Best Day Trips Near London

Day Trips from London

Studying abroad in London was a both exciting and scary idea, but one thing that drew me to moving to the UK was knowing that it is so well interconnected that I could easily slip away for the day for a nice study break and visit so many cool places. Here are some of my faves!

Oxford

Oxford is famous for being the home of the oldest university in the English-speaking world! I was lucky enough to have my school organize a trip during orientation week but there are many coach services that can you get there as well as a train from London’s Paddington Station.  You can walk around the cobbled streets and see many famous places along the way. We found a free walking tour which was awesome and the guide showed us many hidden gems that I didn’t even know were located in Oxford - inspiration for famous pieces of literature like Alice in Wonderland and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe are found here (the tour guides ask for tips at the end but that’s the only cost!).  It was so cool to see the historic university grounds as well as some filming locations and building inspirations for Harry Potter!

Stonehenge + Bath

Whenever I go somewhere new I look to see if there is a UNESCO World Heritage site nearby, so when I knew I was moving to Europe I was excited about the different sites I could go visit. Living in London, I am lucky to be surrounded by so much history including the Stonehenge site. Me and a friend rented a car and made a road trip out of it, but only do this if you are comfortable driving a manual car in many traffic circles on the left side of the road!  If this isn’t you there are a lot of companies that offer coach tours! You can pay to enter the interpretative centre/museum or you can walk along it for free. Right outside the fence is a free pathway that you can walk along - you don’t get as close but if you are a broke student like me this was an awesome option!

Bath is a cute English town famous for its Roman Baths.  We arrived later in the day so walking tours weren’t running anymore, but I have read that these are highly recommended if you are there earlier in the day.  If you pay to enter the Roman Baths you are given a free audio guide and can walk around at your own pace!  To get here you can also take a coach tour or a train from London’s Paddington Station.

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle and the town of Windsor is on the outskirts of London and is the site of the next royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan!! The castle is only one of the many things to do here though, including The Long Walk which is part of the castles entrance, visiting the Windsor & Elton Brewery, or a boat trip along the Thames. I wasn’t able to do all this in the day I went but it is making me want to go back again! It has some (or a lot) of royal history, especially as Queen Elizabeth II is from the House of Windsor, and now will be where another royal wedding took place. It is easy to get here from London, you could have an Uber or taxi take you but this would be costly, especially for students. Trains from Paddington and Waterloo Station travel here; you can also take the Green Line bus from Victoria bus station but this will take longer.

There are so many great places to visit that are so close to London all you need is one day.  These trips are awesome for busy students who may not have a whole weekend off, and are easy on the wallet. If you want to experience these great day trips for yourself, Across The Pond can help. Please contact one of our Advisors if you would like to find out more about studying in the UK.