Short day trip from London?

Canterbury would work. HS1 high speed trains only take 55 minutes to St Pancras, so you could leave Canterbury West at 1523 and be back at St Pancras at 1619. Outbound they leave St Pancras at 37 minutes past each hour.

You don't need to be into Harry Potter to go to Oxford. In fact I wouldn't even think of him in connection with Oxford

We enjoyed a half day at Wimbledon, but my husband is a sports fanatic. Easy train ride out and back. We were staying near Waterloo station.

It sounds like there is a WWII interest, so how about Bletchley Park? Codebreakers? Enigma machine? Fascinating!

Very easy to get to by train. Look at the schedule and pick the train with the least amount of stops, lol. Then look for the return train that also is quick. I just went to the station on the day and used the app to purchase the ticket. I think I left around 930 snd was back to my hotel by 430 or a bit earlier.

What about a boat to Greenwich? You can take a leisurely boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich, then visit the Royal Observatory, the Prime Meridian (and stand in two time zones at the same time) and more. Or take a boat ride to Richmond or Hampton Court Palace (or both). Lots to do there (especially if you're a Ted Lasso fan). :) And if you like gardens, there's always Kew Gardens, which is magnificent imo.

I can’t see that you’ve been to Greenwich? If so, that’s a must for me. Close, so easy to time to be back early and plenty of different things to do, so I’m sure that you can find something of 8nterest. And the journey there and back can be part of the fun, river and DLR one or the other.

It sounds like there is a WWII interest, so how about Bletchley Park? Codebreakers? Enigma machine? Fascinating! Very easy to get to by train. Look at the schedule and pick the train with the least amount of stops, lol. Then look for the return train that also is quick. I just went to the station on the day and used the app to purchase the ticket. I think I left around 930 snd was back to my hotel by 430 or a bit earlier.

Thanks Pam, that could be a winner! Have you been there? About how long should I allow? It looks like it's spitting distance to Bedford, so maybe we could do Bletchley Park, hit the Bunyan museum (which I think is brief?) then head back in time. Might work. If Bletchley Park needs more than 2 ½ hours, then we'd do just that.

I'm open to other suggestions, and Canterbury would suit me. You're right though that ds is pretty into WW2 right now. We had wanted to go down to Sicily on this trip to go to the WW2 museum in Catania. Just can't do it all, sigh, lol. But this would be pretty cool. Whatever ideas you all throw at me I'll put before him and see what the wisdom of the teenager likes, lol. Me, I've already got my private dream to come back and do Indian food cooking classes in London. The UK has crazy good Indian food, oh my. But while I have my teen ds along, I kind of have to roll with his interests. :)

Ok multiple people mentioned Greenwich. I have vaguely looked into it so it could be on the table. I thought ziplining from the masts on the Cutter Sark sounded GREAT and he turned me down before. Maybe he's changed his mind, lol. I know he shouldn't be quite so picky, but there you go.

London is a hub so it's easy to end up at for a day with some random chunks of time, which means we could leave Greenwich for another time. The Bletchley Park idea takes advantage of having a full day and an early start. We really liked the trains and the countryside. It was just very relaxing, very chill, and the food was good. For just average food, the stuff we ate out in the country was better than anything we ate in London. We just really enjoyed the countryside I guess, lol. And to go north sounds fun because we haven't done that yet. I'd like to go up to York and ride around the country up there with a driving tour, but that isn't happening this trip. Maybe on my dream cooking trip, haha.

Canterbury, oxford, Cambridge

Canterbury would work. HS1 high speed trains only take 55 minutes to St Pancras, so you could leave Canterbury West at 1523 and be back at St Pancras at 1619. Outbound they leave St Pancras at 37 minutes past each hour. You don't need to be into Harry Potter to go to Oxford. In fact I wouldn't even think of him in connection with Oxford

Thanks, I didn't realize England also has high speed trains! Interesting! We'll see. My teen ds would definitely take Bletchly Park over a cathedral, haha. I have a dream of coming back and doing a cruise out of Dover, which would make Canterbury, etc. convenient stops on the way. So skipping it now doesn't have to be forever. :)

Bletchley Park takes more than 2.5 hours to do it properly. I (and others) have easily spent 6 hour to the full opening period. It is a fascinating place.

If Bletchley Park turns out to be too much take a look at: Battle of Britain Bunker in Uxbridge. It is at the end of a couple Tube lines, maybe about an hour from King's Cross.

http://battleofbritainbunker.co.uk

This is the actual command center room at RAF Uxbridge used during the Second World War. There is a tour that takes you underground to the center and gives demos and explanations. In the main building, there is a very good exhibition that demonstrates how the system linked Fighter Command with various observers and other command posts for the defense of London and the South coast region. Quite fascinating.

Once arriving at Uxbridge Underground Station, there is a pleasant walk of about 15 - 20 minutes to the Bunker. Through a park, easy walking, sign posted (or Google Maps!). There are probably taxis at the station also.

This was a half day excursions for me, including transport and walking time. If interested, I would pre-book the tour or at least contact them to determine if you need to pre-book. I probably spent an hour at the exhibit in addition to the tour, but I noticed most of my tour participants walked quite quickly through the exhibits in the main building. Cafe available also!

You mention Dover - there is a very good exhibit of usage of the Castle in WWI and WWII as well as the medieval bits (which are perhaps less "fleshed out"). https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/dover-castle/history-and-stories/history-dover/

That is also an easy day trip. I spent an entire day at the castle and a couple sites in the city of Dover, but it could be a 3/4 day easily even with the train transport if you need to be back late afternoon.

And, yes, the castle is frequently combined with Canterbury tours by different day tour companies. I've always done both singly on public transport.

Bletchley Park takes more than 2.5 hours to do it properly. I (and others) have easily spent 6 hour to the full opening period. It is a fascinating place. If Bletchley Park turns out to be too much take a look at: Battle of Britain Bunker in Uxbridge. It is at the end of a couple Tube lines, maybe about an hour from King's Cross.

Thanks! I'm going to run it by him and see what he thinks. If we do Bletchley Park, we won't try to add anything else. I didn't realize from the pictures there was so much going on.

I'm confused here. When I punch the London to Bletchley Park into google maps it has public transportation to get me there and NONE to bring me back. Is there a strike? Why is it not showing options for the return?? Ok, the Trainline shows return tickets, no problem. I don't know why google maps isn't.

Kew Gardens-take the boat from Westminster Pier and take the Tube back.

Not a day trip, but keeping in the "war" theme, have you visited the Imperial War Museum (I know you said no museums, but thought this might be acceptable.) Excellent. Also touring the HMS Belfast in the Thames is quite interesting. Audio self-tour guides.

PS - I had a Call the Midwife Tour booked and paid for as a special treat for my travel companion. Thanks to Covid, that is still on the list of "to sees" along with the rest of the Chatham Docks. I just haven't made it there despite several post-Covid London visits.

Anything Oscar the Grouch would like within an hour or 90 minutes of London?

That made me smile.
I like Bletchley Park, Wimbledon, Greenwich, or Kew Gardens as others already have recommended. Or consider a leisurely day visiting either Hampstead (+/-walking Hampstead Heath) or the village of Dulwich (home of Dulwich Picture Gallery, a lovely light-filled place but if it’s too close to being a museum feel free to skip it!) Both reachable by Tube.

For Bletchley Park just turn up on the day at Euston and buy train tickets, likewise no need to pre buy Bletchley Park tickets.

You can get cheaper advance train tickets from LNWR- the operator (no need at all to buy from a reseller) but they tie you to a specific train, so you are clock watching all day, and the saving is only about £10 each- pretty insignificant

There are always just turn up on the day BP tickets. That way you are super flexible. If you change your mind on the day you haven't lost anything.

I see you aren't now including John Bunyan, but for the benefit of anyone else reading this Bedford and Bletchley look close on a map, but they don't really make natural day out partners.

Thanks everyone! I talked with ds and he LOVES the Bletchley Park idea!

We'll be there in October and are planning a day trip to Bletchley. We also loved our visit to Windsor.

Bletchley Park is very interesting.

If you need another spot to explore consider the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs.

Thanks Claudia and Susan! :)