Top day trips from London
Josh Martin reckons many cool and historical must-see spots are an easy, pocket-friendly return train ticket away.
London is many things but has never been described as ‘‘real England’’. I know this because every border control agent at Heathrow reminds me to ‘‘make sure to see the real England before you leave’’.
The advice is well heeded. But Kiwi tourists about to embark on a month-long European adventure can be forgiven for thinking half a week in London is enough to tick the UK off the list. That’s wrong, but I have a sympathy for those with crammed itineraries, who can spare only a few days in Blighty before seeing the rest of Europe.
But day trips to some of England’s highlights are worth a look too: cheap, convenient, and yes, ‘‘proper England’’. After you’ve wandered Westminster Abbey and toured the Tower of London escape the city to these spots.
Oxford
This is no secret, having existed for close to 800 years. But I’m surprised the amount of trade the tour buses get for taking travellers from the UK capital when a DIY trip is so easy. The student city is a perfect day out from London, but some tour companies charge more than double the price for what is a return train/coach ticket and a (sometimes) knowledgeable tour guide (granted, a witty and wise tour guide is worth their weight in gold).
However, a DIY trip to Oxford is a simple 56-minute hop from London’s Paddington station. Sunday offers the best off-peak day return train tickets to Oxford — less than £25 ($52.30) — where free city walking tours are as common as the posh accents. Tickets can be bought online ahead of time at thetrainline.co.uk or gwr.co.uk.
If a punt up the Cam is more your thing, the same comparison can be made with rival uni city Cambridge. Trips down the river pass the famous colleges as your captain turns Cambridge tour guide. Trains take a little longer than Oxford, at one hour and 10 mins, but better bargains can be found from £12 return on the Greater Anglia line from London’s Liverpool St station. (abelliogreateranglia.co.uk).
Stratford-Upon-Avon
Thatched roofs! Tudor history! Shakespeare! Country pubs! This riverside settlement in Warwickshire couldn’t be more English if it tried. It’s the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company too so, for only £28 return from London (via picturesque Leamington Spa) you can pretend to get the gist of the comedies and tragedies of its famous son, the Bard.
Stratford-upon-Avon is nestled among cute towns in easy reach of London, so tour companies often tack-on a visit to Warwick Castle and sometimes Oxford and the Cotswolds, but you’ll pay four times the price for a seat on a bus instead of the train, and will often have to pay for entrance fees on top of that fare.
If you only have a day spare, a pre-packaged tour is an OK (if rushed) option. Shop around or head instead to chiltern railways.co.uk for cheap, sameday return train fares from London’s Marylebone station.
Margate
It’s the new, hipper Brighton, they tell me. Margate, in Kent, boasts a run-down British seaside charm that is coming back with a vengeance thanks to artsy, moneyed Londoners buying up houses.
Of course, Brighton is a perennial boho-come-stag-dokitsch favourite and trains leave at least hourly from London’s Victoria station on the Southern Line. But Margate offers something a bit different, as well as harking back to the British seaside escapes before budget airlines opened up cheap family holidays further afield.
The Turner contemporary gallery balances the tacky pier with mandatory games and candy floss. The nearby chalk white cliffs are Instagram-worthy, and adjacent Whitstable brags it’s the seafood mecca of England. Trains to the these coastal towns are available on the Southeastern line from Victoria station for around £20 return off-peak.
Bristol
Londoners will likely disembark the train a few stops before Bristol, in much-loved Bath. You could join the hordes of daytrippers to this quaint town as well, but just down the line Bristol is well worth a look too.
This part of the western trunk line is best avoided on Friday and Saturday when ticket prices and hot pool bathers go up. Bristol is home to graffiti artist Banksy’s collection (there are Banksy walking tour apps aplenty), a lively university quarter, as well as hipster haven Stokes Croft and posh Clifton, with its rather impressive bridge. Not to mention abundant Somerset brie and cider!
Organised day tours to Bath do chuck in a detour via Stonehenge, but they cost more than £50 just for a seat on a bus (and only a couple of hours or so at the destination). Taking the train from Paddington for the justunder two-hours journey costs as little as £30 return to Bristol or Bath and offers more time to peruse the sights of the southwest.
York
This is England. Complete with a tea blend, and a sub-par chocolate bar named after it. And it’s little more than two hours and a £25 return train ticket away.
A historical and more storybook city than London, relive those English history lectures up in Yorkshire – a long, but achievable day trip from the capital from Kings Cross station.
Virgin Trains and the Trainline websites show deals available in the high season, and due to its position on a main trunk line, a same-day return ticket ensures you can cram in some good sightseeing and alleyway strolling before picking the best train back in time for bed.