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Search for the best car hire deals in Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes has some great shopping, parks and indoor activities, and it's a busy commercial centre with a number of business parks on the outskirts of town. Hiring a car in Milton Keynes in 2020 is the best way to get around – it also gives you easy access to Buckinghamshire's stately homes and rolling countryside.
Fast facts about hiring a car in Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes isn’t the most pedestrian-friendly city, and although there are bus services, the best way to get around is by car. With four wheels at your disposal you can nip between the city’s top attractions, including the Snozone winter sports centre and the Centre:MK mall with its 200-plus shops. Hiring a car also means you can easily get to attractions on the outskirts of the city – Bletchley Park, the home of the World War II codebreakers, is around 10 minutes away.
There are several car hire operators dotted around the city, including Europcar, Hertz, Avis and Budget so there's plenty of scope to shop around and find a cheap deal when you compare online in advance.
Car rental companies that have desks in and around Milton Keynes include:
- Europcar (Tel: +44371 384 3814) has an office at Milton Keynes Central train station
- Hertz (Tel: +44843 309 3050) operates from Bleak Hall Industrial Estate and IKEA
- Avis (Tel: +44344 544 6082) is based in Bletchley
- Budget (Tel: +44344 544 7802) is based in Bletchley
Driving in Milton Keynes city centre
Once you’ve picked up your hire car, it’s pretty easy to navigate around Milton Keynes. The city is famous for its roundabouts – there are over 100 of them – but the lanes are laid out sensibly, and clear road markings make them easy to negotiate.
Around the roundabouts, the city is laid out as a grid. The road names start with a H or a V depending on whether they run horizontally or vertically through the city, so you’ll always know whether you’re travelling from north to south or east to west.
Just outside the city, the M1 can get pretty congested, especially at rush hour. If you can avoid driving during commuter hours, however, you shouldn’t encounter many queues.
On the parking front, Milton Keynes has more than 20,000 bays. There’s a multi-storey near the train station, Centre:MK is ringed by pay-and-display parking spaces, and there are dozens of pay-and-display bays near The Hub, with its bars, restaurants and yoga studio.
Most bays are colour-coded according to cost, with red zones charged at the highest rates and spaces in purple zones costing considerably less.
Recommended day trips from Milton Keynes
Oxford
Driving time: One hour
The City of Dreaming Spires is an easy drive from Milton Keynes, and there's plenty to see and do. Many colleges are partially open to the public, and you'll find several operators offering punt rides up and down the River Cherwell. The drive also takes you past Bicester Village, a fashion outlet with more than 160 shops.
Warner Bros. Studio Tour
Driving time: 45 minutes
You can weave your way through detailed Harry Potter film sets such as the Great Hall and Diagon Alley, get up close to props and costumes from the movies, learn how special effects were created, and swig a glass of butter beer at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour – The Making of Harry Potter. This world-class attraction is just down the M1 from Milton Keynes.
Waddesdon Manor
Driving time: 40 minutes
Turreted Waddesdon Manor is an odd fish: it was an attempt to recreate a 16th-century French chateau in late 19th-century Britain, and you have to admit it worked. Inside it drips with antiques, chandeliers and priceless artworks, while outside manicured gardens and rolling parkland stretch into the distance.