10 Awesome Ideas For Alternative Day Trips from London!

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Despite London’s Southern location, London is a great place to explore the rest of the UK from. Thanks to great train and bus links, it’s possible to see many places in the UK on a day trip from London, and in this post, I am going to be giving you some great ideas for Alternative Day Trips from London and Unique Day Trips from London!

Often when looking online for the ‘best day trips from London‘ the same trips suggestions come up time and time again- Stonehenge, Bath, Brighton, Cotswolds, Windsor, Oxford and Cambridge.

Now don’t get me wrong, these are all good trips to do from London and whilst living in London I have done some of these trips including a day trip from London to Brighton, a day trip from London to Oxford and a day trip from London to Bath and Stonehenge.

However as a resident of London or as a tourist who has been to London a few times these options may start to seem a little boring and very ‘done’, you want something a bit different right??

So, in this London Day Trip Guide, I’m going to share with you some great alternative day tours from London visiting places that are a little less known.

They include quaint English countryside towns, high coastal views and a hop over to Europe, but the most important thing is that they are 1-2 hours from London and totally do-able within one day.

Best Alternative Day Trips From London

Best Transport For London Day Trips

Some of these are day trips from London by train, and I really recommend you use The Train Line to book your tickets to get the best price, you’re best to book the tickets as early as possible, I use The Train Line to book all of my trains in the UK!

Related Post: Read this post for even more day trips from London by train ideas!

If you want to drive but don’t have a car, you can hire a car in London to do these day trips, check out car hire in London here on Rental Cars.

If you would rather do a day tour with a group and guide so you can sit back and relax, where possible I have linked a day tour with Get Your Guide to these alternative day trips from London.

Get Your Guide offer a huge selection of tours, especially in the UK and are a really reputable company working with reputable companies. If you decide that a tour of their’s fits you and you use the link in this post I receive a small commission for recommending it which keeps this site going so I would appreciate it if you could use it.

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Day Trips from London

1. White Cliffs of Dover

This is top of the list for my alternative day trips from London by train or a day trip from London by car for a reason!

The Southern Coast of England is home to some pretty impressive White Cliffs, the most popular place to see these from is from Dover.

I went to the White Cliffs of Dover on a day trip from London by train and I had such a good day! I got to see plenty of the Cliffs and although I didn’t go to the Castle, Dover Castle is meant to be really good so I’d recommend you go!

If you want to get there yourself by train, have a look at my blog post: How to Visit the White Cliffs of Dover on a Day Trip from London!

2. Seven Sister Cliffs & the South Downs

Whilst we’re on the subject of White Cliffs, if you’ve already been to Dover or fancy one of the even more unique day trips from London, why not take a day trip from London to the Seven Sisters Cliffs! They’re also very incredible and span all along the coastline. This is a great day trip if you fancy a really good hike.

I got the train to Eastbourne Station which has a nice beach so you could go for a walk and go to the beach (weather dependent).

To find out how to get there yourself see my blog post: How to Visit the Seven Sisters Cliffs on a Day Trip from London!

3. Hastings

I recently debated whether to go to Hastings or Margate on a day trip from London. I decided on Margate however I didn’t love it which is why it’s not in this post. You can read my true thoughts on Margate, incase you want to go but I wish I had gone to Hastings!

Hastings is a classic British seaside town whereas so many others are a bit trashy! It has a pier, it has coloured beach huts and mini-golf, but it also offers a lot more than that which makes it a great day trip during the colder and cloudier months of the year like Winter, Autumn, Spring and sometimes even Summer!

It has the UK’s steepest funicular which gives beautiful views over the town and ocean, many independent shops, good British pubs, high-quality cafes and restaurants and it even has a True Crime Museum!

If you like the sound of this, you can jump on a train from London and within 90 minutes be down on the South Coast in Hastings.

If you need some more ideas on what to do, which you probably will check out Wanderlust Chloe’s blog posts below as she’s been twice, the photo is also from her trip: A Day Trip to Hastings from London.

4. Stratford-Upon-Avon

Looking at a map you may think Stratford-Upon-Avon (not to get confused with Stratford in East London) is a bit too far out of London for a day trip but it’s just 2 hours on the train followed by a short bus ride from the train station into the town centre.

It would be a long day but if you’re going to be spending at least 4 days in London, it’s definitely worth getting out of London and into the midlands as Stratford-Upon-Avon is such a beautiful, unique and of course Historic place.

Stratford Upon Avon is a great day trip from London because it’s home to Shakespeare’s birthplace which you can visit- a restored 16th-century half-timbered house and there’s nothing like walking or getting a boat along the River Avon.

You can get to Stratford-Upon-Avon from London by yourself easily and follow a Stratford Upon Avon Guide to see the best things in Stratford, or you can visit Stratford Upon Avon on a group tour.

The plus of going on a  tour is that you can also see some nearby places like Warwick Castle and then pop over to the Cotswolds before heading back to London, all in a day trip from London!

5. St Alban’s

This is a really good day trip from London and one of the best alternative day trips from London because it’s so close to London! A 20 or 30-minute train will take you from London City into a small city full of Roman ruins and Medieval architecture.

The Cathedral is perhaps one of the most famous parts of St Alban’s and that’s because it was founded in about the 8th century and has since been an Abbey and then a Cathedral, it’s very impressive and definitely worth a visit, although I doubt you’ll be able to miss it. Close to the Cathedral is England’s oldest pub Ye Olde Fighting Cocks which offers great food!

Aside from architecture and history, St Alban’s has a trendy food scene great for brunch or lunch and plenty of shops to keep you busy for a few hours.

St Alban’s is really easy to visit from London by yourself and if you want to know more about the city and what there is to do there see Top Things To Do in St Alban’s by Wanderlust Chloe, and the photo below is hers too!

6. Hever Castle & Gardens

The UK is home to some pretty amazing Castles. Warwick Castle in the Midlands is probably the most well-known but there are so many more Castles around and for a good day trip I’d recommend going to Hever Castle and Gardens in Kent.

I’d never heard of this castle before but my friend Liv from Liv on a Shoestring went and it looks beautiful as you can see in her photo below! You can get the train to Hever Station which is 50 minutes from London, following this it’s a 20 minute walk through fields or along the main road.

It’s possible to visit the inside of the Castle and see the what was once the home of Anne Boleyn, there’s also a huge garden and if you do a full lap of it takes about an hour. There’s a fun maze which means this is a good day trip from London for children and there’s even a Japanese Tea House.

If you want a really alternative and unique day trip from London, this is it!

7. Lewes

Brighton is a popular day trip from London and understandably so because its a cool area and there are lots of things to do in Brighton.

However, the small town of Lewes which is just 8 miles from Brighton and 70 minutes on a train from London has a totally different feel to it and is a true English Countryside town.

Lewes has a castle that is over 900 years old, many quirky independent shops and quaint tea rooms. The below photo is from Day out with the kids who have some things to do in Lewes too.

8. Canterbury

Canterbury in Kent can be reached within an hour from London by train, it’s pretty famous and you may know it from The Canterbury Tales or the Canterbury Cathedral which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Canterbury was once a pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages and it has a street that is over 1000 years old so you know that you’re going to see a lot of history there.

Aside from visiting the famous Cathedral you can walk along the River Stour or get some British tea in one of its many cafes.

Oneika The Traveller gives a low day on her day trip to Canterbury from London and I’ve also used one of her pretty photos below.  Canterbury is easy enough to visit by yourself however if you wanted to see more including Leeds Castle, the White Cliffs of Dover and Greenwich you could do a tour like this!

9. Lille

You probably know that you can do a day trip from London to Paris at a push (aka it can be done but it will be a long day) but for an alternative option in France why not consider Lille?

Lille is in Northern France so it takes just 90 minutes by train which can be booked on The Train Line too from London St Pancras which is incredible and is less / the same time as most of the journeys I've recommended in this post.

Lille looks like a really gorgeous city full of history and beautiful architecture. It's not that big but it seems there is plenty to do and enough to do in one day, especially if you spend a few hours of that eating French food!

My friend Sam from As the Sparrow Flies went, she wrote about how she spent a day in Lille from London which I'm sure you will find helpful and this is a photo from her time there!

10. Bruges

I love Bruges and I don't know anyone who has been that hasn't. I found that there are lots of things to do in Bruges during my weekend in Bruges a few years ago, and even though it's only small. A lot of people go to Bruges on a day trip from Brussels so why not go to Bruges from London?

Going to Bruges for the day independently might be a bit of hassle as you have to get the train to Brussels from London and then change onto a regional train, however, you can go on an organised tour to Bruges like the below and for a really good price of £79.00!

There's also an offer on a Christmas Market trip from London to Bruges which would be amazing! They do Christmas Markets well in Belgium!

This trip books up fast and isn't always available so be sure to look and book in advance:

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Remember to head on over to The Train Line to check for the best train ticket prices and times for these trips!

I hope you enjoy these alternative day trips from London!

Here are more day trips from London by train!