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

[VeraViolet]

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?

Really amazing ideas, thank you!

She likes physics and astronomy, so the Royal Observatory would be right up her street I'm sure.

Bath is about ah hour and a half from Paddington on the train

I’ve live in London for 25 years and I’m pretty keen on seeing things... and I still haven’t ‘done’ it all.

Is here something she’s really interested in?

Harry Potter, I liked it and I'm an adult.

Windsor, particularly in light of the recent royal wedding
Bath
Blenheim Palace

If science then yes to observatory. Also Wellcome institute.

National space centre is near Leicester and amazing

Some of the big telescopes might be visitable?

Oxford has the Pitt Rivers which is brilliant

Another vote for Greenwich , photo op on the meridian, observatory and the cutty sark. Ideally by clipper boat to get there., you can get an all in ticket ...

If they are fans of the body shop stuff , it might be worth a trip to their factory and visitor centre in littlehampton. That was the highlight of my life at about 12 years old

A trip up the Thames on the Thames Clipper always goes down well with foreign friends.

Colombia Road Flower Market is always lovely.

The speedboats up the Thames from Westminster are loads of fun.

DLR to Island Gardens then walk through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel. Brings you up near the Cutty Sark. You can then walk through Greenwich Park to the Observatory. There is also a boat trip from there to the Thames Barrier (or used to be) which is good fun.

Box Hill is less than an hour from Victoria by train. Don’t come this Sunday though as will be awash with cyclists.

Just to add to people saying Hampton Court - you can also rent little boats by the hour out to drive around on the river there. Very fun activity.

There are dozens of hidden gems in London all depending on her interests.

She will probably want to go shopping more than anything so factor in a big shopping centre day and another at Topshop.

Leeds castle, in Kent

Canterbury - lovely cathedral but you have to pay to look around

St Albans - easy to get to from North London, has a lovely Abbey, Roman remains, plus twice weekly market

Milton Keynes - good indoor shopping centre if you fancy a bit of retail therapy, then trip,to theatre?

Harry Potter experience, Leavesden, near Watford,

Also, have you checked her parents are happy for them to go off on such long trips alone? Some parents wouldn’t be happy. I would be fine.

Look at them queuing for cheap theatre tickets, going somewhere cool for afternoon tea, getting their makeup done in a big department store of Space NK.

Do a hidden city treasure hunt? I do them with loads of friends family when they come. They send clues to your phone and you explore an area of London. They're great fun and you learn stuff. www.inthehiddencity.com/london/

Just seen about the afternoon tea. How about the vintage bus that goes round London and serves afternoon tea. Want to do this myself sometime.

Bath is lovely. I definitely love your Cambridge idea. You could do a traditional seaside day margate has dreamland and the sandy Beach (and a few nice restaurants but book ahead!). Whitstable is a bit more up market also has some nice restaurants or fish and chips on the shore. Another option is going to visit Rye and popping on the bus to the beach at Camber sands.

Quite a long day trip but lots of my friends from abroad said York was their favorite UK town.

www.the-observatory.org/about-us

This may be of interest also.

Has dd got a 16-25 railcard?

If you go to Canterbury cathedral make sure you look at the grounds behind it
It’s a different world , so interesting
You could go for a punt on the river afterwards

Whistable is lovely.

Such great ideas! Also try a Treasure Trails which is a downloadable treasure hunt type puzzle and there are loads in local areas in London, for a closer to home trip. We've done a couple local to us and it's really fun.

Yeah, Whitstable. Easy peasy direct train from St Pancras, then amble down to the beach.
TBH I think some suggestions are pretty inaccessible by public transport (e.g. Whipsnade) or very ambitious for two lone 15-year olds on a day trip (York). But they are useful ideas for me planning our Summer!

Harry Potter studios in Watford.
Thorpe Park

Don't discount Salisbury. In the main tourist areas, it's absolutely fine. Just one park on the outskirts of the city centre (Queen Elizabeth Gardens, red marker) is taped off.