Best staycation destinations near London

Escape the capital by heading to one of these diverse destinations, whether you're seeking history, quaint English charm, or expansive views. And they're all around an hour's travelling time from London. 

Oxford

Visitors have been coming to the city of dreaming spires "since the 13th century when the first of its 39 university colleges were established", said The Telegraph. "The weight of academic achievement seems to seep from the walls." 

But the city's attractions aren't solely seats of learning; it's a cultural hub, too. The Ashmolean Museum is the "crown jewel in the city's cultural menu" as "Britain's first public museum" with "three light-filled floors of art and objects", said The Independent.

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Head outside and into the Oxford Botanic Garden, "the oldest of its kind", said The Independent, where spending "an hour among the apple orchards, 'pie-tin' waterlilies or soaring cacti will restore your senses". 

And on a fine day, "you've barely an excuse not to picnic your way down the Cherwell in a punt" once you've mastered "navigating this meandering, tree-lined riverway" with nothing but a "shallow vessel and unwieldy pole".

"Whichever way you choose to wend past quad and over meadow", the city "has never looked sharper in its esteemed history", said The Independent.

Margate

Undergoing a transformation from "rough, impoverished seaside town" to "multi-faceted beacon of bohemia", said The Telegraph, this traditional English resort on the northeast Kent coast is "thriving once more," said Country Life.

Its attractions span "Dreamland's famous funfair to mysterious shell-lined labyrinths, vintage emporiums and seaside attractions", said CN Traveller, as well as a "growing number of slick boutiques, bars and hotels". 

Long before wild swimming was a trend, Margate's "rolling golden beaches tempted people to take a dip". Today, the popular spot, said CN Traveller – "especially if you want a proper swim when the tide is out" – is the Grade II-listed Walpole Bay Tidal Pool, 15 minutes east of the Main Sands. "First opened in 1937, it's the largest tidal pool in the UK." 

Although "Margate has been on the trendometer for well over a decade now", said The Telegraph, "its buzz continues".

Hastings

Hastings has been a fishing port since Saxon times, but "during the last decade or so" it "has attracted an arty, grungy crowd" of both locals and incomers. They have "re-energised the town" and transformed it into a "gritty alternative to Brighton", said The Telegraph.

Although the modern part of the town is "unprepossessing", said The Guardian, you should head for the Old Town, which "begins at pedestrianised George Street, lined with cafés, boutiques and galleries".

"Explore the Stade", the historic fishing zone, for a "shanty town of 'net shops' (those tall wooden huts where fishermen hang their nets to dry)", said The Telegraph. The "fishing boats beyond" are "launched straight from the shingle beach". 

Next door is the Fishermen's Museum in a converted chapel, crammed with "memorabilia donated by fishing families", said The Telegraph, making it "an intimate reminder of the perils of the sea". 

Ride the recently reopened East Hill Lift, Britain's steepest funicular railway, to the top for a walk in Hastings Country Park and views overlooking the Old Town.

Hastings still has "a few rough edges" but it is "definitely a town on the up", said The Guardian.

Dedham

This may be a quiet village on the Essex-Suffolk border, but "its majestic high street is as grand as that of any county town", said The Telegraph. 

It owes its wealth to "the medieval wool trade", and it was still prosperous when landscape artist John Constable attended the local grammar school. 

Dedham not only features "the wonky, timber-framed cottages and ye olde tea shoppes so beloved of American tourists", said The Times, "but also extraordinarily grandiose, stained glass-filled churches".

The walk through nearby Dedham Vale "has changed little since John Constable captured it in his paintings during the early 19th century", said Love Exploring. It's easy to see why "it has been a designated area of outstanding natural beauty since 1970", said The Times, with its "winding country lanes lined with beech hedges curled around to reveal sheep-filled pastures and oak and willow-lined footpaths".

So there's lots to explore and, "for somewhere so small, Dedham boasts several excellent places to eat and drink", said The Telegraph. The Sun Inn, in particular, is "a quaint old coaching inn" that is now a "lively rendezvous", where "the food is very good".

Winchester

The cathedral city in Hampshire is "quintessentially English", said the Daily Express.  It is rich in "medieval roots and historic architecture", which make it a "picture-perfect example of what those outside the UK expect Britain to be like".

"England's first capital city" is full of "character, beauty and history", said the inews site. King Alfred the Great "chose Winchester as his capital", said the Daily Mail, and it remained the "nation's seat of power until after the Norman conquest". The king's statue now stands near the "huge" cathedral, encircled by "Georgian-looking streets, flanked by the ancient flint city walls", said Hampshire Live.

Inside the cathedral there's an "awe-inspiring gothic nave, an enormous vaulted Norman crypt, Jane Austen's grave and a collection of pre-Raphaelite windows", said inews. Another grave is that of St Swithun, "who brought rain for 40 days when his body was moved into the cathedral".

"Deep-rooted in literature", Winchester has connections with Keats – he wrote "Ode to Autumn" here, and called it "the pleasantest town I ever was in", said The Telegraph – and Jane Austen: her "final home where she died at the age of 41" is here, said the Daily Express.