When it comes to thrilling, engaging and memorable days out, Surrey’s enticing mix of woodland escapes, stately homes and full-throttle high-octane fun is hard to beat across the home counties. Its lolling landscape is dotted with grand estates, tranquil walks, vineyards, and places that make ideal destinations for thrill-seekers and culture lovers on a day trip visiting the area.
This list offers the most stand-out options that reflect Surrey's breadth of exciting and curious things to do. From wild swimming to even wilder rollercoasters, the makings of a great day out can all be found in the following entries.
Thorpe Park
For bonafide thrill rides that continue to push the boundaries of physiques and draw the most primal screams of terror, nowhere in Surrey comes close to the sheer scale and speed offered by Thorpe Park. Spread across an island on a former gravel pit near Chertsey, it’s one of the UK’s premier theme parks, the home of internationally acclaimed rollercoasters such as Stealth, Colossus, and The Swarm, as well as seasonal horror maze events and amusements that have delighted the public for decades.
The park has doubled down on immersive experiences in recent years, with cinematic ride themes, notorious performances from live actors in scare zones and horror mazes, and an increasingly polished events calendar that includes carnival-style celebrations and DJ-led summer parties. Parking is easy for day trippers, with direct access from the M25 making it easily reachable from most corners of the UK. A direct train link from London offers seamless connection with the city, whilst opting for early entry or fast pass tickets at peak times of year is the best way to beat queues and maximise time on the park's rides.
Polesden Lacey
Polesden Lacey is Surrey’s most glamorous stately home. A characterful neoclassical manor perched on the North Downs, it is set within 1,400 acres of landscaped gardens, forest, and fields. Originally a Regency villa, it was remodelled in the early 20th century for society hostess Margaret Greville, whose Edwardian weekend parties were the stuff of legend. Guests included prominent and powerful figures from society, including the likes of King Edward VII and Winston Churchill.
Today, visitors can tour the lavish gold-adorned drawing rooms, opulent salons, and personal apartments, many still furnished as they were in the early 20th century. Outside, the estate grounds are no less impressive, with a formal rose garden, walled kitchen plots and open parkland offering clear views across Ranmore Common. On summer weekends, jazz trios sometimes perform on the lawn, recapturing some of the spirit of Polesden Lacy’s heyday. It’s a grand destination for those wanting to experience a bit of England's storied aristocratic culture and wrap themselves in tales of long and lavish nights of the past.
Denbies Wine Estate
England’s largest vineyard sits just outside Dorking, nestled into the North Downs with over 250 acres of vines. Visitors can explore the grounds via guided walking tours or take the outdoor land train for a slow-paced meander past rows of Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay grapes. This is a delight for wine aficionados, with the option to partake in cinema-room tastings, cheese pairings and behind-the-scenes access to learn more about the art of viticulture at Britain’s most established wine producer.
The Wine Terrace café serves sharing boards and the chance to enjoy a chilled glass of rosé with a clear view over the slopes in summer sunshine. At the same time, the more formal Gallery Restaurant upstairs offers three-course seasonal menus, paired with some of the estate's best vintages. Denbies suits couples, solo visitors or groups of adults looking to embrace the occasion and indulge a little. Its proximity to the hallowed walking trails of Box Hill makes it easy to combine with a long hike throughout the area, whilst the presence of the on-site hotel allows visitors to transform this into a full weekend experience, should they desire.
Frensham Great Pond & Common
Often mistakenly associated with a getaway in the Lake District thanks to its sandy beach and freshwater swimming zone, Frensham Great Pond is a rare inland spot where wild swimming is an option. The pond forms part of a vast community managed by the National Trust, with a circular walking route around past birdwatching lookouts and secluded clearings that are perfect for picnics under the sun.
In peak summer, it gets very busy, but early morning and autumn visits are the perfect time to capture the serenity of the ponds and common, with mist drifting across the water and red deer moving silently through the woods. To swim in the ponds, arriving first thing in the morning or after 5pm offers the perfect balance between enjoying the water at its freshest and clearest, and when it will be much warmer for those adverse to the cold.
Brooklands Museum
At first glance, Brooklands is a preserved slice of British engineering history, sprawled across the site of the world’s first purpose-built racing circuit, but there is so much more to it than cars. Across its multitude of aircraft hangars and storage units, visitors will find not only cars, but aircraft too, including an immersive Concorde experience that lets you sit in the famous plane’s cabin and see its cockpit up close.
The old legacy racetrack remains visible and can be walked around or viewed from the hill, giving visitors the opportunity to literally walk in the footsteps of giants. Regular events are held at the race centre, from motoring festivals to open cockpit days of rare and exotic aircraft, keeping the programme fresh throughout the year. With purpose-built flight simulators, incredible vintage cars from the last century of motor racing to sit in, and a healthy amount of nostalgia in the air, Brooklands provides an incredibly immersive day out for motoring and engineering enthusiasts.
Winkworth Arboretum
With its sweeping valley walks and seasonal bursts of colour, Winkworth Arboretum offers one of Surrey’s most dramatic and endearing walking spots. The site was originally created in the 1930s by Dr Wilfrid Fox, a local doctor and tree enthusiast who wanted to showcase the full glory of English woodland across the seasons. Now run by the National Trust, Winkworth holds over 1,000 species of trees and shrubs, including fiery red maples in the autumn, carpets of bluebells in spring, and the incredible sight of cherry blossom petals drifting on the breeze in April.
Walking trails and paths will bring visitors all over the enclosure, from the steep chalky tracks downhill to the beautiful lake, to twisting and turning through the tree canopy, with plenty of benches to stop and appreciate the views along the way. The boathouse by the lake is a particularly picturesque place to pause and reflect on the wonderful natural surroundings one finds themselves enveloped by.
