Bedford

For other places with the same name, see Bedford (disambiguation).

Bedford is the county town and the transport, social, cultural and administrative centre of the shire-county of Bedfordshire in the East of England.

St Peter's Church

Interior of St Paul's Church

Understand

Once on the frontier between the Anglo-Saxons and Danes, it has a charter dating back more than 900 years. It is an important shopping centre, and there are also many pubs and bars. There good ethnic restaurants, reflecting the town's substantial Italian, Indian, Pakistani, and Polish communities. Bedford has also been heralded for having a wide range of ethnic diversity. The Embankment along the River Ouse running through the centre of town is an attractive place for a walk, and once a year is given over to a traditional Regatta. On the picturesque town bridge is a memorial to John Bunyan, who wrote The Pilgrim's Progress here, and who was imprisoned there. Bunyan lived in Bedford for most of his life, and his life can be seen at the John Bunyan Museum in the town, which also has a statue dedicated to him. There is a large and attractive park with tennis courts, and other niceties north of the town centre (Bedford Park).

• Experience Bedfordshire

Get in

By train

1 Bedford station is served by East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway, and Thameslink. Travel from London St. Pancras International takes about 40 minutes by East Midlands Railway and just over an hour if you take the Thameslink. Thameslink trains are slower as they are primarily commuter services. East Midlands Railway services only stop at a couple of stations between Bedford and London.

There is also a minor railway line going west to Bletchley (near Milton Keynes). Bedford's second train station (Bedford St. John's) is only used by Bletchley trains, whereas all trains arriving in Bedford end up in the main Bedford station sooner or later.

East Midlands Railway go north to Nottingham and beyond.

By bus

Bedford has a reasonably large 2 bus station located in the centre of town, however there are few long-distance services. The bus station and Midland train station are about 800 m apart, so it's a maximum 10-min walk if you need to make a change here.

Bedford is on the X5 bus route between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge. Buses generally leave every half hour.

By road

Bedford lies directly between the M1 and A1 motorways. Park and Ride facilities are available see, National Park and Ride Directory

Get around

The local bus services around Bedford are terrible, being both infrequent and expensive. Just about everything you'd want to see is within easy walking distance of the high street, however (at most 30 minutes if you're slow), so there's little need for anything more than your feet in good weather.

There's a reasonable but underused shuttle bus leaving the central train station, and the bus service to surrounding villages is excellent.

There are very few provisions for cyclists, though the town centre is pedestrianised. The one way system and endless traffic lights around the centre make for fun riding until you get to know the roads. Reasonably wide roads mean you don't get squeezed off too often.

Taxis are relatively expensive in Bedford and you may expect to queue for some time at town centre taxi ranks. It is usually faster and cheaper to call for a licenced minicab rather than queueing.

See

• 1 Embankment of the River Great Ouse. 
• 2 Bunyan Museum, Mill Street, MK40 3EU. Mar-Oct: Tu-Sa 11AM-4PM. Free.  
• 3 The Higgins Bedford, Castle Lane, MK40 3XD. Tu–Sa 11AM–5PM, Su 2–5PM. Art gallery and museum containing a good range of Anglo-Saxon and Roman artefacts, and 19th century art. Admission Free.  
• 4 Bedford Park, Park Avenue. A large Victorian park to the North of the town centre.  
• 5 Castle Mound. always open. The remains of a castle built in 919 and destroyed in 1224, near the river embankment. free.  
• 6 St Paul's Church, St Pauls Square, MK40 1SQ. An interesting church with over 700 years history.  
• 7 St Peter's Church, De Parys Avenue, MK40 2TX.  
• 8 Priory Park. A large area of open land of the Eastern edge of town, featuring a man-made lake and nature reserve. free.  
• 9 Willington Dovecote and Stables, Willington, Church End, near Bedford, MK44 3PX (4 miles east of Bedford), ☏ +44 1284 747500, willingtondovecote@nationaltrust.org.uk. Apr - Sep: last Sunday of month or by appointment. 16th-century stone dovecote.  

Do

• Hire a boat on the rowing lake near the river. (Summer only)
• 1 Bedford Blues RFU, Goldington Road MK40 3NF, ☏ +44 1234 321880. The Blues play rugby union in the Championship, England's second tier. (updated Mar 2024)
• Walk east along the embankment from the main bridge, over the rainbow bridge, round past the boating lake, crossing the butterfly bridge and back along the embankment. A pleasant stroll either during day or night. Stop off at one of the restaurants or pubs on the embankment for refreshments.

Buy

In shopping terms, Bedford is quite typical for a town of its size. The centre of town has the normal chain stores. There is a small indoor shopping centre, the Harpur Centre, and one dingy end of it is called the Howard Centre. The central spiral walkway between the two levels of the centre is named The Hub and is, apparently, "the place to be seen".

Having been the region's market town, Bedford has a market every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday with various tradespeople and stalls. Bargains of all kinds can be found here, along with local produce. The market is split between Harpur Square and St. Paul's square.

Eat

Shire Hall on the River Great Ouse

Tavistock street contains wall to wall restaurants of every kind.

• Grand Indian, 39 Tavistock Street, MK40 2RB, ☏ +44 1234 267949. Has a particularly fine Chick Jalfrezi. 
• 1 Saffron, 64 Tavistock St, MK40 2RG, ☏ +44 1234 325655. Does a superb and cheap Sunday lunch buffet. 
• The Choudhury, Foster Hill Road, MK40 2EN, ☏ +44 1234 215556. Indian cuisine. (updated Mar 2016)
• Pizza Express, 22 St. Peters St, MK40 2NN, ☏ +44 1234 271124. Pizza restaurant. 
• Shanghai Beach, 61 Tavistock St, MK40 2RF, ☏ +44 1234 356000. A particularly fine Chinese restaurant offering a fixed price for anything off the menu but all freshly cooked food. (updated Mar 2016)
• Pizzeria Santaniello, 9-11 Newnham Street, MK40 3JR, ☏ +44 1234 353742. Traditional cheap and cheerful Neopolitan pizzeria, with wood-fired oven. 
• Rice, 41 St Cuthbert's Street, ☏ +44 1234 272053. Small, good quality Thai restaurant. (updated Sep 2016)

Drink

Like all towns in England, Bedford has its fair share of chain pubs and bars packed to the gills on weekends. Walk down the High Street and you'll cover most of them, with a few bars found down Lime Street and various pubs along Tavistock Street.

For a quieter drink with good ales and ciders look out for the Wellington Arms on the corner of Wellington Street and Princes Street, which has won several CAMRA awards. Other good places to drink are the Castle and the Three Cups on Newnham Street; the Cricketers on Goldington Road; and the Bedford Arms on Bromham Road. There's a selection of live music at the Angel on Tavistock Street and Esquires

Sleep

The Swan Hotel

• 1 The Swan Hotel, The Embankment, MK40 1RW, ☏ +44 1234 346565. A good central location at the bottom of the High Street on the embankment. The hotel was built in 1794, with more recent extensions increasing its size to 113 rooms. Rooms start around £90. 
• 2 Mercure Bedford Centre Hotel, 2 St Marys Street, MK42 0AR, ☏ +44 1234 799988. Modern concrete block on the other side of the river from the Swan. (updated Sep 2020)
• 3 Victoria Guest House, 26 De Pary's Avenue, ☏ +44 1234 359219. Pleasant but unexciting bed and breakfast on a tree-lined avenue 5 minutes from the High Street. Single ensuite rooms £35.. 
• 4 De Parys Guest House, 48 De Parys Avenue, MK40 2TP. Double room £50. (updated Nov 2019)

Go next

• Taking the cycle route (an old railway line) out to Willington can be pleasant on a summer's day. Although the route does run right by the sewage works.
• Bedford is surrounded by small old villages with village pubs. Great Barford (7 km to the east), for example, is sure to please.
• The RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) has a nature reserve (and headquarters) in Sandy, 11 km to the east.
• North-east to St Neots.
• East to Biggleswade
• South to Flitwick, Hitchin, Letchworth Garden City and Luton
• West to Milton Keynes, Stony Stratford, Towcester, Silverstone and Northampton
• North to Little Gidding, Kettering, Wellingborough and Rushden

Routes through Bedford

Kettering ← Rushden ←

N  S

→ Luton