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As much as we adore London, there are times when it’s good to switch things up a bit and venture out of the city. That doesn’t mean planning months in advance, booking a flight or paying an arm and a leg for overnight accommodation. It can be as simple as hopping on a train and being somewhere new in less than an hour. Voila!
Sounds tempting? For day trip season 2025, the Time Out team has ranked its favourite places that you can get to from London in less than an hour. And we named one town the best of them all.
We’ll give you some clues. It’s very pretty, it’s very, very historic and it’s a swift 54 minutes on the quickest train from London St Pancras. It’s... Canterbury!
Our writers said: ‘If you're in the market for a historical day trip, Canterbury might just have everything you're looking for. Any trip to Chaucer's town should start with the spectacular cathedral, where Archbishop Thomas Becket was martyred. But, there are plenty of more modern options too: Canterbury has a collection of little boutiques, a good food scene and plenty of half-timbered pubs to sip some pints in.’
Our top tip? The Old Buttermarket pub is the prime place for a sunny pint while people watching. Some of Time Out’s other favourite things to do in the city include stopping by Canterbury Cathedral, sticking a few coins into the juke box at Lade Luck Bar, checking out the weird and wonderful exhibits at the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge and grabbing brunch at the Refectory Kitchen. See our full guide to spending a day in Canterbury here.
Cambridge, which is just 47 minutes from the capital, was second on our list, followed by Brighton, which takes 54 minutes to get to by train.
The best day trips within one hour of London, according to Time Out.
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