25 Outdoors - Other to Explore in Bedfordshire

Checkout places to visit in 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.

Popular Activities And Trips in Bedfordshire

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Outdoors - Other to Explore in Bedfordshire

Barton Hills National Nature Reserve

A beautiful nature reserve that has a large population of the rare pasque flower and several other rare plants are present in the downland, including greater pignut and fleawort. This post is also flourished with different verities of butterflies and the occurrence of springs and a chalk stream at the foot of the valley increases the beauty of this area. Between April and August is the best time to visit this paradise.

Within Zilker Park's 358 acres lies one of the crown jewels of Austin - Barton Springs Pool. The pool itself measures three acres in size and is fed from underground springs with an average temperature of 68-70 degrees, ideal for year-round swimming. The Springs serves as home to the endangered Barton Springs Salamander and is listed as a federally protected habitat.

Brampton Wood Nature Reserve

Brampton Wood SSSI is a 133-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cambridgeshire, owned and managed by The Wildlife Trusts for Beds, Cambs & Northants as a nature reserve. You can spend many hours roaming the trails and verdant spaces here at Brampton Reserve. One of the peaceful area which offers a natural living in the centre of woods.

Dunstable Downs

Dunstable Downs is the highest point in the East of England and one of the best-known viewpoints on the Chilterns ridge, which was situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the edge of the Chiltern Hills. It attracts a lot of tourists and also its views are truly mesmerizing.

Forest of Marston Vale

a perfect day out for the family! It brings up to 30% tree cover, transforming the landscape and making it a thriving place to live, work and play. The Forest of Marston Vale is one of twelve of community forest projects in the United Kingdom. The total area covered is 61 square miles, but most of this land is in private ownership. There are incentives for landowners to plant trees, and the target for community forests, in general, is to reach 30% tree cover.

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.

Hitchin Lavender

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 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.

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

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.

Lea Valley Walk

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.

Luton Hoo Estate

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.

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 - Whipsnade Tree Cathedral

A beautiful natural location that was covered with trees, hedges, and shrubs planted in the form of a medieval cathedral. This incredible Tree Cathedral was created after the First World War in the spirit of "faith, hope, and reconciliation". The cathedral, which covers 26 acres, was begun in the interwar years in an effort to foster ‘Faith, hope and reconciliation’. The Tree Cathedral contains chapels meant for each of the four seasons.

National Trust - Wimpole Estate

A unique working estate, with an impressive mansion at its heart. Discover Wimpole’s acres of parkland, miles of walks, vibrant Walled Kitchen Garden, and Home Farm. Explore the hall, where intimate rooms contrast with beautiful Georgian interiors. The house, begun in 1640, and its 3,000 acres of parkland and farmland are owned by the National Trust. The estate is regularly open to the public and received over 335,000 visitors in 2019.

Parson's Close Recreation Ground

The Park is home to the very popular Splash ‘n’ Play facility, the beach, the skate park, and also the bandstand. The Splash ‘n’ Play water park is currently closed for winter. the area surrounding the green became the focus for fine houses and grounds built by merchants and the gentry within easy distance of London, yet in a more salubrious setting than the urban environs. A number of Georgian houses have survived, some of them replacing earlier Tudor and Elizabethan buildings.

Paxton Pits Nature Reserve

Paxton Pits Nature Reserve is a rich area of wildlife habitats in the heart of the Ouse Valley covering 78 hectares of lovely lakes, riverside, meadow, reedbed, scrub, grassland and woodland. It offers a great learning experience for visiting education and community groups as well as families - including a chance to get up close to local wildlife on the surrounding nature reserve throughout the year.

RSPB The Lodge nature reserve and gardens is one of the best places in the county to visit wildlife friendly gardens in attractive natural landscapes. Gardeners will enjoy the beautiful gardens around The Lodge, which are the UK headquarters of the Royal Society for the Protections of Birds. The reserve sits on the Greensand Ridge, overlooking the River Ivel valley and includes areas of broadleaved and coniferous woodland.

Map of Outdoors - Other to Explore in Bedfordshire