Free day trips from London by train

Free days out of London. The day is free to do on foot; the train is the only real cost, so we list the cheapest line and an honest advance fare for each. 19 trips and counting.

By the coast

Brighton by the sea (East Sussex) — Pebbles, the Lanes and a pier you can walk for free. The seaside London escapes to when it needs the sea. Train: Victoria to Brighton, 1h direct, advance singles from £10 each way.
Whitstable for the sunset (Kent) — A working oyster town with a shingle beach and the best free sunset in the southeast. Bring a jumper and watch the sky go. Train: Victoria to Whitstable, 1h20, advance singles from £12 each way.
Margate and the Turner (Kent) — A free world-class gallery, a wide sandy beach and a salty old town. The seaside that got its cool back. Train: St Pancras to Margate, 1h30 high speed, advance singles from £15 each way (cheaper on the slower Victoria line).
Seven Sisters cliffs (East Sussex) — The white chalk cliffs you have seen in a hundred photos. A free clifftop walk along the most dramatic coast in the south. Train: Victoria to Seaford or Eastbourne, around 1h30, advance singles from £15 each way.
Hastings (East Sussex) — A proper working fishing town with tall black net huts, a tangle of old lanes and big free clifftop views if you walk up. Salt air and chips. Train: Charing Cross to Hastings, around 1h30, advance singles from £18 each way.

Countryside

Glastonbury town (Somerset) — The strangest town in England: climb the Tor for free, sip from the holy springs and wander a high street like nowhere else. Train: Paddington to Castle Cary, 1h45 + bus, advance singles from £30 each way.
The Cotswolds (Gloucestershire) — Honey-stone villages, drystone walls and green hills. Hop off at Moreton-in-Marsh and walk between the prettiest villages in England. Train: Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh, 1h40 direct, advance singles from £20 each way.

Historic towns & villages

Sandwich goes medieval + French (Kent) — A free day trip to Sandwich in Kent. For one weekend the old medieval town fills with clashing knights, a proper French market straight off the Normandy boat and artists painting in the streets. Free entry all weekend, just turn up. Train: St Pancras to Sandwich, 1h35 direct, advance singles from £13 each way.
Rye (East Sussex) — A cobbled hill town that barely left the middle ages. Crooked streets, a ruined castle lookout and the marshes beyond, all free. Train: St Pancras to Rye, 1h10 (change at Ashford), advance singles from £18 each way.
Lavenham (Suffolk) — England's best preserved medieval village. A wonky timber-framed high street that looks like it is melting, all free to wander. Train: Liverpool Street to Sudbury, 1h40 + bus (change at Marks Tey), advance singles from £20 each way.
Saffron Walden (Essex) — A medieval market town with an ancient turf maze, pastel plaster houses and a huge common, all free. The grand country house next door is the famous bit. Train: Liverpool Street to Audley End, 1h + short bus, advance singles from £16 each way.
Windsor (Berkshire) — The castle costs a fortune but the town, the river and the three mile Long Walk through the deer park are free. That view back to the castle is the best bit anyway. Train: Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside, 55 min direct, advance singles from £12 each way.

Cities

Jane Austen's Bath (Somerset) — A day in Bath on foot: honey-coloured terraces, the Royal Crescent, the Circus and Pulteney Bridge. Jane Austen did it first. Train: Paddington to Bath Spa, 1h30 direct, advance singles from £25 each way.
Cambridge on foot (Cambridgeshire) — A free world-famous museum, the Backs and punts you watch rather than pay for. A college town you can do for nothing. Train: King's Cross to Cambridge, 1h10 (faster trains around 50 min), advance singles from £12 each way.
Canterbury (Kent) — A walled cathedral city you can do on foot. Medieval streets, the river and the old city walls, all free to wander. Train: St Pancras to Canterbury West, 56 min high speed, advance singles from £15 each way.
Salisbury (Wiltshire) — A cathedral with the tallest spire in Britain, free water meadows and the Constable view. Stonehenge and Old Sarum are up the road if you want them. Train: Waterloo to Salisbury, 1h30 direct, advance singles from £18 each way.
St Albans (Hertfordshire) — A Roman city twenty minutes out. A free cathedral, the ruins of Roman Verulamium and a huge park with a lake, all walkable in an afternoon. Train: St Pancras to St Albans City, 20 min direct, advance singles from £11 each way.
Oxford (Oxfordshire) — The dreaming spires plus two of the best free museums in the country. Wander the colleges, the covered market and the meadows for nothing. Train: Paddington or Marylebone to Oxford, around 1h, advance singles from £15 each way.
Stratford-upon-Avon (Warwickshire) — Shakespeare's town. The riverside, the canal basin, the old streets and the church where he is buried are free, even if the birthplace charges. Train: Marylebone to Stratford-upon-Avon, around 2h direct, advance singles from £20 each way.