Have you ever considered a mini break in Milton Keynes? Me neither! When you think about some of the best places for a UK staycation, this location in the south of England doesn’t usually spring to mind.
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However, Milton Keynes has recently been made a city to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and with loads of things to do and fantastic independent places to eat, it’s time to reconsider.
Here’s how to spend 24 hours in Milton Keynes.
How to get to Milton Keynes
One of the great things about Milton Keynes is that it’s super easy to access. If you’re driving, you can find it just off junction 14 of the M1, so it’s an easy journey.
There are also excellent rail links to the city with direct trains from Birmingham, London, and even Glasgow.
Where to stay in Milton Keynes
There are plenty of places to stay in and around Milton Keynes. For this trip, we stayed outside Milton Keynes at Horwood House Hotel.
Horwood House is a luxury hotel with spa facilities. It’s a grade II listed manor house that has been transformed into a modern, stylish hotel perfect for a relaxing break away.
It’s around a 20-minute drive from the centre of Milton Keynes and just 15 minutes from Bletchley Park, one of the main attractions in the area.
When we arrived at the hotel, the friendly staff made us feel very welcome. The lady on reception was wonderful, and all the staff we saw on the way to our room greeted us as we passed.
It has recently had a refurbishment, and the house’s historic gardens inspire its decor. Speaking of the gardens, don’t forget to visit them during your stay.
There is a traditional walled garden which is so beautiful, and a huge lily pond which has the house as the backdrop.
All rooms have twin or double beds, en-suite bathrooms, flatscreen TVs, free wi-fi, a hairdryer, ironing board, toiletries, and a safe.
We stayed in an executive suite with a separate lounge which is perfect if you want to do some work while you’re away or just relax and watch TV away from the bedroom. In addition to the gorgeous facilities which all of the rooms come with, executive suites also have a coffee machine, bathrobe and slippers, and upgraded toiletries.
The spa facilities are a lovely addition to the hotel. There’s a gym, swimming pool, sauna, and steam room.
Ok, so it’s not the same as going to a dedicated day spa, but there’s plenty here to spend a couple of hours chilling out.
Bring a magazine or a book and let your worries float away.
We enjoyed the hotel’s buffet breakfast in the morning – probably my favourite thing about a hotel stay! A hot-cooked breakfast is available with scrambled eggs, fried eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, and beans, as well as continental items like pastries, fruit, cheese, meats, and cereal.
We had a fantastic stay here and will make it our hotel of choice next time we’re in the area.
Things to do in Milton Keynes
There’s so much to do in Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas that you’ll be absolutely spoilt for choice if you’re only spending 24 hours there.
Bletchley Park
We’ve wanted to visit Bletchley Park for the longest time, ever since we watched The Imitation Game. Bletchley Park is the home of the World War II codebreakers who cracked the code for the German Enigma machine, decrypting German messages and ultimately helping us to win the war.
If you want to learn more, you should visit Bletchley Park, one of Britain’s stately homes, which was transformed in the late 1930s to become a base for the codebreakers to work from.
Bletchley Park is a full day out with lots of exhibits to see. There’s also a free guided tour which we really enjoyed.
Our guide was super passionate about Bletchley and really knew his stuff – he’d even written a book about it!
There’s a café to grab food here, or you can bring a picnic and eat it in the beautiful grounds overlooking the large pond. Bletchley Park is an entire day out. You can easily spend around five hours discovering everything here.
Xscape
We didn’t go to Xscape as we didn’t have time, but I would have loved it, and it’s definitely on my list for the next visit. There is an indoor ski slope, indoor skydiving, bowling, and even a trampoline park, so it’s an excellent option for a rainy day.
Silverstone
Right on the doorstep is the home of the British Grand Prix, Silverstone. You can visit the Silverstone museum here and learn about the track, try your hand at some sim racing and enjoy over 60 exhibits.
You can even walk on parts of the original grand Prix circuit!
MK Dons Stadium
If you’re a football fan, you could head to Stadium MK for a tour of where the MK Dons play their home games. We didn’t get chance to do the stadium tour, but we drove past it, and it does look very impressive for a league one team’s stadium.
The stadium also hosts live music events, darts matches, and basketball games.
Where to eat in Milton Keynes
One of the best things about Milton Keynes is its wide range of places to eat and drink, from popular chains to quirky independents and everything in between. We only got to sample a couple during our trip, but we were very impressed with the food.
Brewhouse & Kitchen
We popped to Brewhouse & Kitchen for lunch on the day we arrived. It’s part of the largest chain of brewpubs in the UK which means that alongside its food and drink offering, there’s also a working brewery here.
As expected, there are over 70 craft beers and ales on offer and a couple of non-alcoholic options. The food is pub classics like burgers and steaks, and their special is the beer can chicken.
We enjoyed a couple of sandwiches on toasted sourdough with skin on fries.
I had the halloumi while Lee opted for the club sandwich, and they were both delicious. The staff were also great.
They greeted us on arrival and kept popping back to check that we had everything we needed.
As well as being a great place to eat, they offer experiences like brewery days, beer masterclasses, and gin tasting.
Harry’s Bar & Restaurant
Harry’s is the in-house restaurant at Horwood House Hotel, but it’s definitely worth a visit for the food alone. Harry’s is a contemporary-styled restaurant with a lovely atmosphere and a great place to enjoy a meal.
We had a three-course meal starting with the goat’s cheese for me and ham hock for Lee, followed by steaks and finishing up with a French brest pastry. The food was full of flavour and perfectly cooked. Everything was delicious, and we couldn’t fault it.
The only thing that let the restaurant down a little bit was the service. Our starters arrived at our table before our drinks did, and then we were given steak knives but no forks for our mains, so I had to ask for these.
The people dining around us also had some problems with the service, with long waiting times between courses and some food not arriving. However, the food was so great that it did make up for these minor issues.
We had an amazing overnight stay in Milton Keynes. We only wished we had been there a little longer to enjoy more of what this wonderful city offers.
