Start with how you want to spend the day, not where. Pick a vibe below and we’ll show the best days out across the UK and Ireland for it — then match them to where you’re starting from and how far you’ll go.
From Norman keeps to monastic ruins, the islands are stitched together by places where the past is still standing. This is the days-out list for anyone who'd rather spend an afternoon walking a curtain wall or a cloister than queuing for a ride.
The coastline is never as far as you think. Whether you're after a proper bucket-and-spade beach, a bracing clifftop walk, or fish and chips on a harbour wall, the seaside is one of the easiest good days out to reach from almost anywhere.
Some days the right answer is just to be outside. Ancient woodland, a reedbed full of birds, a mountain path, a waterfall at the end of a valley — the outdoors is the least complicated day out there is, and there's more of it near you than you'd guess.
A good family day out is one where nobody's bored — and that's a higher bar than it sounds. Big-hitter theme parks, zoos and wildlife parks, hands-on museums and farm attractions: this is the list for when you've got kids to entertain and a limited number of hours to do it in.
A city is a day out with everything packed close together — a cathedral, a museum, somewhere good for lunch, all within a walk of each other. When you want variety without a lot of driving between stops, a city does the work for you.
Not every good day out is a castle or a beach. Sometimes it's the eccentric folly, the museum devoted to one strange thing, the village that leans into its own legend. This is the list for when you want a day out with a story attached.
A great garden is a day out that changes with the season — the same place is a different visit in April and October. Add a grand house to walk round and a tearoom to finish, and you've the makings of a properly civilised day.