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An Introduction to Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire (shortened as Bucks) is a county where you can escape into a contrasting landscape of tranquil countryside and lively towns.

With the county town of Buckingham you can relax by also shopping in the pretty market towns of Marlow, Amersham.

Stretching from the London outskirts towards the Midlands, Buckinghamshire is home to the rolling Chiltern Hills and the meandering River Thames. The Chiltern Hills give the south of the county a special charm with quiet valleys, lovely tucked-away villages with pretty brick-and-flint houses, endless walking possibilities . Country walks run between picturesque villages with a host of welcoming pubs.  Or explore the rich literary heritage in the footsteps of writers such as John Milton, TS Eliot and Mary Shelley. Lovers of historic houses will be spoilt for choice with the magnificent Waddesdon Manor and the stunning Cliveden and the breathtaking gardens of Stowe. Relive the secrets of the second world war at Bletchley Park and the wonders of the enigma machine.

For excitement look no further than Xscape, Europe’s largest indoor skiing complex, or Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit. Please the children with a trip to Bekonscot Model Village in Beaconsfield  or the Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery in Aylesbury and the new Gulliver’s Land in Milton Keynes is this year’s family attraction, with lots to entertain young children.

Many older children join adults in enjoying the open air Chilterns museum in Chalfont St Giles, the railway centre at Quainton and the extraordinary Hell Fire Caves at West Wycombe - happily combined with a walk in the nearby beechwoods.

Principal towns are:

Amersham: represents a fascinating blend of ancient and modern. Amersham is made up of two parts - top Amersham, a thriving commercial centre, and Old Amersham, a popular tourist spot with its wide sweeping High Street, half-timbered buildings and picturesque period cottages. The Old Town is famed for its shopping with a wide selection of antique and craft shops, designer boutiques, and an impressive range of restaurants, snack bars and coaching inns. For more information visit

Aylesbury: the county town of Buckinghamshire, a lively market town steeped in history. Located at the foot of the Chiltern Hills and at the heart of the rich agricultural Vale of Aylesbury, a focal point in the English Civil War. As the popularity of the famous Aylesbury Duck grew in the 19th century, the town's livestock markets attracted visitors from far and wide. Nowadays, the award-winning Roald Dahl Children's Gallery set in the sleepy lanes of the Old Town, excellent town centre shopping including the thrice weekly markets in the historic cobbled square, and excellent new entertainment facilities provide the focus for visitors.

Beaconsfield: is a town of two parts. The picturesque Old Town is a wide sweeping highway linked by traditional olde worlde inns, period buildings and a fine church. Its most famous resident was Enid Blyton, creator of the Famous Five, Noddy and Big Ears. Beaconsfield is also home to Bekonskot, the world's first model village and one of Buckinghamshire's most popular tourist attractions. The new part of Beaconsfield consists of the main shopping centre including a wide selection of designer boutiques.

Bletchley: whose history dates back to Roman times, lies to the south-west of Milton Keynes. Bletchley Park is a living museum, where visitors are transported back to 1942. An array of exhibitions, including one of the largest collections of Churchillian memorabilia, help re-create the atmosphere of wartime Britain. Close to Bletchley Park are the historic buildings of Rectory Cottages and Museum, and the Church of St Mary's. At its height, Bletchley was a thriving country town and, as a district centre, it still retains much of its independent character today.

Buckingham: is a small market town with an array of Georgian buildings including the impressive Old Gaol and Town Hall located either end of the Market Square. The Old Gaol is home to an information centre as well as a museum reflecting the istory of the town and surrounding area. Home to Britain's first modern independent University, the town also has close links with the famous Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit and magnificent Stowe Landscape Gardens.

Chesham is located amidst the steep green Chiltern Hills and has much to offer the visitor with its many attractions including Lowndes Park, Church Street in the Old Town with its picturesque cottages, and also the 12th century St Mary's Parish Church. Chesham has its own theatre, a range of shops, as well as excellent pubs and restaruants. It also has its own popular outdoor swimming pool.

High Wycombe stretches along the Wye Valley from West Wycombe in the West to Loudwater and Woburn in the East. It is one of the county's largest towns and is world-renowned for its furniture industry which started in the 17th century. The Museum, at Castle Hill, shows many examples of craftmanship of the 17th and 18th centuries. West Wycombe House is a Palladian mansion 3 miles west of the town and was the magnificent home of the Dashwood family.

Marlow is a fascinating little town with much to interest the traveller in its mixture of the old and new. In the High Street there are many old houses, but its most famous feature is the Suspension Bridge, built in 1831. Jerome K Jerome wrote much of Three Men in a Boat in the Two Brewers Inn in St Peter's Street, and Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in a house in West Street in 1817. The town contains many fine Georgian houses and riverside walks, and is well worth exploring on foot.

Milton Keynes is famous for its shopping facilities and the Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre attracts millions of visitors from all over Britain and from overseas. Because the city is famous as a new city, visitors could be forgiven for assuming that it has no history - nothing could be further from the truth! There is evidence of early human activity around 6000 BC. Today, Milton Keynes has tree-lined boulevards, litter-free, uncongested roads, and clean-cut modern buildings in spacious surrondings.