Published: 15 May 2026, updated 16 May 2026
Where to visit for an Extreme Day Trip
Extreme Day Trips have become extremely popular in recent years. The premise is that you take an early flight out to a European city, spend the full day there, cramming in as much as possible, and then fly home in the evening thus avoiding the cost of an overnight stay.
Extreme Day Trips are a fantastic way to visit a new place, maybe just to eat the local food, see something special at a museum or watch a sporting event.
Make the best use of your time
With a limited time frame, no-one wants to spend too much time travelling, or arrive at an airport which is an hour away from the city centre. So we have put together a table to help you find somewhere for your next EDT.
To narrow down the list we only included:
- Airports that had more than than 50,000 passengers visiting from the UK last year
- Cities that were served by at least 3 UK airports
- Maximum flight time of 2 hours 30 minutes from London (so no more than 3 hours 30 mins from Northern England, Scotland or Northern Ireland)
- Destinations where it takes no more than 30 mins to travel to the city centre
The list can be sorted on most devices (just click on the arrows in the headers) so you can look at the closest cities or just ones from a certain country.
| Airport | Country | Approx time from London | Miles to City Centre | Fastest Transport | Approx Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam AMS | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 1h 15m | 11 | Train | 15 mins |
| Barcelona BCN | 🇪🇸 Spain | 2h 05m | 9 | Aerobus / Metro | 30 mins |
| Basel BSL | 🇨🇠Switzerland | 1h 35m | 5 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Bergerac EGC | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 35m | 2 | Taxi | 10 mins |
| Berlin Brandenburg BER | 🇩🇪 Germany | 1h 50m | 17 | Airport Express Train | 30 mins |
| Beziers BZR | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 55m | 9 | Shuttle Bus | 20 mins |
| Biarritz BIQ | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 45m | 3 | Bus | 10 mins |
| Bilbao BIO | 🇪🇸 Spain | 1h 50m | 7 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Billund BLL | 🇩🇰 Denmark | 1h 40m | 2 | Bus | 10 mins |
| Bologna BLQ | 🇮🇹 Italy | 2h 00m | 4 | Monorail | 10 mins |
| Bordeaux BOD | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 40m | 7 | Tram | 30 mins |
| Bratislava BTS | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | 2h 00m | 6 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Brussels BRU | 🇧🇪 Belgium | 1h 05m | 9 | Train | 20 mins |
| Bydgoszcz BZG | 🇵🇱 Poland | 2h 10m | 2 | Bus | 15 mins |
| Carcassonne CCF | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 50m | 2 | Taxi | 10 mins |
| Chambery CMF | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 40m | 6 | Shuttle Bus | 20 mins |
| Cologne CGN | 🇩🇪 Germany | 1h 20m | 9 | Train | 15 mins |
| Copenhagen CPH | 🇩🇰 Denmark | 1h 50m | 5 | Metro | 15 mins |
| Cork ORK | 🇮🇪 Ireland | 1h 20m | 5 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Dublin DUB | 🇮🇪 Ireland | 1h 20m | 6 | Express Bus | 25 mins |
| Dusseldorf DUS | 🇩🇪 Germany | 1h 20m | 5 | Train | 15 mins |
| Eindhoven EIN | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 1h 10m | 5 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Florence FLR | 🇮🇹 Italy | 2h 10m | 3 | Tram | 20 mins |
| Frankfurt Main FRA | 🇩🇪 Germany | 1h 35m | 8 | S-Bahn | 15 mins |
| Gdansk GDN | 🇵🇱 Poland | 2h 10m | 9 | Train | 25 mins |
| Geneva GVA | 🇨🇠Switzerland | 1h 35m | 3 | Train | 7 mins |
| Girona GRO | 🇪🇸 Spain | 2h 00m | 8 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Goteborg Landvetter GOT | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 2h 00m | 16 | Flygbussarna Bus | 30 mins |
| Hamburg HAM | 🇩🇪 Germany | 1h 35m | 5 | S-Bahn | 25 mins |
| Ibiza IBZ | 🇪🇸 Spain | 2h 25m | 4 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Innsbruck INN | 🇦🇹 Austria | 1h 55m | 3 | Bus | 15 mins |
| Kerry KIR | 🇮🇪 Ireland | 1h 30m | 8 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Kosice KSC | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | 2h 25m | 4 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Krakow KRK | 🇵🇱 Poland | 2h 25m | 7 | Train | 20 mins |
| La Rochelle LRH | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 20m | 3 | Bus | 15 mins |
| Limoges LIG | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 30m | 5 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Lisbon LIS | 🇵🇹 Portugal | 2h 30m | 4 | Metro | 20 mins |
| Luxembourg LUX | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | 1h 15m | 4 | Tram | 20 mins |
| Lyon LYS | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 40m | 16 | Rhonexpress Tram | 30 mins |
| Madrid MAD | 🇪🇸 Spain | 2h 20m | 8 | Metro | 30 mins |
| Mahon MAH | 🇪🇸 Spain | 2h 20m | 3 | Bus | 15 mins |
| Marseille MRS | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 55m | 17 | Train | 25 mins |
| Milan Linate LIN | 🇮🇹 Italy | 1h 55m | 5 | Metro | 20 mins |
| Nantes NTE | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 15m | 5 | Tram | 20 mins |
| Nice NCE | 🇫🇷 France | 2h 00m | 4 | Tram | 20 mins |
| Olbia OLB | 🇮🇹 Italy | 2h 30m | 2 | Bus | 10 mins |
| Oporto OPO | 🇵🇹 Portugal | 2h 15m | 7 | Metro | 25 mins |
| Oslo Gardermoen OSL | 🇳🇴 Norway | 2h 10m | 30 | Flytoget Train | 20 mins |
| Palma De Mallorca PMI | 🇪🇸 Spain | 2h 20m | 5 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Paris Orly ORY | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 15m | 9 | Orlyval + Train | 30 mins |
| Perpignan PGF | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 55m | 4 | Taxi | 15 mins |
| Pisa PSA | 🇮🇹 Italy | 2h 05m | 1 | PisaMover | 10 mins |
| Poznan POZ | 🇵🇱 Poland | 2h 00m | 4 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Pula PUY | ðŸ‡ðŸ‡· Croatia | 2h 10m | 5 | Bus | 15 mins |
| Reus REU | 🇪🇸 Spain | 2h 10m | 3 | Bus | 15 mins |
| Rimini RMI | 🇮🇹 Italy | 2h 10m | 5 | Train | 15 mins |
| Rome Ciampino CIA | 🇮🇹 Italy | 2h 30m | 9 | Bus | 30 mins |
| Salzburg SZG | 🇦🇹 Austria | 1h 55m | 2 | Bus | 15 mins |
| Santander SDR | 🇪🇸 Spain | 1h 50m | 3 | Bus | 15 mins |
| Santiago De Compostela SCQ | 🇪🇸 Spain | 2h 05m | 9 | Bus | 25 mins |
| Shannon SNN | 🇮🇪 Ireland | 1h 25m | 15 | Bus | 30 mins |
| Stavanger SVG | 🇳🇴 Norway | 1h 55m | 9 | Airport Bus | 20 mins |
| Stockholm Arlanda ARN | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 2h 30m | 23 | Arlanda Express | 18 mins |
| Stuttgart STR | 🇩🇪 Germany | 1h 35m | 8 | S-Bahn | 30 mins |
| Toulouse TLS | 🇫🇷 France | 1h 50m | 5 | Tram | 25 mins |
| Turin TRN | 🇮🇹 Italy | 1h 50m | 10 | Train | 30 mins |
| Valencia VLC | 🇪🇸 Spain | 2h 20m | 5 | Metro | 20 mins |
| Venice VCE | 🇮🇹 Italy | 2h 10m | 8 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Verona VRN | 🇮🇹 Italy | 2h 00m | 7 | Shuttle Bus | 20 mins |
| Vienna VIE | 🇦🇹 Austria | 2h 10m | 11 | CAT Train | 16 mins |
| Warsaw Chopin WAW | 🇵🇱 Poland | 2h 30m | 6 | Train | 20 mins |
| Wroclaw WRO | 🇵🇱 Poland | 2h 05m | 6 | Bus | 25 mins |
| Zadar ZAD | ðŸ‡ðŸ‡· Croatia | 2h 20m | 7 | Bus | 20 mins |
| Zagreb ZAG | ðŸ‡ðŸ‡· Croatia | 2h 10m | 9 | Bus | 30 mins |
| Zurich ZRH | 🇨🇠Switzerland | 1h 35m | 8 | Train | 12 mins |
Get planning your EDT!
Some of my favourites are Amsterdam, Barcelona, Geneva and Nice – all of which offer a great day out in a relatively compact city centre, as well as good travel connections.
In the follow up to this post, we look at How to find cheap flights for an Extreme Day Trip, whether you have a destination in mind or you have a fixed date and want to see where you can go.
