Less than an hour from London Bridge, Hever Castle packs Tudor rooms, a double moat and award-winning gardens into an ideal day trip. Spend the morning in Anne Boleyn’s childhood rooms, wander the Italian terraces and finish with playful time in the yew and water mazes.

Spend a late-summer day in Canterbury: catch the high-speed from St Pancras, graze at the Goods Shed market, book a timed tour of the Cathedral, then drift through Mercery Lane and Westgate Gardens before a Westgate Towers view.

One long day takes you from St Pancras to Dover’s medieval keep, through evocative WWII tunnels and out onto the wind-swept White Cliffs. Sensible shoes, tide checks and a light daypack turn this fast-train trip into a restorative coastal escape.