Posted 8 October 2023

bletchley park visit help

Visiting bletchley park on Tuesday and don't know that part of the world at all. Wondering which of the surrounding towns are worth a visit / where to stay. Any advice on places to visit like historic houses less than an hour away would be very welcome

thanks
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  1. dan_uk's avatar
    Bletchley is my neck of the woods. 

    What do you want to know specifically? Unless you’re staying overnight, Bletchley is really a full day unless you find the subject matter uninteresting (I’m assuming that’s not the case). 

    BP has a number of areas, all of which are worth a couple of hours. There’s the house, the old decoding huts, the museum with the bombe etc and the national museum of computing. 

    There's obviously a cafe onsite which does remarkably decent food and the usual hot drinks, beers etc. 

    Bletchley essentially = Milton Keynes so if you want shopping etc then you can head to the massive Intu mall if you wanted retail therapy, but MK is a bit a of warren and can be a massive time drain if you don’t know where to go. 

    Leighton Buzzard and Buckingham are both a few miles away but are just any other town really. Few charity shops, record shop, nice pizza place called Amore in LB but not worth schlepping over really. 

    It’s a lovely part of the world really and if you had more time it’s an area of Britain with great pubs and walks and scenery etc, but honestly there is so much to immerse yourself in at BP that you will likely not fit it all in in a day anyway. 

    If you have any other questions, just shout. 
    smith2001uk's avatar
    The commander bond (007) hut is brilliant if you want an origin story. Loved the place myself. Amazing stuff by those now gone.
  2. JimboParrot's avatar
    How long are you in the area for? As the visit will probably take up most of the day.
    spoo's avatar
    This - especially if you go the the National Computer Museum too which is on the same site.

    If you're interested in stately homes, Bletchley Park has one. The buildings where all the code breaking work happened were built in it's grounds.
  3. tgbyhn10's avatar
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    we'll be in the area for 3 days and nights. I have no idea about the area so wondering where would be a good place to stay as a base with nice surroundings, walks etc and a good gastro pub nearby. is Leighton Buzzard nice or perhaps a surrounding villeage? thanks

    007 origin story sounds interesting (edited)
  4. DJSlime's avatar
    The only redeeming things about Milton Keynes are the massive shopping centre and IKEA.

    Brace yourself for a billion roundabouts.

    Bletchley Park is a decent day out, it's fascinating.
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