Bedfordshire - 82 Attractions You Must Visit

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About Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire is not only a wonderful county to live in, but also to visit and enjoy with all the family. Bedfordshire is the ideal location for a day trip, especially from the neighbouring areas of London, Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire. There is so much to do, you’ll wish you were staying longer, so be sure to make a list of all the places.

Types of Attractions in Bedfordshire

Activities Around

List of Attractions in Bedfordshire

Grosvenor Casino

Grosvenor Casino is the UK’s largest multi-channel casino operator which offers a range of popular casino table games, including roulette, blackjack, baccarat, and poker as well as electronic roulette and slot machine games. The digital channel continues to gain scale and offers many popular games including its very popular live casino. One of the iconic locations in this area which offers a wide range of games and leisure things.

Harrold Odell Country Park

A beautiful 144 acres of award-winning green space which includes a nature reserve, two picturesque lakes, and a stretch of the River Great Ouse. The area covered by the park has formerly been a quarry, a farm, an Iron Age farm, and a Roman settlement - not necessarily all at the same time. The park is currently owned and managed by Bedford Borough Council. There is a wide variety of birds, and mammals include otters, shrews and bats.

Heartwood Forest

Heartwood Forest is an extraordinary and special place that has transformed a vast area of former farmland in London’s greenbelt. It is home to over half a million new saplings, stunning ancient woodland, a native arboretum and a community orchard. Incredibly, it takes just 12 years to turn bare land into flourishing native woodland, complete with a diverse range of wildlife and towering trees.

Hitchin Lavender

Hitchin Lavender

Outdoors- Other

Hitchin Lavender is a lavender farm attraction close to both London and Cambridge. The farm has some spectacular views of rural Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and there are many interesting walks in the surrounding area. It attracts a lot of tourists here and also this picturesque spot is also a good venue for film shoots too.

Houghton Hall Park

Houghton Hall Park

Outdoors- Other

Houghton Hall was commissioned as a private estate in 1700 by Alice Brandreth, it was part of a much larger land holding of one Henry Brandreth who once owned all of what is now Houghton Regis. It now presents as a path running around the periphery of a number of large fields. Some are mowed and others are left to grow, presumably in order to support small wildlife: butterflies and such.

Houghton House

Houghton House

Iconic Buildings

Houghton House is a ruined mansion house in the parish of Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire. It was built in the early 17th century by Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, as an elaborate hunting lodge. The house is reputed to have been the model for the ‘Palace Beautiful’ in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, published in 1678.

Icknield Way

Icknield Way

Outdoors- Other

1 Day Treks

Icknield Way Trail is a long distance footpath in East Anglia, England. It is unique among long-distance tracks because it can claim to be "the oldest road in Britain". It runs from the end of the Ridgeway Path at Ivinghoe Beacon, near Tring, to the start of the Peddar's Way at Knettishall Heath.

Icknield Way Trail

Icknield Way Trail

Outdoors- Other

1 Day Treks

The Icknield Way Trail passes along an ancient chalk ridge but there is a variety of landscapes to view including flat fenland and rolling chalk downland, as well as picturesque villages and ancient beech woodland. It is generally said to be one of the oldest roads, the route of which can still be traced, being one of the few long-distance trackways to have existed before the Romans occupied the country.

Irchester Country Park

This spectacular former quarry boasts Jurassic geology, and has a wonderful children's play area in addition to a network of long and short trails through 83 hectares of mixed woodland. The park is home to the Quarryman's Rest Cafe, Jungle Parc UK, and the Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Museum.

Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Museum

Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Museum is a beautiful museum that is little the site associated with the initial ironstone railway, that is house to a collection of working steam and diesel locomotives. It includes 8 locomotives within the collection, 7 running on steam, the other a diesel engine, plus over 30 items of rolling stock. The museum is owned byThe Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Trust.

John Bunyan Museum

A beautiful museum that tells the story of the Bedford man who wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress, one of the greatest novels in the English language. It includes a mixture of sets and scenes highlighting key aspects if his life, and a wide selection of objects and examples of his works. The John Bunyan Library contains 3,000 books and is open by appointment to researchers.

Jordans Mill

Jordans Mill

Man-made Structures- Other

Jordan's Mill is FREE to wander around. It is owed by the people who make the cereal and the cereal bars and still has a working water mill. You can wander around the mill, they also do guided tours and have a spot of lunch. The restaurant is a bit pricey and they don't allow picnics.

Kimbolton House

Kimbolton House

Iconic Buildings

Old Ruins

A majestic Norman castle which was the final resting place of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s divorced and banished Spanish Queen, Kimbolton Castle sits amidst wooded grounds close to the small town of Kimbolton. All that remains of the Norman castle is a low mound, surrounded by a ditch and covered with trees, which can be seen by looking up the hill from the Duchess Walk. It was one of the main attractions in this area and is famous among the tourists.

Lea Valley Walk

Lea Valley Walk

Outdoors- Other

The Lea Valley Walk is a 50-mile long-distance footpath located between Leagrave, the source of the River Lea near Luton. From its source much of the walk is rural. At Hertford, the path follows the towpath of the River Lee Navigation, and it becomes increasingly urbanized as it approaches London. The walk was opened in 1993 and is waymarked throughout using a swan logo.

Leighton Buzzard Railway

Leighton Buzzard Railway

Man-made Structures- Other

The Leighton Buzzard Railway is one of England's longest and oldest narrow-gauge lines, with a worldwide collection of locomotives and rolling stock and so more. It also now houses one of the largest and most important collections of narrow-gauge stock in England. Both the collection and the railway itself are covered by our Accredited Museum designation, awarded by Arts Council England.

Luton Hoo Estate

Luton Hoo Estate

Outdoors- Other

Iconic Buildings

Luton Hoo Estate is a traditional privately owned Country Estate that continues to trust in its history and values. A traditional Estate that once included one of England's finest stately homes. Today, the Estate boasts an arable farm (with environmentally-friendly systems incorporated within its techniques), parkland, residential properties, commercial units, a historic model farm and a local food hub.

Moot Hall Museum

Moot Hall Museum

Iconic Buildings

The Moot Hall was originally built to serve Elstow Abbey as a market house but is now a museum. Built around 1550, this timber framed brick building is now home to the Aldeburgh Museum, as well as still being used for local council meetings. Sarah and her son recently visited Aldeburgh and just had to take a look inside this incredible building.

Mowsbury Hill

Mowsbury Hill

Outdoors- Other

Mowsbury Hill is a 2.8 hectare Local Nature Reserve and Scheduled Monument in north Bedford. It is owned and managed by Bedford Borough Council with the assistance of the Friends of Putnoe Wood and Mowsbury Hillfort.

National Trust - Ashridge Estate

The National Trust Ashridge Estate is a huge area of woodlands and downland near Berkhamsted with many walking and cycling routes and a visitor centre with shop and cafe. There is a year-round programme of guided walks and events.

National Trust - Dunstable Downs, Chilterns Gateway Centre and Whipsnade Estate

Dunstable Downs is the highest point in the East of England and one of the best-known viewpoints on the Chilterns ridge. The chalk grasslands of the Downs have miles of footpaths and circular walks to enjoy. Because of its elevation, Dunstable Downs hosted a station in the shutter telegraph chain which connected the Admiralty in London. It was one of the iconic locations in this area and it will be a memorable moment too.

Map of attractions in Bedfordshire

Comments

For more information about Bedfordshire, visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedfordshire