Best art day-trips from London

Next to the River Yare on the edge of the University of East Anglia campus is the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. The Grade II-listed building has been displaying art within its striking glass panels and crisscrossed steelwork since its completion in 1978. A visit to the gallery should include a wander around the sculpture garden, where you will spot, among the hordes of University of East Anglia students, a number of sculptures by Henry Moore. The permanent collection includes ceramics, abstract paintings and examples of modern European art by Picasso, Francis Bacon and Jacob Epstein.

Don't miss: Their amazing collection of African masks. 

Get there: By car in about two hours or by train from London Liverpool Street to Norwich, then take the 25 bus.

Firstsite is a visual arts organisation, founded in 1994, exhibiting both established and emerging artists. Based in Colchester, the crescent-shaped building, which appears to weave around the natural landscape, reflecting light on its shimmering copper-aluminium cladded exterior, is the vision of the design competition winner Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly. In 1996, Firstsite became one of the first visual arts organisations to dedicate an entire gallery to art created by schoolchildren. Whether you are an art buff or just enjoy looking at pretty pictures, Firstsite aims to make contemporary art accessible to all.

Don't miss: The perfectly preserved Roman mosaic shown under glass in the heart of the gallery.

Get there: By car in about two hours from central London or by train from Liverpool Street station to Colchester Town, which is a few minutes’ walk from the gallery.

The Grade I-listed Cambridge museum was founded in 1816 and features a mix of ancient antiques and fine art, which stretches from the 13th century to the present day. Behind the grand, pillared frontage of this stunning neoclassical building are five departments: Antiquities, Applied Arts, Coins and Medals, Manuscripts and Printed Books, and Paintings, Drawings and Prints. In Gallery One, you will find 20th-century paintings by Picasso, Cézanne and Monet. During the summer months, you can wander through the outdoor sculpture gallery, and when it inevitably starts chucking it down, you can grab lunch at the café in the (covered) courtyard.

Don't miss: Guercino's awesomely dramatic and ultra-violent 'The Betrayal of Christ'.

Get there: By car in about one hour 30 minutes from central London, although there is limited parking so the museum advises travelling by train form London Kings Cross to Cambridge, then it is a 20-minute walk or a short bus ride to the gallery.

The restored Strawberry Hill, created by Horace Walpole in the 18th century, is recognised as one of the finest examples of Georgian Gothic Revival architecture. In 2015, Walpole’s private rooms underwent a major restoration for the first time since the 1700s. Now you can admire the lavish decor in Britain’s first Prime Minister’s bedroom, the Turkish motifs on the tented ceiling over the breakfast room and the study in which he wrote one of the most influential works of Gothic fiction, The Castle of Otranto. The house also runs after-hours twilight tours, exploring the unique history of the building. In the garden, visitors can enjoy a rare example of an eighteenth-century theatrical shrubbery, a willow grotto and a woodland trail for children. 

Don't miss: Walpole's delightful collection of itty bitty miniatures by Holbein, Hilliard and Isaac Oliver.

Get there: By car in about an hour from central London or by train from London Waterloo to Strawberry Hill station, then a five- to ten-minute walk.

See Henry Moore’s monumental, globular sculptures as he intended them to be seen: against a backdrop of more than 60 acres of rolling hills and woodland. The Henry Moore Foundation in Perry Green, Hertfordshire, was set up in 1977 to preserve the Yorkshireman’s legacy and contribution to visual art. You can touch but not climb (as tempting as that is) the 20 figures on display, or just take a moment to enjoy the landscape, as framed by the holes cut into many of the figures. You can also explore the studios where the master of modernist sculpture perfected his craft, as well as take a tour of Hoglands, his family home for more than 40 years, where he built up an impressive book collection. The gardens, designed by his wife Irina Moore, are also worth a visit. The recently revamped visitor centre includes a plush new café, shop and education room if you like some greens with your bronzes. 

Don't miss: The Aisled Barn is the only place on earth to see some of Moore's unique tapestries.

Get there: By car in about one hour 20 minutes from central London or by train from London Liverpool Street to Bishops Stortford station, a 15-minute taxi ride from Perry Green.

All bold blocks and dramatic lines, this swish gallery was designed by David Chipperfield Architects and opened in April 2011. Situated on Margate Harbour, the building stands in the same place as the famous ‘Cold Harbour’ guest house, where Turner stayed on his many visits to Margate. The views of the north Kent coastline, which can be seen from the gallery, are the same vistas that inspired much of the painter’s work. There is a rolling programme of temporary exhibitions, often featuring world-class artists.

Don't miss: Look out to see and you'll spot a bunch of Antony Gormley steel figures nailed into the sand, if that's your kind of thing. 

Get there: By car in about two hours 20 minutes from central London or by high-speed trains from London St Pancras and Stratford International to Margate.

Victorian painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts, a pioneer of the symbolist movement, opened this purpose-built museum, dedicated to his work in 1904. Refurbished in 2011, it is a gem of a gallery that contains a permanent display of more than 100 paintings by Watts, as well as temporary exhibition spaces and a shop. While you are there, take a stroll to the Watts Chapel, the fantastically ornate arts and crafts building that Mary Watts had built in loving memory of her husband. In fact, if you fancy some exercise, the whole outing can be done as an easy, scenic, seven-mile walk from Wanborough to Godalming, across the North Downs Ridge.

Don't miss: The wonderfully named Limnerslease, the home and studio that George and Mary shared.

Get there: By car in about one hour 15 minutes from central London or by train from London Waterloo to Guildford, then take the 46 bus.

Completed in 1935, the Grade I-listed De La Warr Pavilion is one of the first public buildings to be built in a modernist style in the UK. Designed by Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff, this bold concrete and steel structure reopened in 2005 after an £8 million restoration project. De La Warr’s versatile exhibition space offers a dynamic programme of cultural events and exhibits contemporary art and live performances. The gallery is part of the Culture Coastal Trail, which includes Towner Art Gallery in Eastbourne, all connected by 25 miles of stunning East Sussex coastline.

Don't miss: There are gorgeous sea views from the cafe. 

Get there: By car in about two hours 30 minutes from central London or by train from London Victoria to Bexhill, then it is a 25-minute walk or short journey via the 98 bus.

This Grade I-listed townhouse dating from 1712 is the perfect place to spend a few leisurely hours. A contemporary wing was added in 2006, creating a contrast between the modern British art housed here and its central location in the old historic city of Chichester. The collection ranges from impressionistic works by Walter Sickert, to surrealist pieces by John Armstrong and Eileen Agar, to Peter Blake’s pop art. If all that modern art makes you hungry head to the restaurant for a posh lunch before brushing up on your art history in the gallery shop. While visiting the town, check out a window by Marc Chagall, a tapestry by John Piper and a painting by Graham Sutherland in what is perhaps the most modernism-friendly cathedral in the country.

Don't miss: Richard Hamilton's 'Swingeing London ’67', an iconic work of British pop art.

Get there: By car in about two hours from central London or by train from London Victoria to Chichester railway station, which is a few minutes’ walk from the station.

Towner is a contemporary art museum, best known for its collection of modern British art, which includes an extensive body of work by the painter and designer Eric Ravilious. The museum was born in the early 1920s when 22 paintings were bequeathed by Alderman John Chisholm Towner with the intention of forming a public art collection. The collection opened to the public in 1923, and has since grown from 22 works to more than 4,000 pieces. In 2009, a new Towner building was opened in order to accommodate the expansion. Today, the museum offers a rotating permanent collection, as well as temporary exhibitions and free daily guided tours. The gallery boasts the largest display space in South East England (at 1,250m squared) so you will definitely want to allocate the whole day to your visit.

Don't miss: The permanent collection features standout works by Eric Ravilious, Vanessa Bell and Paul Nash.

Get there: By car in about two hours 30 minutes from central London or by train from London Victoria or London Bridge to Eastbourne, which is a ten-minute walk from the gallery.

The Tardis-like Fry Art Gallery packs a massive amount into its quaintly titchy premises. The collection is built around the work of Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden, local artists who defined the look of graphic art in the World War Two era. While you’re there, visit the mammoth Audley End House and Gardens. Run by English Heritage, it is a jewel of a Jacobean mansion, with grounds remodelled by the 18th-century go-to guy for giant lakes and ha-has, Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. The gallery adjoins the historic 19th-century Bridge End Gardens, a series of interlinked, ornamental gardens and the setting for the Saffron Walden Maze Festival, which takes place annually from August 20 to August 21.

Don't miss: The works by post-war multi-hyphenate Michael Ayrton are deeply atmospheric and often scarily dark. 

Get there: By car in about one hour 30 minutes from central London or by train from Liverpool Street to Audley End, then a 15-minute bus journey on the 301 or 59.

Overlooking the fishing beach in the Old Town of Hastings is the rather stark-looking Hastings Contemporary (formerly Jerwood Gallery). Its seven exhibition rooms house a vast collection of 20th and 21st century art. The permanent collection at Jerwood features works by great British artists, including Augustus John, L.S. Lowry and Sir Stanley Spencer. The Foreshore Gallery, situated on the ground floor, is home to regularly changing exhibitions, showcasing some of the best modern and contemporary British visual arts.

Don't miss: The building is clad in over 8,000 Kent-glazed tiles.

Get there: By car in about two hours 30 minutes from central London or by train, take the London Victoria or the London Charing Cross train to Hastings. The train station is a 20-minute walk or a ten-minute bus ride from the gallery.