The ticket barrier at the London Waterloo, the 8.47am to the Hampton Court, the £15 day-return, the South Western Railway, and the 35 minutes, is the gateway to the day trip from the London, and the day trip is the essential escape from the city: the 1 hour on the train, the completely different England, and the train back in time for the dinner. The London is the best base for the day trips in the UK: the 12 main railway stations radiating from the centre, the trains to the 6 UNESCO World heritage sites within the 1.5 hours, and the choice that is the overwhelming, the castle, the university town, the cathedral city, the seaside, and the countryside. Here are the best.

The Best Day Trips from London

• The essential day trips: The Hampton Court Palace (the 35 minutes from the Waterloo, the £15 return): the palace of the Henry VIII, the Tudor kitchens (the 200 cooks, the 800 meals a day, and the most important Tudor experience in the England), the Great Hall (the Henry VIII’s, the tapestries, the hammerbeam roof, the most beautiful room in the Tudor England), the gardens (the 60 acres, the Privy Garden, the maze, the 300 years old, the 1,800 metres of the hedges, and the best maze in the UK), and the essential Hampton Court experience: the “Henry VIII: The King’s Great Matter”, the costumed tour, the essential, and the £8 extra. ~£27 for the adult. The Cambridge (the 50 minutes from the King’s Cross, the £18 return): the university city, the colleges (the King’s College, the chapel, the 1515, the fan vaulting, the largest in the world, the Rubens, and the most beautiful college chapel in the England. ~£13), the punting (the River Cam, the “Backs”, the view of the colleges from the river, and the essential Cambridge experience. ~£20 for the 45 minutes for the shared punt, and the essential strategy: the self-punt, the £25 for the hour, the 6 people, and the best value. The essential skill: the punting is the harder than the it looks, and the essential outcome: the falling in is the rite of the passage), the Fitzwilliam Museum (the free, the best small museum in the England), and the lunch at the Fitzbillies (the Chelsea bun, the sticky, the £4, and the essential Cambridge food. The 1920, and the best bakery in the Cambridge). More UK →
• The best day trips continued: The Oxford (the 1 hour from the Paddington, the £25 return): the Christ Church (the cathedral and the college, the Great Hall, the “Harry Potter” dining hall, the staircase, the largest quad in the Oxford, and the essential Oxford experience. ~£18), the Bodleian Library (the £10 for the guided tour, the Divinity School, the most beautiful room in the Oxford, and the essential photography), the Ashmolean (the free, the oldest public museum in the world, the 1683), the lunch: the Covered Market (the £5 for the pie at the Pieminister). The Seven Sisters cliffs (the 1 hour 30 from the Victoria, the £20 return, the bus from the Eastbourne, the Coaster 12, the £5 day-ticket, to the Birling Gap): the chalk cliffs, the white, the most beautiful coast in the south-east, the walk from the Birling Gap to the Beachy Head (the 5 km, the 1.5 hours, and the best day walk in the south-east). The essential: the walk, the pub at the Beachy Head (the £12 for the fish and the chips), and the return bus to the Eastbourne. The Windsor (the 30 minutes from the Waterloo or the Paddington, the £12 return), see the Best Castles post (#827)