London Day Trips: 5 Days Off the Path
Five days: the same 4-day plan , Windsor, the Warner Bros Studio Tour, Oxford, and Cambridge, plus a combined Bath and Stonehenge day. Need a sixth, the 6-day version adds the Cotswolds on top of exactly this spine.
Book these before you go
- Warner Bros Studio Tour (Day 2), zero walk-up tickets exist, ever; book at wbstudiotour.co.uk or check availability on GetYourGuide .
- Windsor Castle (Day 1), GBP 32 advance versus GBP 36 at the door, book at rct.uk .
- King’s College Chapel (Day 4), GBP 16.50 weekday, cheaper booked the week before at kings.cam.ac.uk .
- Stonehenge (Day 5), GBP 27.20 standard admission already reflects an advance-booking discount; confirm current tiers at english-heritage.org.uk .
- Check a combined Bath and Stonehenge day tour on GetYourGuide if the independent rail-plus-shuttle chain feels like too much on Day 5.
The five days at a glance
| Day | Focus | Travel time from London | One-way transport |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Windsor Castle | 22-28 min (Paddington) or 55 min (Waterloo) | Great Western Railway or South Western Railway |
| 2 | Warner Bros Studio Tour | About 20 min to Watford Junction, then a shuttle | London Northwestern Railway (Euston) |
| 3 | Oxford | 51 min to just over an hour | Great Western Railway (Paddington) |
| 4 | Cambridge | 45-49 min | Great Northern / LNER (King’s Cross) |
| 5 | Bath and Stonehenge | 1 hr 15 min to Bath; Stonehenge has no station | Great Western Railway (Paddington), then coach/shuttle |
Day 1: Windsor Castle
Paddington to Slough, change for Windsor & Eton Central, about 22 to 28 minutes total, or a direct Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside run of about 55 minutes. Entry is GBP 32 booked in advance, GBP 36 at the door. Confirm the week you’re going at rct.uk ; a working royal residence can close rooms at short notice.
Day 2: Warner Bros Studio Tour
There are no walk-up tickets to the Warner Bros Studio Tour, ever, so this day only works if it’s booked weeks ahead. Entry-only tickets start around GBP 56. The cheap route in: Euston to Watford Junction, about 20 minutes, then the dedicated shuttle bus for a GBP 3 return fare, contactless or card only.
Day 3: Oxford
Great Western Railway from Paddington, 51 minutes to just over an hour. Christ Church’s Great Hall runs about GBP 22.50 to 24.50; the Divinity School, the actual Hogwarts-infirmary filming location, is a separate GBP 3 ticket capped at 15 minutes. See the full Oxford breakdown for the rest of the day.
Day 4: Cambridge
King’s Cross direct, about 45 to 49 minutes. King’s College Chapel runs GBP 16.50 on weekdays, GBP 17.50 on weekends, cheaper with the early-bird discount for booking a week ahead. Punting on the Cam costs roughly GBP 12 to 20 per person.
Day 5: Bath and Stonehenge
Bath Spa is about an hour and fifteen minutes direct from Paddington; Stonehenge has no station of its own, reached by a combined coach and tour (GBP 69-135) or a train to Salisbury plus a connecting shuttle. Roman Baths pricing is dynamic, starting around GBP 20 in advance. Stonehenge’s standard admission, GBP 27.20 adult, buys a view from a roped perimeter, not a walk among the stones; the closer Stone Circle Experience is a separate GBP 70 ticket booked well ahead. Treat Bath as the anchor and Stonehenge as the add-on, not the reverse.
Why combine Bath and Stonehenge instead of splitting them across two days?
Because Stonehenge, on its own, is a shorter visit, an hour or two at the stones behind the rope line, and doesn’t need a dedicated day the way Bath’s Roman Baths and Georgian streets do. Combining them keeps the five-day route tight; splitting them would be the better call only on a trip long enough to give Bath the overnight it actually rewards.
Does Day 5 need a car?
No. The independent route, Paddington to Bath Spa, then a Stonehenge Tour bus connection or a booked coach package from London, covers it without one, though it’s a longer logistical chain than any other day on this route, which is why a combined tour is worth pricing against doing it independently.
Book the Bath-to-Stonehenge onward leg before you leave London if going independently; same-day tickets for the connecting shuttle bus can sell out on peak summer Saturdays.