To ask for best things to see within 1.5 hours of London?

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My dd (aged 15) has a French friend coming to stay for a week in August. They met at a German language camp in Germany last year, and the girl then invited her to stay with her family in France. Dd had an amazing time - they showed her all around Paris, and went to a beautiful chateau a short distance outside of Paris.

Now this French girl is coming to stay with us. We live in north London. Our issue is that she's visited London several times before, with her family and school, so has seen all the big sights. We therefore want to find trips outside London we can take her on - most of them will need to be accessible by train/bus, because I work during the week so there'll be no one to drive them.

We were thinking dd could take her to Cambridge (to look round the city and go punting), to Brighton (the Pavilion, the lanes & the new tower) and maybe to Canterbury? Dd loves Salisbury (we used to live there) but we've ruled that out in the light of recent events.

But we need to think of at least 2 other interesting day trips they could go on. Does anyone have any suggestions of the best sights in SE England, or London hidden gems that she might not have seen already?

Blenheim Palace and Oxford?

Windsor Castle?

Hampton Court Palace. Across the road is Bushy Park where deer roam free.

Has she been to Kew?

Second Windsor! And somewhere in Kent maybe? Camber Sands?

Bicester Village if she likes shopping

If you go to Hampton Court you could get the train from Waterloo to Teddington. Then it is a short walk to Bushy Park, through the park and into Hampton Court! I would then get the train back to town from Hampton Court rather than going back through the park again.

Thorpe Park or Chessington?

What about doing some things away from the big tourist sites in London? Go to Brick Lane and do a street art tour, or join one of the walking tours on South Bank?

Or, it would be a long day, but Bath?

Has she done the Emirates cable car over the Thames? You could combine that with a trip to Greenwich which has a quirky market, good shops, a great park, the Greenwich Meridian Line and loads more.

Leeds Castle? Whipsnade/Woburn? Thorpe Patk/Chessington?

Hever or Leeds castles, Penshurst Place, Eltham Palace

Chislehurst Caves in Chislehurst (border of SE Ldn/Kent) is quite good if you fancy a historical thing - they are thousands of years old man made caves which were also used as a bomb shelter etc. Ignore the 90s-esque website but really interesting tour with oil lamps etc. You can get there (Chislehurst) from London Bridge/Charing Cross and it's just a short walk:

www.chislehurst-caves.co.uk

Chislehurst also has a nice village with country pubs/shops/restaurants.

Second both Windsor and Hampton Court as accessible by train.

Look into river trips near Hampton Court and Kingston.

Kew Gardens, also Richmond and walk along the Thames to Ham House.

How about a river boat trip on the Thames? You could get the boat from Westminster Pier to Greenwich, visit the Royal Observatory, walk in the park, go on the Cutty Sark and (the bit they'll probably like best) go to the market which has lots of quirky stalls. Greenwich also has lots of nice places to eat.

I'd give Brighton a miss, tbh. It's packed with people and the pollution from traffic is eye-watering - worse than anything I've experienced in London.

If you're on the mainline trains its easy to get to places like Cheltenham, Nottingham and Birmingham within an hour too.

Ely. Take the tour up to the roof of the cathedral.

Windsor is easy by train and fairly quick. The castle has a good self guided audio tour included and is across the road from the central station. We go from West London by train (Paddington line) change at Slough. There are boat trips on the Thames too.

Oxford prison museum and the Pitt-Rivers museum (which I would recommend to everyone as it is a good combination of utterly fascinating and a bit bonkers at the same time).

Are they interested in anything in particular?

What about Greenwich? Go by Thames Clipper boat from Central London, eat at one of the food stalls in the market?

Waddesdon manor
Whipsnade Zoo
Hellfire caves

I should RTFT as I see LakieLady has already suggested Greenwich

Definitely Oxford.

She can't have seen everything in London. What about the markets, street food, Skygarden, Hyde Park etc?

Brighton and the pier?

Margate is a fun day out, sandy beach and arcades 5 minutes walk from the train station, fish and chips, contemporary art gallery on the seafront.

Portsmouth. Home to the Royal Navy, Mary Rose, HMS victory and warrior plus great shopping and restaurants at Gun Wharf Quays