There's More to Milton Keynes than Just Roundabouts...

There's More to Milton Keynes than Just Roundabouts...

There's More to Milton Keynes than Just Roundabouts...

Renowned for its infamous roundabouts and concrete cow sculptures, Milton Keynes might not be the first place you think of when planning a city break. But this modern ‘new town’ has a lot to offer. Here we have listed our top 10 reasons to visit Milton Keynes:

1. The National Bowl – The National Bowl is an impressive open air amphitheatre with a capacity of 65,000 people. It's a unique venue for concerts and has seen a range of top artists perform over the years including The Foo Fighters, Queen, Michael Jackson and Swedish House Mafia.

The National Bowl - MK Bowl Concert" by Ian Sanders. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons

2. Shopping! – Milton Keynes is a shopper’s paradise. As well as having over 400 stores in the city centre it also has one of the largest covered shopping areas in Europe. With everything from budget pound shops to high end designer boutiques MK has something for every shopper. Vizion Water Garden Apartments are only minutes away from MK’s shopping centre.

Midsummer Place By Chris Nyborg (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Midsummer Place By Chris Nyborg (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

3. Lots of Parks and green space– With over 5000 acres of parkland Milton Keynes is a green and scenic place. Wherever you are in MK you are never far from green space to escape to. You can enjoy woodland walks, picnics in the park, and nature rambles. Many of the parks even offer special events and activities. Stay at Cotels Service Apartments in The Theatre District to be a few minutes walk from Campbell Park 

Campbell Park - By Richard Schmidt [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Campbell Park - By Richard Schmidt [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

4. Lakes and canals – In addition to the scenic parks, Milton Keynes also has the impressive Willen Lake, River Ouzel and the Grand Union canal. This makes it a great place to try a range of watersports and activities, hire a canal boat or even just enjoy a stroll by the river.

Grand Union Canal © Copyright Stephen McKay and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

5. Xscape Centre – The Xscape centre is described as the ‘ultimate entertainment destination’. It is home to shops, bars, restaurants, a gym, multiplex cinema, bowling alley, rock climbing wall and even a real snow slope! Open day and night you will be spoilt for choice with the range of sport and leisure activities on offer. Cotels Serviced Apartments – Charter House are perfect for visiting Xscape

© Copyright Steve Fareham and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Xscape Centre - © Copyright Steve Fareham and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

6. The Sculptures – Milton Keynes boasts one of the largest collections of public sculptures in the UK. From the iconic concrete cows (which are now in Central Milton Keynes shopping centre) to the Peace Pagoda in Willen Park, there’s work from a great a range of artists on public display. One of the more recent pieces is the ‘Leaping man’, dedicated to Milton Keynes very own gold medal winning Olympian Greg Rutherford.

Statue by Ronald Rae By Chmee2 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Statue by Ronald Rae By Chmee2 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

7. Interesting Museums – The history of Milton Keynes is quite unique. Initially a small village it was selected to be an area for development and expansion in the 1960’s when it rapidly grew to be the urban area it is today. Find out all about the growth of MK and the history of the area long before the expansion at the Milton Keynes Museum. The National Museum of computing is also found in Milton Keynes at Bletchley Park. It houses the largest collection of functional historic computers in Europe.

Bletchley Park - By Draco2008 from UK (Bletchley Park) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Bletchley Park - By Draco2008 from UK (Bletchley Park) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

8. The Location – Milton Keynes is strategically placed between London, Birmingham, Oxford, Cambridge, Coventry and Peterborough. It makes a great base if you are wanting to visit the surrounding area.

Milton Keynes Location
Map of Milton Keynes & surrounding area

9. Convenient Transport Links - With great rail, bus and road networks getting around Milton Keynes is easy. It also boasts a network of cycle and pedestrian routes that cover the city known as ‘redways’. If you want to explore further afield it only takes around 30 minutes by train to get to London.

By mattbuck (category) (Own work by mattbuck.) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Milton Keynes Railway Station - By mattbuck (category) (Own work by mattbuck.) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Milton Keynes Railway Station - By mattbuck (category) (Own work by mattbuck.) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

10. Great Accommodation – Citybase has a great range of apartments in Milton Keynes. With Cotels Serviced Apartments set in the theatre district, The Hub Apartments by City Stay in a perfect location for shopping and Vizion Apartments by Shortstay MK close to the Xscape Centre, Citybase can find the perfect apartment whatever reason for your visit. All our Milton Keynes apartments boast extra space and cooking facilities making them a great choice for business travellers, couples, groups and families alike.

Vizion Water Garden Apartments by City Stay

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