Designed as a community of the future, Milton Keynes has plenty in its present to entice travellers. Known as a satellite city 80km north of London, it has 15 lakes and 11 miles of canals among 4,500 acres of parks and woodland. Despite only being founded in 1967, MK (as the locals call it) has a longer history surrounding it, with quaint market towns and the famous World War Two code breaking headquarters, Bletchley Park.
Hostels in Milton Keynes include a converted 18th-century farmhouse in the countryside, within walking distance of the city centre. On-site restaurants serve meals in light-filled dining rooms, or you can cook your own feast in the kitchen. You'll find female-only dorms and private rooms in a Milton Keynes hostel or get closer to nature with camping and cabin stays. You can catch some sunshine in expansive lawned gardens or snuggle up on comfy sofas for a movie night.
On a grid with the shopping centre at its heart, Milton Keynes’ neighbourhoods are dotted with parks and lakes. Follow the canal to Willen Lake, where you’ll find water sports like wake-boarding and canoeing. Or head to the Buddhist Peace Pagoda monument, the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. Market towns like Stony Stratford and Olney are a 30–40 minute bus ride away with traditional high streets and cosy pubs. Back in the centre, the buzzing Theatre District and The Hub are home to restaurants and bars.
With more than 400 shops, Milton Keynes has two major malls that together make up one of the largest covered shopping centres in Europe. At the nearby Xscape leisure complex, you can ski on the UK’s biggest indoor slope with real snow or feel the rush of indoor skydiving. After all that excitement, take some time out in nature at peaceful Campbell Park. Just outside Milton Keynes you can visit the once top-secret Bletchley Park, set on a large Victorian estate.
Milton Keynes has an extensive network of cycling and walking paths. The bus system has more than 40 lines to take you around the city and to the surrounding villages and estates. Milton Keynes Central railway station connects to locations throughout the UK. There are regular services to London Euston, with the quickest taking 31 minutes. There's also a National Express coach station where you can catch buses to London Luton Airport, a 45-minute journey away.
