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Attractions & day tripsBy Clever Tourists · Published
Oxford, Bath and Windsor are the best day trips from London. Oxford is about an hour from Paddington and is all walkable from the station; Bath packs Roman baths and Georgian crescents into a centre you can cross on foot, about 1.5 hours away; Windsor has the castle a few minutes from the train. We spent 8 days in London in November and December 2023, then went west: Bath for 3 nights, with Bristol and Castle Combe nearby, then Oxford on the way north. Below are eight trips ranked by what you get for the hours on the train, with the ones we think deserve a night flagged.
• Oxford: about 1 hour from Paddington. Best all-round day trip.
• Bath: about 1h15 to 1h30 from Paddington. The best single town in reach, but better with a night.
• Windsor: about 25 to 50 minutes via Slough, or about 55 minutes direct from Waterloo. A half day.
• Cambridge: about 50 minutes on the fastest trains from King's Cross. Colleges and the Backs.
• Brighton: about 1 hour from Victoria on the fastest trains. Seafront and the Royal Pavilion.
• Canterbury: about 55 minutes from St Pancras on the high-speed line. Cathedral city.
• Stonehenge and Salisbury: about 1.5 hours to Salisbury, then a bus. A long day.
• The Cotswolds: about 1.5 hours to Moreton-in-Marsh, then thin bus links. Better by car or as an overnight.
Times are for the fastest direct services and vary through the day; check National Rail Enquiries before you go. Off-peak returns are much cheaper than peak tickets, so on weekdays aim for a train after the morning rush.
What it is: the university city, with the Radcliffe Camera, the Bodleian Library, the Bridge of Sighs and college quads all within a 15-minute walk of each other. Oxford was a stop on our route between Bath and Leamington Spa.
Getting there: GWR from Paddington to Oxford station takes about an hour, with trains roughly every 30 minutes; the fastest services are closer to 50 minutes. Chiltern trains from Marylebone go to Oxford Parkway, north of the centre, so Paddington is the better choice for a day trip.
How long: a full day. Morning on Broad Street and Radcliffe Square, afternoon in one college and the Ashmolean.
Who it suits: first-time visitors who want one classic English town without a long journey.
Tip: colleges set their own visitor hours and close at short notice for exams and events, so check the one or two you want on the day rather than planning around all of them.
What it is: England's only city that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in its entirety, built of pale gold limestone over a 2,000-year-old Roman bathing complex. The Royal Crescent, Bath Abbey and Pulteney Bridge are all walkable from the station. Our Bath guide covers it in detail.
Getting there: GWR from Paddington takes about 1h15 to 1h30.
How long: a long day covers the Roman Baths, the abbey and a walk up to the Royal Crescent. We gave Bath 3 nights after London and would again: the river path from Pulteney Bridge at dusk is the part day-trippers miss.
Who it suits: anyone with a week in England. If you have only 4 or 5 days in London, it is the one trip worth the extra time.
Tip: better as an overnight. Bath is also the easier base for Castle Combe and the southern Cotswolds. In late November and December, see our Bath Christmas market guide for dates and crowds.
What it is: Windsor Castle, the largest occupied castle in the world, with the State Apartments and St George's Chapel, plus Eton across the river.
Getting there: from Paddington, change at Slough for the branch line to Windsor & Eton Central, about 25 to 50 minutes in total; or take the direct train from Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside, about 55 minutes. Both stations are a few minutes' walk from the castle.
How long: half a day, which leaves the afternoon for London.
Who it suits: royal-history fans and anyone short on time.
Tip: Windsor Castle opens Thursday to Monday only and is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as well as on some extra dates when it is in royal use. St George's Chapel is closed to sightseers on Sundays. Check the Royal Collection Trust closures list before you go.
What it is: the other university town, flatter and more compact than Oxford, with King's College Chapel and the lawns of the Backs along the River Cam.
Getting there: the fastest trains from King's Cross take about 45 to 50 minutes; slower services take over an hour, so pick your train.
How long: a full day, or a long half day.
Who it suits: people choosing between Oxford and Cambridge who prefer a river and green space. If you have time for only one, Oxford has more to see; Cambridge is calmer.
Tip: Cambridge station is about a 25-minute walk from the centre. Walk in along the Backs or take the bus rather than a taxi.
Brighton is London's seaside: the pier, the shingle beach, the onion domes of the Royal Pavilion and the narrow Lanes. The fastest trains from Victoria take just under an hour. Best from May to September; in winter it is a walk on the front and a museum.
Canterbury has the cathedral, seat of the Church of England and the site of Thomas Becket's murder in 1170, inside a ring of medieval walls. Southeastern high-speed trains from St Pancras reach Canterbury West in about 55 minutes. Half a day is enough for the cathedral and the old centre.
Stonehenge is the hardest of the three. South Western Railway runs from Waterloo to Salisbury in about 1.5 hours, then the Stonehenge Tour bus from outside Salisbury station takes around half an hour to the visitor centre. Book a timed ticket with English Heritage in advance, especially from May to September. Give the rest of the day to Salisbury Cathedral, which has one of the four surviving copies of the 1215 Magna Carta. Allow about 2 hours each way door to door; this is the one trip where a coach tour can make sense.
What it is: the honey-stone villages of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire: Bourton-on-the-Water, Stow-on-the-Wold, the Slaughters, and in the south, Castle Combe.
Getting there: trains from Paddington reach Moreton-in-Marsh, the one Cotswold town with a mainline station, in about 1.5 hours, and Kingham in about 1h25. From there you rely on local buses such as the 801 through Stow and Bourton, which run infrequently, with little or no service on Sundays.
How long: a full day sees two villages at most by public transport.
Tip: better as an overnight, or by car. We reached the southern edge from Bath, with Castle Combe on the way to Swindon; see our Castle Combe day trip guide. That is the easier approach than a return day from London.
After our first week in London we spent 19 days going west and north: Bath, Swindon, Leamington Spa (with Kenilworth Castle nearby), 3 nights in Castleton in the Peak District, Shrewsbury, and 2 nights at Rowberrow in the Mendips for Cheddar Gorge and Wells. None of those last ones works as a day trip from London. The full order is in our England itinerary.
If you are deciding how much of your trip to give London itself, our how many days in London guide recommends 4 to 5 days, with a sixth for a day trip. For bases near Paddington, King's Cross or Waterloo, see where to stay in London.
• Pick your terminal first. Paddington serves Oxford, Bath, Windsor and the Cotswolds; King's Cross serves Cambridge; St Pancras serves Canterbury; Victoria serves Brighton; Waterloo serves Salisbury and Windsor Riverside. Staying near the right one saves an hour a day.
• Off-peak fares. Weekday peak returns can cost several times the off-peak price. Avoid trains arriving into London before about 9:30am.
• Getting to the terminal. Contactless or Oyster covers the Tube to the station; see our Oyster vs contactless guide. National Rail tickets to Oxford or Bath are separate.
• Winter light. In November the sun sets around 4pm, so start early and save the indoor sights (the Roman Baths, a cathedral, a college chapel) for the afternoon.
• Entry: US and other visa-free visitors need a UK ETA before flying; see do I need a visa for the UK.
Oxford for most people: about an hour from Paddington and walkable from the station. Bath is the better town but about 1.5 hours away, and better with a night.
Yes. GWR from Paddington takes about 1h15 to 1h30. A long day covers the Roman Baths, the abbey and the Royal Crescent, but we stayed 3 nights and would recommend at least one.
No. Windsor Castle opens Thursday to Monday and is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, plus some extra dates. Check the Royal Collection Trust closures list before you go.
Yes, but slowly. Trains reach Moreton-in-Marsh in about 1.5 hours, then infrequent local buses link the villages, with little service on Sundays. An overnight or a car works better.
Train from Waterloo to Salisbury, about 1.5 hours, then the Stonehenge Tour bus from outside the station, around half an hour. Book a timed English Heritage ticket in advance.
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