Bedford: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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GBP 40 - 120 Shakespeare Hotel
 A 10-minute walk from Bedford town centre, Shakespeare Hotel offers rooms with free Wi-Fi, a bar and a restaurant. There is free private parking.
The… MoreGBP 62 - 149 The Barns Hotel
 The Barns Hotel is situated in a beautiful riverside location, within 3.5 acres of landscaped gardens, yet just 10 miles (16 km) from the M1 and 8 mil… MoreGBP 30 - 70 The Grafton Hotel
 A family-run hotel and pub, the Grafton offers budget rooms and bar food. Bedford Railway Station and town centre are less than 5 minutes’ walk away… MoreGBP 34 - 100 Premier Inn Bedford (Priory Marina)
 Located within peaceful Priory Country Park, this comfortable and convenient hotel is a 5-minute drive from Bedford town centre.
Within the country p… MoreGBP 49 - 139 Park Inn Bedford
 The Park Inn by Radisson Bedford is a wonderfully vibrant hotel, set in the busy market town of Bedford. Relax in the RBG Bar before dining in the RBG… MoreGBP 30 - 75 De Pary´s Hotel
 A family-owned inn with a personal touch, De Pary´s welcomes business and leisure guests with a beautiful garden, all within easy reach of the M… MoreGBP 85 - 125 Embankment Hotel
 The Embankment Hotel is in a beautiful location beside the River Ouse. Only a few minutes’ walk from the town centre, this riverside setting overloo… MoreGBP 71 - 229 Bedford Swan Hotel
 In Bedford town centre, the 18th-century Swan features good food, a Roman-style pool and a jacuzzi. The stylish rooms have air conditioning, flat-scre… More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bedford: Guide
Bedford is in Bedfordshire county in the East Anglia region of England.
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 are a number of good ethnic restaurants, reflecting the town's substantial Italian, Indian, Pakistani, and Polish communities. Bedford has also been heralded for having the widest range of ethnic diversity, boasting one of the few Eskimos in Britain. 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, the author of 'The Pilgrim's Progress', who was imprisoned there. John Bunyan also lived in Bedford for most of his life, writing The Pilgrim's Progress here, and his life can be seen at the John Bunyan Museum in the town, where a statue dedicated to him can also be seen. There is a large and attractive park with tennis courts, and other niceties north of the town centre (Bedford Park).
Get in
By train
Bedford is on the Thameslink / Midland Mainline railway line. Travel to/from London St. Pancras takes about 40 minutes by Midland Mainline and just over an hour if you take the Thameslink train to/from Kings Cross Thameslink. Thameslink trains are slow, rickety, electric, noisy, and commonly filled with drunkards. But the Midland Mainline trains only stop at a couple of stations between Bedford & London and are filled with yuppies, so you'll have to make your choice and stick with it.
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 going to/from Bedford end up in Bedford Central station sooner or later.
The Midland Mainline goes north to Nottingham and beyond.
By bus
Bedford has a reasonably large bus station located in the centre of town. Long distance bus connectivity is therefore good.The bus station and train station are only about 200m apart, so it's quite easy 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.
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 inexpensive in Bedford, although you may expect to queue for some time at town centre taxi ranks. It is usually faster to call for a cab rather than waiting in line.
See
Do
Hire a boat on the rowing lake near the river. (Summer only)
Bedford has a well known . The grounds are on Goldington Road - if you're lucky you'll be able to catch a game during the rugby season (winter, basically). If you want to fit in, you should occasionally chant "Come on you blues.".
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 has in recent years been named The Hub and is, apparently, "The place to be seen".
Originally being the region's market town, Bedford has a market every wednesday 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
Tavistock street contains wall to wall restraunts of every kind. The Grand Indian has a particularly fine Chick Jalfrezi. The Saffron does a suberb and cheap Sunday lunch buffer. The Sizzling Wok has an entertaining and delicious lunch or dinner all-you-can-eat buffet, where you add your own ingredients, and watch the professional chefs cook for you. Other restaurants include The Choudhury (Indian Cuisine), The Olive Grove (Greek Cuisine), Frankie and Benny's (Traditional American Diner), Pizza Express (Pizza Restaurant) and Sorentino's (Italian Cuisine), although the list is far from complete...
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 away from the chav types are the castle wich does half descent pub grub sat untill 2 sunday 3.other main road pubs worth a mention are the ship and theres a selection of live music at the angel tavistock street and esquires
Sleep
Get out
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.
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikitravel article "Bedford". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 license.
Bedford is surrounded by small old villages with village pubs. Great Barford (7km 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, 11km to the east.