Fancy getting out of London for a day, but not sure where to head? Here are some very good reasons to (temporarily) leave London in June 2025, and make the most of these long, and hopefully balmy, days.
See our Beyond London section for further inspiration for trips out of London for a day, a weekend or longer.
LAVENDER FARMS: The lavender may not be in full bloom until the end of the month, but these popping purple farms and fields near London open to the public in June. Absorb the aromas, snap photos and stock up on bunches of lavender and farm shop goodies. (Hertfordshire/Hampshire/Kent)
ESSEX BOOK FESTIVAL: A staggering 100+ events make up the Essex Book Festival, which takes place at 40 venues across the county throughout June. Participants include Abi Daré, Shami Chakrabarti, Diane Abbott, Robin Ince, Stig Abell, Alison Weir, and Elif Shafak. 28 May-30 June (Essex)
MIDSUMMER FAIR: 200 stalls selling home and garden products, fashion items, gifts, and food and drink come to the quaint Hole Park Gardens for the Wealden Times Midsummer Fair. There's live music among the marquees, and your ticket includes access to the rest of the gardens too. We recommend the cakes in the Coach House Tea Rooms onsite. 5-7 June (Kent)
ROYAL WINDSOR FLOWER SHOW: For one day, the Royal Windsor Rose & Horticultural Society takes over Windsor Great Park for the Royal Windsor Flower Show. Get an eyeful of stunning flower displays, hear talks from experts on gardening and growing, and shop for everything you need for your own garden at home. 7 June (Berkshire)
GLORIOUS GARDENS WEEKEND: Penshurst Place in Kent is one of only eight national finalists in the Historic Houses Garden of the Year 2025 competition. See those grounds at their finest at the Glorious Gardens Weekend, when each of the 11 different 'garden rooms' is filled with seasonal blooms — including over 5,000 roses. Look out for Flag Garden, with lavender acting as the 'blue' in the huge red, white and blue union jack flag design. Elsewhere, take a tour led by the head gardener, or enjoy live music, crafting demos and displays, and a landscape photography exhibition. Read about our visit to Penshurst Place, and while you're there, visit the original Leicester Square, located right next door. 7-8 June (Kent)
ROSES IN BLOOM: Many places have roses looking rather lovely at this time of year (including several rosy spots in London). Of particular note is Borde Hill in Haywards Heath, which has over 100 different varieties of the flower, across 750 plants. The Jay Robin's Rose Garden was laid out to preserve the views of the manor house's Elizabethan chimneys, making an impressive backdrop for some bloomin' lovely photos. 9-20 June (West Sussex)
BRIGHTON COMIC CON: It's time for East Sussex to dig out its best costume for Brighton Comic Con. Taking place at the Amex Stadium on the outskirts of the city, it features cosplay competitions, panel talks, workshops, and a chance to browse and buy merch. 14 June (East Sussex)
NAKED WALK: As we told you back in April, Leonardslee Gardens near Horsham hosts two Naked Heart Walks in aid of the British Heart Foundation this summer, the first taking place on 14 June. Take an evening stroll sans clothes around the 240-acre gardens, raising money for the charity. 14 June (West Sussex)
SCULPTURE TRAIL: Following last year's inaugural event The Surrey Sculpture Society unveils another sculpture trail at Claremont Landscape Gardens on the London-Surrey border. Follow the fully accessible trail around the serpentine lake and surrounding areas, admiring the artworks as you go. All works are for sale. 14 June-14 July (Surrey)
PAINSHILL MUSIC LATES: The charming Painshill Park holds a series of Live Music Lates on the Great Lawn. Pack a picnic or buy your dinner from the food vendors on site, and enjoy live music as the sun sets. The historic landscape gardens are open late too, so you can take a stroll around the lake and past the Gothic Temple. 18 June-10 July (Surrey)
JANE AUSTEN REGENCY WEEK: The Jane Austen 250 celebrations — marking 250 years since the author's birth — continue with Jane Austen Regency Week in the villages of Alton, Chawton and Selborne in Hampshire, close to her former home (which is now operated as a museum). Events include a Regency parade, book readings, a guided walk and an embroidery workshop. 20-29 June (Hampshire)
CHEESE TRAIN: It sounds like the working title for the next Wallace & Gromit caper, but we can confirm the 'cheese train' is real. Board a heritage 1960s carriage on the Spa Valley Railway in Tunbridge Wells, and take a ride out into the Kent and East Sussex countryside, while you tuck into a selection of cheeses supplied by local business The Cheese Shop. Unsurprisingly, this one's been popular so some days have sold out, but at time of writing, tickets are still available for 21 June, or other dates later in the summer. 21 June (Kent)
ALBAN DAY: Britain's first saint is celebrated in the city named after him. Alban Day begins with the Alban Pilgrimage Procession from St Peter’s Church, using 12ft-tall puppets to tell his story, followed by the Alban Festival, with stalls, entertainment and live music around the city centre. 21 June (Hertfordshire)
HOME FRONT: Kent's Hever Castle is best-known for its Tudor links, but it's the 1940s being recreated here this month. The Home Front weekend involves swing dancing in a tea dance tent, and displays of military vehicles. Spiffing. 21-22 June (Kent)
FIRST LIGHT FESTIVAL: Apparently the UK's only free beachfront festival, First Light Festival takes place over summer solstice weekend on Lowestoft's South Beach. Music, spoken word, arts and culture acts perform on stage, including Afro-jazz band Nubiyan Twist, DJ crew Horse Meat Disco, and poets Jackie Kay and Brian Bilston. There are also Sundown events running late into Saturday evening, and Dawn events on Sunday morning. 21-22 June (Suffolk)
ESTUARY FESTIVAL: Taking place just once every four years, and this time coinciding with spring and neap tides, Estuary Festival celebrates the stories, places and people of the Thames Estuary, with events taking place either side of the river, in North Kent and South Essex including a dance performance in a tidal pool, and a giant telephone box installation. 21-29 June (North Kent/South Essex)
PYO FLOWERS: If you love fresh flowers brightening up your home, why not pick your own: Blooming Green near Maidstone is a flower farm that lets the public in once a week to pluck blooms from the field, for £25 per container. We visited in June 2018. From 21 June until September (Kent)
FOREVER NOW FESTIVAL: National Bowl in Milton Keynes is the venue for new, one-day post-punk festival Forever Now. Kraftwerk headline, with performances by Billy Idol, The The, Death Cult, Johnny Marr, The Psychedelic Furs and The Jesus & Mary Chain, among others. 22 June (Buckinghamshire)
DOG SHOW: If you're always pointing out good doggos in the street, get to Windsor where more than 10,000 of the very best pooches gather for the Windsor Championship Dog Show. Think Crufts, minus Clare Balding. See 200 breeds competing to be crowned champion in various classes, browse dog themed stalls, and get advice on caring for your own four-legged friend. 26-29 June (Berkshire)
ZOO GALA DINNER: Lend your support to Marwell Zoo near Winchester, which hosts a black-tie Gala Dinner, raising money for the Grévy's zebra, the world’s most endangered zebra, with fewer than 3,000 remaining in the wild. Take an after-hours safari through the zoo, followed by a drinks reception, three-course meal, and an auction and raffle. 27 June (Hampshire)
BIOBLITZ: The Big Stowe Bioblitz encourages everyone to get involved in recording species of insects, trees, mammals, fungi, wildflowers and reptiles spotted in the course of a day at National Trust property Stowe Gardens. The data collected contributes to national citizen science records and will be used by staff at Stowe to plan future wildlife conservation work. 28 June (Buckinghamshire)
STANLEY SPENCER RIVER TRIP: The Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham offers a one-off river trip on the oldest working pleasure steamer on the Thames, the steam launch Alaska, which was built in 1883. The trip takes place on the birthday of the painter, and includes a welcome drink and short on-board talk from exhibition curator Amy Lim. 30 June (Berkshire)
Book now for later in 2025
- FESTIVAL OF SPEED: The legendary Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place at Goodwood House on the South Downs next month, celebrating all aspects of motorsport with some serious sets of wheels. Tickets for all days except Thursday have already sold out, so you'll have to be, ahem, speedy, if you want in.
- WANDERWILD: After selling out last year, Wanderwild is back at Wakehurst Gardens in West Sussex — sister site to Kew Gardens — in July. Described as "a twilight circus set against the background of a summer evening outdoors", the event includes live jazz, contemporary dance and gravity-defying aerialist performances dotted around the grounds, with a street food hub at the centre.
Further ideas for trips from London
Our Beyond London section is packed full of ideas for getting out of the capital for the day, or even for a long weekend. Our picks for this month:
- Road trip! Road trip! If the summer's got you thinking of the seaside, why not head there on a road trip from the capital? Did you know you can follow one road all the way from a London borough, right to the coast? That road is the A21 and here's your guide to driving it. We've had a tip-off about a new American diner which has just opened along the route, which we're hoping to try out ourselves very soon. If you follow the route to the very end, you'll find yourself in the charming seaside town of Hastings.
- For an altogether more urban escape, how about a weekend in Manchester? It's packed with museums, nightlife, history, architecture, and more impressive places to eat and drink than you could possibly visit in one trip.
- Fresh air? Tick. Steam trains? Tick. Top-notch pub? Tick. High Rocks is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest near the Kent town of Tunbridge Wells, boasting Stone Age shelters, and graffiti dating back to the 1700s.
