One free day, somewhere else. The day trips worth the early alarm.
Pompeii from Rome, the Atlas from Marrakech, Stonehenge from London. What each day trip costs, how long you sit in the van, and what you actually see when you get there.
Three classic days out
Four day trips worth building a holiday around.
A Tuscan hill-town run, a fairy-tale castle, a waterfall coast and a mud-brick fortress on the road over the Atlas. Each one is a full day, and each one comes home the same night.
01From FlorenceTuscany Day Trip from Florence: Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa and Lunch at a WinerySiena, San Gimignano and Pisa in one loop, with lunch at a winery. The Tuscany most visitors picture.
02From MunichFrom Munich: Neuschwanstein & Linderhof Castle Full-Day TripNeuschwanstein and Linderhof, two of Ludwig II’s palaces in one long day in the Bavarian foothills.
03From ReykjavíkReykjavík: South Coast Waterfalls, Black Sand & Glacier TourSeljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, black sand at Reynisfjara and a glacier tongue, all on the south coast road.
04From MarrakechFrom Marrakech: Day Trip to Ouarzazate and Ait BenhaddouOver the Tizi n’Tichka pass to Aït Benhaddou and the film studios at Ouarzazate, for the price of a lunch.
Where you sleep decides which day trips you get.
Six cities that make the best launch pads, and the days out that leave from each one.
Italy is the best country on earth for a day trip. Pick your city.
Every big Italian base has a famous day trip within three hours: the Amalfi road from Rome or Naples, the Tuscan hill towns from Florence, the lakes from Milan. Where each one leaves from, and what it costs to board.
The most popular day trips in the world right now.
Every day trip we review →The days out more travellers book than any others, from a Tuscan loop to Iceland’s south coast.
1
NYC: Empire State Building Tickets – Observatory & Museum
Visit the Empire State Building’s 86th Floor Observatory, explore its interactive museum and Art Deco spaces, then add the 102nd Floor for floor-to-ceiling views. Choose a standard or Express ticket. Plan 45 minutes to two hours, arrive without large bags, and aim for clear weather between noon and 3pm.
From · $47
Read our review →
2
Tuscany Day Trip from Florence: Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa and Lunch at a Winery
from $114
3
From Amsterdam: Zaanse Schans, Volendam & Marken Day Trip
from $34
4
From Munich: Neuschwanstein & Linderhof Castle Full-Day Trip
from $94
5
Reykjavík: South Coast Waterfalls, Black Sand & Glacier Tour
from $126
6
Bucharest: Dracula Castle, Peles Castle & Brasov Old Town
from $40
7
Lisbon: Pena Palace, Sintra, Cabo da Roca, & Cascais Daytrip
from $91
8
From Marrakech: Day Trip to Ouarzazate and Ait Benhaddou
from $21
A private day trip costs less than you think, and the car waits for you.
No pickup loop round twelve hotels, no fixed lunch stop, no waiting for the slowest member of the group. In Morocco, India and much of Asia a private driver for the day costs barely more than a coach seat.
From Marrakech a day trip reaches mountains, ocean or desert.
Point the van south and you cross the High Atlas to the kasbahs. Go west and you are eating grilled sardines in Essaouira by lunch. Go north-east for the Ouzoud falls. All three cost less than dinner in the medina.
The castle day trip: a coach, a drawbridge, and home by nine.
Ludwig’s Bavaria from Munich, Sintra’s painted palaces from Lisbon, Bran and Peleș from Bucharest. The most-booked castle days out, side by side.
Every castle day trip →What a day trip actually costs.
Every day trip on the site, sorted by price. Some of the best days out cost less than a museum ticket.
Shared minibus days from Marrakech, Hanoi and Bangkok, and the short hops from Athens and Bucharest.
The European classics: Tuscany, Pompeii, Stonehenge, the Highlands and the castle days from Munich.
Private drivers, small-group days with every ticket included, and the long hauls like Normandy.
Four day trips with a catch: a passport, an alarm clock, a timed gate.
Most day trips need nothing more than comfortable shoes. These four have a rule attached, and finding out at the pickup point is too late.
- 01From Malaga: Full-Day Trip to GibraltarGibraltar is British territory. You walk across a real border with your passport, and a forgotten one ends the day at the frontier.
- 02Krakow: Auschwitz-Birkenau Day Trip with Tour LeaderEntry is by named, timed slot, and the ID you booked under is checked at the gate. In summer the guided slots go weeks ahead.
- 03From Aswan: Abu Simbel Temple Day Trip with Hotel PickupThe temples sit about 280 km south of Aswan across open desert. Most departures leave around four in the morning to beat the heat.
- 04From Rome: Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, and Sorrento Day TripThe excavations cover 66 hectares with almost no shade. Take the morning departure in summer, and bring water.
Three day trips you cannot do from the hotel window.
Some places are only worth it with a whole day and a driver: too far for an afternoon, too close to sleep over.
Ruins a morning’s drive away
The great ruins tend to sit two or three hours from a capital, which is exactly the distance a day trip was invented for. Pompeii from Rome, Ayutthaya from Bangkok, the Valley of the Kings from the Red Sea coast. A guide earns their fee at all of them: without one, a buried Roman town is a long walk past walls.
- 1Athens: Cape Sounion & Poseidon Temple Sunset Half-Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 8,241 reviews
- 2London: Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath, and Roman Baths Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 5,131 reviews
- 3From Aswan: Abu Simbel Temple Day Trip with Hotel Pickup★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 2,807 reviews
A desert day from Marrakech
The big dunes at Merzouga are nine hours away, too far for a day. A day trip gets you the stony Agafay plateau forty minutes out of the city, or the long climb over the Tizi n’Tichka pass at 2,260 metres to the mud-brick ksar of Aït Benhaddou, where half the desert films you know were shot.
- 1From Marrakech: Atlas Mountains Day Trip with Camel Ride★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 4,709 reviews
- 2Marrakech Day Trip with Camel Ride from Casablanca★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 740 reviews
- 3Agafay Desert & Berber villages & Atlas Mountains, Full Day Trip From Marrakech★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 545 reviews
Mountains by train
The Bernina line from Tirano climbs to 2,253 metres at Ospizio Bernina without a rack, the highest rail crossing of the Alps, and you can do it from Milan and be back for dinner. Further north, cogwheel trains and cable cars put the Jungfrau and the Lauterbrunnen cliffs within a long day of Zurich.
- 1From Milan: Bernina Train and St. Moritz Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 4,495 reviews
- 2Salzburg Sightseeing Day Trip from Munich by Rail★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 3,125 reviews
- 3Bangkok: Damnoen Saduak, Train Market & Mahanakhon Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 2,162 reviews
By kind of day trip: water, rock, ruins or wine
The newest day trip reviews.
More new day trips →
From La Paz: Day Trip to Chacaltaya and Moon Valley
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From La Paz: 4-Day Trip to San Pedro de Atacama w/Salt Flats
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From Kuala Lumpur: Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary Day Trip
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From Kuala Lumpur: Private Genting Highlands Day Trip
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From Kuala Lumpur: Genting Highlands Day Trip with Cable Car
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From Kuala Lumpur: Cameron Highlands Day Trip with Transfers
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From Kuala Lumpur: Colmar Tropicale and Batu Caves Day Trip
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From Krakow: Wieliczka Salt Mine Half-Day Trip with Pickup
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Dunajec River Gorge and Zakopane: Full-Day Trip from Krakow
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From Krakow: Auschwitz and Wieliczka Salt Mine Full-Day Trip
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From Krakow: Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp Complex Guided Day Trip
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From Krabi: Similan Islands Day Trip by Speedboat
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