford for a Windsor morning and keep the afternoon for London. Windsor Castle is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so check which day you have.
Spread three different kinds of day across the week. Take the full day in Bath by train first. Use a Thursday, Saturday or Monday for Windsor, which fills a morning and leaves you back in London by mid afternoon. For Stonehenge take the direct coach from Victoria, since the train and bus route costs four hours of travel for two hours at the stones. Put the coach day last: its return time is fixed and motorway traffic can stretch it into the evening.
What the weather does, how full it gets and which trips work best in each season.
Works bestBathOxfordStratford-upon-AvonCanterbury
Works bestBrightonThe CotswoldsCambridgeStonehenge
Works bestYorkOxfordWindsorCanterbury
Works bestWarner Bros. Studio Tour (Harry Potter)WindsorYorkBath
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high (°C) | 8.4 | 9 | 11.7 | 15 | 18.4 | 21.6 | 23.9 | 23.4 | 20.2 | 15.8 | 11.5 | 8.8 |
| Average low (°C) | 2.7 | 2.7 | 4.1 | 6 | 9.1 | 12 | 14.2 | 14.1 | 11.6 | 8.8 | 5.3 | 3.1 |
| Rainy days | 11.5 | 9.5 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 8 | 8.3 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 7.9 | 10.8 | 11.2 | 10.8 |
Climate averages: Met Office, London Heathrow 1991-2020 averages (via the climate table of Wikipedia's London article)
Train fares decide the cost. Walk-up tickets to Bath or York are expensive, while Advance tickets tied to one train are far cheaper: Marylebone to Oxford starts from £ 5.40 and King's Cross to York from £ 23.60. Book entry ahead too. Windsor Castle is £ 32 in advance against £ 36 on the day, and the Roman Baths cost £ 26.50 on weekdays against £ 29 at weekends. Oxford's Ashmolean is free. For Stonehenge the coach from € 68.60 includes entry and saves effort.
Bath has its own buns, the large Sally Lunn and the smaller sugared Bath bun. Brighton means fish and chips eaten on the seafront. In the Cotswolds book a pub lunch or have a cream tea in Stow or Bourton. Oxford's Covered Market and Cambridge's market square both sell cheap hot food. York is the place for Yorkshire pudding and curd tart, Canterbury for Kent apples, cherries and Whitstable oysters. Bring a packed lunch to Stonehenge and the studios, where choice is narrow.
The same destinations, sorted by what you want from the day.
Worth half a dayThe studios at Leavesden where the eight Harry Potter films were made, 20 minutes by train from London Euston plus a 15-minute shuttle bus.
Worth half a dayA royal castle still in use, with State Apartments and St George's Chapel, about 35 minutes from London Paddington with one change at Slough.
Worth a full dayA university city on the River Cam, 49 minutes from London King's Cross on the fastest direct trains, known for King's College Chapel and punting.
Worth a full dayA walled cathedral city in Kent, 51 minutes from London St Pancras on the fastest high-speed trains, built around the cathedral where Thomas Becket was killed in 1170.
Worth a full dayA seaside city on the south coast, 58 minutes from London Victoria on the fastest trains, with a pebble beach, a pier and the Royal Pavilion.
Worth a full dayEngland's oldest university city, about 1 hour from London Paddington by train, with colleges, libraries and museums in a walkable centre.
Worth a full dayA compact Georgian city built around Roman thermal baths, 1 hour 20 minutes west of London Paddington by direct train.
Only with a tourA 5,000-year-old stone circle on Salisbury Plain, about 85 minutes by train from London Waterloo plus a 35-minute bus from Salisbury station.
Better to sleep thereA rural area of limestone villages north-west of Oxford, about 1 hour 35 minutes by train from Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh, then local buses.
Worth a full dayA walled medieval city in the north of England, 1 hour 45 minutes from London King's Cross on the fastest direct trains, centred on York Minster.
Better to sleep thereThe Warwickshire market town where Shakespeare was born and buried, 2 hours 23 minutes from London Marylebone on Chiltern's fastest train.
