The Best Day Trips from London for History Lovers

London is fantastic, we're not here to disparage London. We live in London! We are so London we will push you down a tube escalator if you stand on the left (just kidding, though we might daydream about it). But if you've already done the Tower, the British Museum, and approximately nine thousand coffee shops, it might be time to venture beyond the M25. Within two hours of the capital lies a collection of towns and cities so packed with history that London starts to look like it’s late to the party. Here's our top picks.

Canterbury, Kent

Canterbury has been pulling in visitors for nearly a thousand years, which must mean it’s genuinely worth the trip, especially as it’s buried in deepest, darkest Kent. Or they’ve just done an excellent marketing job. Either way, the Cathedral is one of the finest in Europe (and I’m from Gloucester so it pains me to say that), the medieval city walls are remarkably intact, and the old town is a tangled maze of timber-framed buildings and ancient alleyways that rewards anyone who bothers to look up.

Most people stick to the obvious highlights and call it a day. Which is fine. But Canterbury has layers — Roman foundations (literal layers), a Viking past, and stories tied to Becket's murder that are considerably stranger and more dramatic than the history books tend to let on. Give it a full day rather than a flying visit. It's earned it.

Getting there: High-speed trains from St Pancras take around 1 hour 20 minutes.

Winchester, Hampshire

Here's something London doesn't like to talk about: before it was the capital, Winchester was. Seat of Alfred the Great, home of the Winchester Bible — one of the finest surviving medieval manuscripts in existence — and a city that quietly shaped the early history of England while London was still figuring itself out.

It has a Cathedral that stretches longer than any other in Europe, a high street full of independent shops, and a compact centre that's easy to explore on foot. They also have a pizza place that serves tater tots which are hard to find outside of the US, trust us, we’ve looked. It also sits at the start of the 100m (160km) South Downs Way, if you're the sort of person who thinks a good walk is an acceptable way to extend a historical adventure. Which it absolutely is.

Getting there: Direct trains from London Waterloo take around 1 hour.

Rochester, Kent

Rochester is the day trip that Londoners keep meaning to take and somehow never do — which is their loss, frankly. Forty-five minutes from St Pancras and you're looking at a Norman castle AND a Cathedral that's been standing since the seventh century. Yes, the castle and cathedral double whammy in a city that has a population roughly half that of Kensington and Chelsea. Dickens himself lived nearby and set several novels here. He clearly knew a good location when he saw one.

It's a town that gives back the more attention you pay it, and most visitors leave wondering why they waited so long, we were. Don't be one of those people, be better than us.

Getting there: High-speed trains from St Pancras take around 45 minutes.

Rye, East Sussex

Rye looks like someone picked up a medieval town, put it on a hill, and said ‘stay’. Perched above the Romney Marsh, its cobbled streets, crooked timber-framed houses, and hilltop church make it one of the most visually arresting small towns in England — think of the pics you can get for the ‘gram!

Once a Cinque Port, repeatedly raided by the French during the Hundred Years' War, and later a notorious hub for smuggling that the locals were apparently quite enthusiastic about (fair) — Rye has lived. Its compact size means you can cover it comfortably on foot in an afternoon, which leaves plenty of time for a very good lunch. And when we say comfortably, we’re not referring to the cobbles, which will nobble anyone not in the flattest of shoes.

Getting there: Trains from Charing Cross take around 1 hour 20 minutes, usually with a change at Ashford.

Greenwich, London

Strictly speaking Greenwich isn't a day trip out of London, as it is in London, but it doesn’t really feel like London, so it’s getting a place on this list. A UNESCO World Heritage Site sitting just 30 minutes from central London, Maritime Greenwich packs the Old Royal Naval College, the National Maritime Museum, the Cutty Sark, and the Royal Observatory into one of the most historically rich square miles in the country. And a big hill which really works those glutes.

It's also the home of Greenwich Mean Time, which means that technically, all time begins here. We don't want to overstate it, but literally nowhere else on Earth can say that.

Getting there: DLR to Cutty Sark, or take the river boat from central London if you want to arrive in appropriate style. Oversized sunglasses and silk scarf flapping in the wind are optional, but advised.

Want to Really Get Under the Skin of These Places?

Sightseeing is great. But if you want to go beyond the obvious and uncover the stories that most visitors walk straight past, that's exactly what X Hunts is for. We make self-guided clue hunts set in historic UK towns and cities — part treasure hunt, part outdoor escape room, entirely on your own terms. No guide, no booking, no app. Just a hunt booklet, a trail of clues, and one of England's finest towns or cities waiting to be explored properly.

We have hunts available in Canterbury, Winchester, Rochester, Rye, and Greenwich, as well as nine (and growing) other historic locations across England. Find the full collection at xhunts.co.uk.