Buckinghamshire
Xscape
Xscape is a totally unique centre and one of the best things to do in Buckinghamshire. The centre combines Europe’s largest indoor real snow’ ski slope, an indoor rock climbing wall, a 16 screen cinema multiplex, a family entertainment centre which includes ten pin bowling, health and fitness centre, bars, restaurants, cafes and lifestyle and fashion retail outlets under one roof.
Chilton Open Air Museum
Chilton Open Air Museum – The past has been captured with a collection of genuine historic buildings, rescued and reconstructed on 45 acres of rolling countryside and woodland. The centre will help to explain the changes that have occurred from the times of the Iron age through to World War Two. The farm has lots of demos and hands-on activities such as candle-making. There is a working farm with lots of animals to see. The museum rescues historic buildings about to be demolished, and rebuilds and preserves them in a traditional Chilterns landscape. The centre is run by volunteers who act as tour guides etc who demonstrate some of the crafts. Best visited on a sunny day. The centre is closed during winter months except for special events. Check the website for more information.
Colne Valley Park
The Colne Valley Park Visitor Centre is located in Denham near Uxbridge and is the central information point for the whole of the Colne Valley Regional Park.
Colne Valley Park contains a mixture of farmland, woodland and water covering 40 square miles. There are over fifty miles of river and canal in the park and over forty lakes. Although not all of Colne Valley park is open to the public most is and is accessible through a network of paths.
It is a great place to visit for recreation and see wildlife. Activities include: Walking, cycling, fishing, water skiing, sailing, canoeing, bird watching, orienteering, guided walks and festivals.
Hell Fire Caves
Hell Fire Caves are a network of man-made caverns that extend about a quarter of a mile or 400 metres underground. They were excavated between 1748 and 1752 for the infamous Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer, founder of the Dilettanti Society and co-founder of the notorious Hellfire Club, whose meetings were held in the caves. Many rumours of black magic, satanic rituals and orgies were in circulation during the life of the club. Dashwood’s club meetings often included mock rituals, pornographic materials, much drinking, wenching and banqueting. Recently, there have been reported sightings of ghostly figures in the cave.
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is the historic site of the secret British code breaking activities during WWII and also the birthplace of the modern computer. During the war, a network of wireless intercept stations listened in to the enemy’s radio messages and were decoded and analysed at Bletchley Park. To speed up the code breaking process, the brilliant mathematician Alan Turing developed an electro-mechanical machine that greatly reduced the time required to break the encrypted messages and had a massive affect on the outcome of the war.
Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
Buckinghamshire Railway Centre – is a 25 acre working Steam Museum, with one of the UKs largest collections of locomotives, rolling stock and railway memorabilia. They have re-created a country station in it’s heyday of steam travel and offer steam train rides on certain days.
Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery
Roald Dahl Childrens Gallery – The gallery has been designed as a giant pop-up book in which the stories have been brought to life. The centre runs workshops, events, story telling and has activities such as crawling along Fantastic Mr Fox’s tunnel, climbing inside the giant peach to meet James and the insects, play on BFG’S pipe organ, etc, etc.
Go Ape
Go Ape is a network of rope bridges, trapezes, tunnels and zip wires that stretches for roughly a mile through the tree canopy.
Planet Ice
Planet Ice Milton Keynes is a 2,800-capacity multi-purpose ice rink/hockey rink and is part of the Leisure Plaza complex.
Gullivers Land
Gullivers Land is a family theme park for families with children between the ages of 2 to 13 years of age and has over 30 rides and 30 attractions.