Milton Keynes is one of my favourite places to visit, for many reasons. I only live just over half an hour from Milton Keynes and can definitely envisage us moving there in the future. They just have so much to do, and it’s constantly growing with new restaurants and activities cropping up all over the place. I first visited Milton Keynes about 15 years ago, and it blows my mind how much it’s changed in that time. In today’s post I’m going to share some great things to do in Milton Keynes.
Milton Keynes Guide
Shopping
Shopping is my favourite thing to do in MK, and it’s crazy how many shopping centres and retail parks they have to offer considering the size of the town. It looks and feels like a city when you’re travelling from one place to another, but it’s definitely not a city.
The main shopping destination is the Centre MK shopping centre, which you’ll find on Silbury Boulevard. The layout of the centre is unlike any other shopping centre I’ve visited. It has a long and narrow layout where you basically do a loop, and there’s shops down the centre of the loop with some going through to the other side.
So it’s easy to cut through to get to a specific shop without having to walk around the whole centre. There are so many shops, I’d recommend downloading the centre’s app as it has an handy interactive map showing you every store and unit, as well as highlighting amenities too. The Centre MK boasts hundreds of stores all under one roof, and you can get your hands on the latest launches from fashion and beauty brands under one roof. They even have a coat check, quiet room, shop & drop, phone charging facilities and more in their guest services lounge.
I really like that’s there’s benches outside every single store, and the centre is always exceptionally clean too. The parking system is great, where spaces are divided into zones which dictates the hourly fee for each zone. For example ‘red’ is their most premium zone, and the spaces in red zones are literally next to the shop’s entrance. However, the further you’re prepared to walk, the cheaper the hourly rate.
The Centre MK is a must for anyone visiting Milton Keynes, but they have some really great retail parks too. I particularly rate the MK1 Shopping & Retail Park as it has one of the biggest Primark stores I’ve ever been to, and it’s so open plan so you don’t feel like the rails are on top of each other like many cramped Primark stores. In addition to Primark, you also have H&M, M&S, JD, Next, Outfit, New Look, River Island and more. The park also has a fantastic range of restaurants, all of which are in walking distance to the MK Dons football ground.
My third shopping destination recommendation would be the Kingston Centre as it’s grown considerably over the last two years. Again you have many different restaurants, but there’s lots of different shops and there’s free parking which is even better. Plus they offer late night shopping until 8pm every night except Sunday.
Eating
If you’re looking for something delicious to eat in Milton Keynes, you are truly spoilt for choice. There are endless restaurants across the whole town from the shopping centre, and retail parks to the buzzing theatre district and the vibrant Hub. They have every cuisine you could possibly wish for, and well known chains such as TGI Friday’s, Frankie & Benny’s, Las Iguanas, Prezzo and more. The tough decision is trying to decide which one you want to choose.
Xscape
If extreme or winter sports are more your thing, the fantastic Xscape snow dome is a must visit location for sure. Xscape is a huge complex with a full snow slope where you can go skiing or snowboarding, but they also have a wind tunnel, abseiling and more. Xscape allows you to take your own ski gear in, or you can hire kit too and there’s even an apres-ski bar to enjoy afterwards.
In addition to the sports, Xscape has many restaurants and takeaway chains inside. My personal favourite is Five Guys, but they also have some bars and pubs if that’s more your scene. There’s even a casino inside Xscape which I haven’t been to myself, but it’s a relatively new addition and it looks amazing from outside. Upstairs they have a full cinema, and there’s a bowling alley too. There’s so many things to do, you could happily spend a whole day there.
Milton Keynes is such a fantastic place to visit, and it’s well located near the M1 so it’s easy to reach. You also have the theatre, museums, Gulliver’s Land, Woburn Safari Park, Daytona, Indoor Karting, Aqua Parcs, Stadium MK and more. If you’re yet to visit Milton Keynes, it’s well worth a visit especially for a weekend away, as they have so many different hotels to choose from too.