Best classic road trips near London

Sometimes you’ve just got to get out of the city, haven’t you? And the good news, if you’re based anywhere around London, is that you are blessed with dozens of tempting day-trip options. Within two hours of the capital you’ll find beautiful old university cities, quaint half-timbered market towns, elegant riverside villages – and so much more.

So, next time you have a free day, why not fire up the classic car, pack a flask and some snacks, check your antique car insurance is up to date – and leave the city behind for a few hours? Here are a few suggestions.

Amersham

Journey time: about an hour

The pretty market town of Amersham must come high up the list of beautiful places within an hour’s drive from central London.

With a population of around 15,000, Amersham is a combination of two towns. Old Amersham, sitting in the valley of the River Misbourne, has a 13th Century parish church and beautiful, half-timbered pubs and coaching inns.

You’ll find more than 150 listed buildings here in the old town: it evokes the 17th and 18th centuries as well as any other small town in Britain. Further up and out of the valley, meanwhile, Amersham on the Hill is the newer town that developed when the Metropolitan Railway reached Amersham in the early years of the 20th Century.

Your route from London will take you up the A40, through the pretty and prosperous villages of Denham and Chalfont St Peter. Once arrived, you’ll want to start your tour with a potter along Amersham’s High Street, taking in the many beautiful Medieval, Tudor, and Georgian buildings along its length.

The Market Hall has an arcaded ground floor and octagonal bell tower, while the Amersham Museum occupies a charmingly ramshackle building from the 15th Century. It’s well worth a look inside, by the way: the Museum tells the story of the town across over 500 years, taking in everything from the Protestant martyrs who were burnt at the stake here, to Amersham’s very own perfume factory.

The town is nestled within the beautiful Chiltern Hills and, if time allows, you may want to strike out for a walk into this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Chilterns AONB website has details of some fantastic walks, ranging from three to ten miles. One walk passes the cottage that belonged to the poet John Milton (he finished the epic Paradise Lost here).

Lovers of vernacular architecture in all its guises will also enjoy the Chiltern Open Air Museum, essentially a large field featuring some 37 original dwellings and workplaces, lovingly reconstructed to save them from destruction.

Where to eat: The Artichoke is a splendid and much-garlanded pub. To tell the truth, though, in Old Amersham you are spoilt for choice when it comes to characterful old inns.

Brighton

Journey time: 90 minutes to 2 hours

Proper seaside-town atmosphere, masses of independent shops, an arty and slightly bohemian atmosphere: Brighton has an awful lot going for it. And, at two hours or under from the capital (as ever, depending on where you start from!), it’s no wonder that Londoners head there in their droves on any weekend when the weather is fine.

The drive down from the capital also happens to be rather nice – especially the last leg, which takes you over the remote, atmospheric South Downs, another Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Once you get to Brighton, your options are many. We imagine you’ll want to sample the famous beach, for starters: and it’s true, Brighton does beach culture extremely well. Grab yourself a deck chair and kick back on the pebbly beach. And do look at Brighton Pier, which has stood for more than 120 years and features a noisy, colourful cornucopia of arcade games, fairground rides and snack stands.

Next, head back into town for some retail therapy. The area known as The Lanes is celebrated for its architecture, with its rows of pastel-coloured Georgian terraces facing each other across quaint, narrow alleys.

However, The Lanes is even more famous for its multitude of interesting independent shops.
Highlights include Julien Plumart, a beautiful French patisserie specialising in some of the prettiest macarons you’re ever likely to see; and Knoops, purveyors of wonderful hot chocolate, made to your taste.

Brighton also has a couple of ‘world’s oldest’ accolades to its name. Sea Life is the world’s oldest aquarium, designed by the same architect who created the town’s Pier. Built in 1872, the aquarium will celebrate 150 years in 2022. Brighton also proudly boasts the world’s oldest electric railway, Volk’s Electric Railway. Opened in 1883, it made the short journey from the Aquarium to Royal Suspension Chain Pier, the forerunner to today’s pier.

Incidentally, Brighton has a distinguished engineering history. Among other things, the town was the manufacturing base for the BMW Isetta during the 1950s, as we documented elsewhere on our site.

Elsewhere, you must see Brighton Pavilion, lavishly modelled on Indian architecture. Coming across this Oriental flight of fancy in an otherwise oh-so-English seaside town is an astonishing experience. And Brighton Toy Museum is a little gem, with dozens of period toys crammed into Victorian cellars under the town.

Where to eat: The Ginger Pig is a super pub in a beautiful gabled building, serving food created from the finest ingredients across Sussex. You can even stay the night, if the drive back to London starts to lose its appeal.

Windsor

Journey time: about an hour

An hour’s drive west of London, the Berkshire market town of Windsor has much to recommend it, and makes a pretty perfect day trip from the city.

Of course your itinerary should include Windsor Castle, the massive fortified Norman residence where Queen Elizabeth spends many a weekend.

Part of Windsor Castle’s charm lies in its successful melding of various architectural styles. The castle was first built soon after the Norman conquest, in order to overlook a large stretch of the Thames and to protect the Normans’ dominance of London.

The complex also features the 15th Century chapel, one of the most admired buildings in the English Perpendicular Gothic style. From a later era still, Windsor’s lavish, late-Georgian State Apartments are also well worth strolling through – if only to get a feel for the incredible opulence that this castle has witnessed for centuries.

Marvellous though that building is, there is plenty more to Windsor than its castle. We recommend a leisurely stroll through Windsor Great Park, for centuries the Castle’s own private hunting woodland, and now open to all.

In particular, make a beeline for the Savill Garden, a large ornamental park filled with a breath-taking range of flowers and trees from around the world. In fact, you can tour the park on a horse-drawn carriage for full regal effect.

Nearby, you can visit Cliveden, a beautiful manor house beside the Thames that is probably most famous for its pivotal role in the so-called Profumo Affair.

Now a luxurious 5-star hotel, you could stop here for a lavish afternoon tea and get some photos of your classic in these amazing grounds at the same time. You can even hop on a boat at Cliveden Reach, one of the prettiest spots along what is a very beautiful stretch of the River Thames.

Where to eat: The Waterside Inn is rather special. For one thing, it enjoys an idyllic riverside setting, just along the river at Bray. For another, it has proudly held no fewer than three Michelin stars since 1985. The Waterside is for deep pockets, though, and there is a dress code. If you fancy something less exclusive (yet still excellent), try Two Brewers back in Windsor itself.

Cambridge

Journey time: 90 minutes to two hours

Both of England’s world-famous university cities, Oxford and Cambridge, are reachable from London in a day. As such, we’d strongly recommend a trip to either. Your choice may depend which area of London you’re setting out from: those on the west side of London will find Oxford much more accessible, while if you’re on the north or east side of the city Cambridge can be reached within two hours, perhaps less.

Of the two, Cambridge is a little smaller (its city centre, in particular, is more concentrated), which means that the historic and beautiful university and its colleges dominate the town somewhat more. If you’re after the concentrated Oxbridge experience, Cambridge is perhaps the one to go for – although you really should see both.

Cambridge is chock-full of wonderful museums and swooningly beautiful architecture, starting of course with its colleges. Among the latter, King’s, Trinity and St John’s are the largest and richest, and all definitely worth a visit (the view of King’s College Chapel from the banks of the River Cam is worth the drive on its own).

However, some of the smaller colleges have immense charm as well. Be sure to take a look at Jesus College, whose chapel is the oldest building still in use across the university. Its college grounds are beautiful, too, and are sprinkled with an impressive array of sculptures.

Elsewhere, Pembroke College, on busy Trumpington Street, has the oldest Gatehouse of any Cambridge college – a red-brick building dating from the 14th Century. Like Jesus, Pembroke also has a wonderful college chapel: indeed, Pembroke’s was the very first architectural design by a certain Christopher Wren.

A slightly less celebrated college, Sidney Sussex, is another beauty. Its wisteria vines burst into stunning lilac flower during May and June, while its Cloister Court is lined with elegant arches. Not so beautiful, but grimly fascinating, is the skull of its former student, Oliver Cromwell, buried under the college’s ante-chapel.

Of course, there is more to Cambridge than the colleges, beautiful and serene though they are: you may want to take a punt along the Cam, or soak up some knowledge and culture at the excellent Fitzwilliam Museum. And the city’s Botanic Garden is one of the best and most beautiful of its kind.

Where to eat: With its constant population of hungry students and tourists, Cambridge is stuffed with good places to eat. Pint Shop is great (anywhere with the slogan ‘Meat. Bread. Beer’ gets our vote). And Fitzbillies, at two locations in the city centre, is a student institution, doing brilliant eat-in or takeaway sandwiches, cakes and more.

Canterbury

Journey time: 2 hours

Come for the cathedral; stay for everything else. It’s true that most visitors will turn up in the picturesque Kentish city of Canterbury to visit its historic cathedral. The building does occupy a pivotal place in our history, after all – Thomas Becket’s murder by four knights within its walls is one of the most dramatic incidents in the story of England.

And, if that wasn’t enough, Canterbury is one of Britain’s finest Gothic buildings, built on a massive yet supremely elegant scale. The cloisters and chapter house are among its most serene enclaves.

But there’s plenty more to see in Canterbury. For example, you can take a punting tour through the city, along the river Stour, past historic hospitals, chapels, old weavers’ houses and a Dominican priory.

Meanwhile, anyone with fond memories of 1960s and 1970s children’s television will want to look in at the splendidly named Beaney House of Art and Knowledge.

Here, among countless other fascinating exhibits, you can find the original puppets used in the iconic children’s TV series Bagpuss and The Clangers. The shows’ creators, Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate, worked on them at Firmin’s barn just outside the city.

We also heartily recommend City Feast, a brilliant new weekend market beautifully sited on Canterbury’s riverside, and crammed with great street food stalls and inviting pop-up bars.

Finally, a few miles out of town, you can make a tour of Chartham Vineyard, makers of really rather good English wines.

Where to eat: At The Goods Shed, they take their food provenance seriously (much like we take our classic auto insurance seriously here at Lancaster). Locally grown vegetables, artisan cheeses, ethically sourced meat and freshly baked bread all find their way into the delicious dishes served up in the restaurant. Elsewhere, the pizzas at The Falstaff are pretty wonderful.

Classic car insurance: the ideal day-trip companion

The combination of a classic car and an inviting day-trip destination is pretty unbeatable. What will make the experience all the more enjoyable is the knowledge that you are covered by some specialist insurance for your classic car.

At Lancaster, we are proud to provide insurance for a huge range of classic vehicles, even those models that are hard to insure.

Contact us today to protect your classic.