After seeing about the Redways some time ago, I’ve often thought about how I could engineer a trip to Milton Keynes to check them out. Arranging a short break to Center Parcs Woburn Forest for Easter 2026 gave me the perfect opportunity to do this!

Like when we visited Center Parcs Elveden Forest in 2025 and stayed in Cambridge the night before, we wanted to stay somewhere near to Woburn Forest, so we could get on site early in the day and make the most of our trip. With Milton Keynes being really close and seemingly an abundance of cheap Premier Inns to stay in, the plan was perfect!

Originally starting as the largest of a number of proposed new towns in the 1960s, Milton Keynes has now developed into a city with a population of around 250,000. Made up of a number of existing towns and villages, with a design concept of the “forest city”, Milton Keynes is now one of the UK’s greenest cities.

In addition to the amount of fantastic green spaces, the city has some unique features you don’t typically see in the UK. It’s organised around a grid system and has extensive grade separation between motor traffic and active travel.

While I’ve read and watched plenty about Milton Keynes in the past, I still ended up going down a YouTube rabbit hole before our trip. If you too would like to know more about the history of Milton Keynes, I recommend watching this informative video, telling the story by the people who were part of the Development Corporation.

Milton Keynes Centre

For our night in Milton Keynes, we’d arranged to stay at the Premier Inn in the Theatre District. This is centrally located, unsurprisingly near Milton Keynes Theatre, which sits between central shopping area centre:mk and Xscape Milton Keynes, a huge leisure complex.

After checking in, we went for a wander in the central shopping district, which is made up of centre:mk and Midsummer Place shopping centres. Originally known as the Shopping Building, centre:mk is the original shopping centre in Milton Keynes, opening in 1979.

Influenced by the architecture of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the steel framed and glazed shopping centre is quite different to many indoor shopping malls of the same era. Comparing it to the two Arndale Centres in Manchester, which can feel quite dark and oppressive, centre:mk is light and airy.

This is particularly true of Midsummer Arcade, with its contrasting glazed and tiled walls and large clock tower. In this section, there’s a blue plaque confirming it as the location used in Cliff Richard’s Wired For Sound video. If you go and watch the video, you’ll spot some of the details in my photos.

In addition to the overall feel of lightness, the centre has some interesting features, such as service access to the shops at the first floor level, with an access road sitting on top of the shops. It also has large amounts of planting and trees, which is temperate in the northerly arcade and semi-tropical in the southerly one.

In 1993, the centre was extended at the western end on what used to be City Square. While the style is somewhat in keeping with the original building, the extension is dark with low ceilings and a substantially less pleasant place to be.

Midsummer Place opened in 2000 and sits adjacent to centre:mk on the south side, on Midsummer Boulevard. This also incorporates Oak Court, which used to contain an oak tree which stood here originally, until it died after the building of the shopping centre.

The design of Midsummer Place is very much of its time and could easily be mistaken for a number of shopping centres around the world. At times, you could be mistaken for thinking you’re in an airport departure lounge.

While it was interesting looking round the central shopping area of Milton Keynes, I was keen to get on my bike and explore the Redways, so we didn’t hang around too long.

Riding the Redways

Milton Keynes’ redway system, known as the Redways are a 320 kilometre network of shared-use paths for walking, wheeling and cycling. Largely featuring a red asphalt surface and with lots of grade separation, at times they could be mistaken for something you’d see in the Netherlands.

Built during the construction of the city, the Redways cover a significant amount of Milton Keynes, often running next to the grid roads. Additionally, many Redways run through parkland, along the valley of the River Ouzel and Grand Union Canal. There’s also a section of the Redways running along what used to be the Wolverton to Newport Pagnell railway line.

When looking for a route to follow, I came across the Cultural Routes, which looked like a good place to start. I opted for the full blue route that covers the central northern areas of Milton Keynes and along a section of the Millennium Cycle Route. Starting at our hotel on Avebury Boulevard, I made my way onto the Redway at Marlborough Gate, to start my ride.

Crossing under V8 Marlborough Street, I got my first taste of one of the many underpasses I’d use during the ride. Being used to the largely substandard underpasses around Manchester, this was a very welcome change. While not up to Dutch standards, this and the underpasses felt safe and comfortable to use, with decent lines of sight.

I would say maintenance of the underpasses could be better, as a few of them were quite scruffy, I’d also say lighting could be a lot stronger. On the day of my ride, the weather was fairly clear and bright and my ride was during the day. Would I be saying the same thing, riding along there in the evening or in bad weather? I’m not sure.

My first taste of a Redway was riding on the one next to H6 Childs Way, on a tree-line path. This was on the edge of Fishermead, a residential area made up of rectangular blocks of terraces, which were some of the first to built in the city.

While riding through Fishermead, I passed through Pencarrow Mews, a temporary housing scheme by Milton Keynes Council that’s made from shipping containers. While it looks like an innovative scheme, it appears there’s been issues with the implementation. I’m also not that fond of the sea of asphalt and car parking spaces outside, felt more like a business park, than somewhere people live.

I continued along the Redway, passing under V7 Saxon Street and V6 Grafton Street in more underpasses. I then turned right towards Milton Keynes Central, passing an abandoned Toys R Us unit at Winterhill Retail Park. Riding under Midsummer Boulevard and Elder Gate to arrive at Station Square.

Station Square has been recently redeveloped and features a distinctive, brightly painted central area, surrounded by new planting. The painted area is an artwork by artist Yinka Ilori, called Walk With Your Dreams, which draws on Nigerian textile patterns.

I’ve only stopped in Milton Keynes once before. Many years ago, at the station on the way back from London. With a couple of hours to spare, I stepped out of the station thinking I might have a wander. Looking out onto Station Square at the time, I wasn’t particularly impressed and turned back into the station.

The redevelopment of the square is a significant improvement. It’s a much brighter and inviting space now and somewhere you may want to spend time. I also spotted some covered two-tier cycle parking there. As it was a Sunday, there weren’t many bikes there, though I expect it’s much busier during the week. To be honest, I would have expected more cycle parking.

Leaving the square, I made my way around the side of the station and across the railway tracks that lead to Milton Keynes Central. The Redway then continued on a further bridge passing over the A5 dual carriageway. After crossing the A5, I initially continued parallel to the road, before making my way along Leys Road, towards Loughton Valley Park.

Loughton Valley Park is a linear park, with balancing lakes to deal with excess rainwater during heavy rainfall. The park is home to Bancroft Roman Villa, Bancroft Pétanque Piste and most famously, Milton Keynes’ concrete cows.

The route through the park took me under Portway, a main east/west route through Milton Keynes, then past the two lakes. At the time, I’d not realised the concrete cows were in the park, so I completely missed them, which was a shame.

The park was pretty quiet at the time, so I didn’t need to worry too much about mixing with other people walking or cycling. The path was mostly a decent width, though there were some narrower sections, so it could get a bit tricky if it does get busy.

On the way towards H3 Monks Way, the route passes under the railway line heading to Milton Keynes Central, in a small tunnel that also carries the Tref-y-nant Brook. With a wooden structure carrying the footway above the brook, this is quite an interesting detail along the way. Though it’s not what you’d call accessible and is definitely too narrow to ride through.

Carrying on along the park, on the edge of Bradwell, I passed some sports fields and H3 Monks Way, not far from where the elusive concrete cows are. I then continued along the Redway through the park until I reached V6 Grafton Street.

After crossing V6 Grafton Street on a particularly good walking and cycling bridge, I turned onto what used to be part of the former Newport Pagnell Railway, a former 4 mile branch line on the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), connecting Wolverton to Newport Pagnell.

The line closed in 1964 and was since converted into a Redway, still connecting Wolverton to Newport Pagnell. It feels very much like your typical rail trail, with plenty clues to its original use, including the former platform at what used to be Bradwell Station.

Riding along the line, you also get views of Bradwell Windmill, a Grade II listed landmark, which was built in 1805 to mill barley and wheat. Now owned by Milton Keynes Council, it was restored between 1970s to 1990s, though it’s not in full working order.

I continued on the old railway path until it reached the Grand Union Canal, where I turned off before the old railway bridge that crosses the canal. I then made my way into Great Linford Manor Park.

Originally a private garden for the manor house, Great Linford Manor Park is now open to the public. After being built in 1678, the estate fell into decline after being bisected by the Grand Union Canal in 1800, but it was later revived as a public park, as part of the Milton Keynes’ development.

Since 2015, work has been under way to restore the park, with support from a National Lottery Heritage Fund and Community Fund grant. More information about the restoration can be found on The Parks Trust website, as well as on the Great Linford History website.

Leaving Great Linford Manor Park, I carried on along the quiet roads in Great Linford towards the Grand Union Canal. Arriving at the canal, I joined the canal path and made my way south.

While not technically part of the Redways, the path along the Grand Union Canal was actually pretty good to ride along. Known as the Canal Broadwalk, it is billed as a fantastic walking, running or cycling route through some of Milton Keynes’ most beautiful parks.

Given I’m used to the canals around Manchester and paths that are distinctly variable, I was very impressed with the route along the Grand Union Canal. The path was largely a decent width with a fairly smooth surface. There were no bumpy tree roots or loose cobbles to contend with.

One particularly nice feature on the Grand Union Canal was Narrowboat Wobbly, a narrowboat with a wood-fired pizza oven, selling pizza, coffee and ice cream. Given my fondness for pizza making and canals, I was very jealous. I’d love to be doing something like this on the Bridgewater Canal!

Leaving the canal, I made my way into Campbell Park, which sits next to the centre of Milton Keynes, very near to where I started the ride. Commonly used in publicity shots of the city, Campbell Park really exemplifies how much of a green Milton Keynes is.

Within the park, you’ll find various pieces of public art, water features, cricket pitch and amphitheatre. Probably the most famous piece of public art is Light Pyramid (The Beacon) by Liliane Lijn, which sits on the belvedere, where you can enjoy fantastic views of the park and beyond.

Riding up from the canal, I stopped at the Light Pyramid to capture the view, before making my way through the Milton Keynes Rose, another piece of public art, which is an open-air circle with markings based on the mathematical beauty of a flower.

I then left the park and made my way across V8 Marlborough Street again, to arrive back in the Theatre District and our hotel, where my ride ended. Meeting up with the others, I enthused about my ride around Milton Keynes and they looked a little surprised.

Their experience of the city was pretty limited, having only really seen the central shopping district and sprawling boulevards around it. Whereas I’d got to experience the city beyond the centre, riding the Redways on my bike, which gave me a very different perspective.

While it’d be easy to point out all the ways Milton Keynes doesn’t live up to Dutch standards when it comes to cycling, it’s the closest I’ve experienced in the UK that comes anywhere near to matching the Netherlands, in terms of having a real network of safe cycle routes. I say that, having cycled in nearly all of the UK’s best cycling cities.

Milton Keynes gets a lot of stick for being a soulless, car-dominated new town, and probably in a lot of ways it is. But if I compare to another new town a little closer to home, that I’m far more familiar with, Warrington, they couldn’t be more different.

While both places are dominated with roundabouts, expressways and sprawl, Milton Keynes feels considered, well thought through and liveable, with its grid roads and grade separated Redways. In Warrington, cycling feels like an afterthought, where shared-use paths often dump you at roundabouts, with no priority for crossing.

This isn’t completely Warrington’s fault, as plans were scaled back, then abandoned, when Thatcher’s government disbanded the Development Corporations in the 1980s. You can read more about plans for Warrington New Town on Roads.org.uk.

After waiting so long to visit the city, I was expecting a lot from Milton Keynes and I have to say I was largely pleasantly surprised. The route I did was only a fraction of what’s there and I’d definitely like to return to the city to see more. I just need to engineer a reason to go back!

Route