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From Primedia Publications

Bletchley Park
Trip Planner

Bletchley is just south of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, off the B4034. For more information, tel: 01908 640 404.

Getting There
By rail or auto, visitors to Bletchley follow a route similar to the one taken by many of the staff commuting between London and what they called "BP" or "Station X." Suburban trains depart London's Euston station approximately every 15 minutes weekdays and weekends for the 45-minute trip to Bletchley. By car, the M1 Motorway is faster, but the old A5 traces the same course as the motorcycle outriders delivering intercepts six decades ago.



Information Please
Tours begin with an informative overview in the mansion followed by a walk through the numerous remaining huts, many of which are abandoned and boarded over. Displays in the huts include exhibits on the American presence, radio equipment used to intercept the encrypted messages, a recreated German command post transmitting Enigma coded data, and cryptology, computing, radar, and the British Home Front. Displays in the mansion include a collection of Churchill memorabilia. Second World War military vehicles and fire engines are maintained in operating condition and are often seen "patrolling" the still-impressive 43-acre estate. A visit of at least three hours is recommended to fully appreciate the almost impossible odds facing the wartime code-breakers.

Other Attractions
Visitors by car should include an excursion to nearby Woburn Abbey, wartime home to some of the naval WRENS at Bletchley and seat of the Duke of Bedford. A drive-through zoo-park supports numerous deer and other wildlife, and there's an aquarium, antiques market, garden center, pottery, and restaurant. Built on the site of a 12th-century abbey, the vast and lavishly decorated mansion presides over one of Britain's most important private collections of old masters, including 20 Canalettos, and paintings by Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Holbein, Gainsborough, and Reynolds. Other rooms display porcelain, important furniture and tapestries, silver and gold vaults, chinoiserie, Sevrés dinner service, and a renowned exhibition of toy soldiers.

Only 10 miles from Bletchley, Dunstable, with two picturesque former coaching inns, is an excellent base from which to visit Bletchley, Woburn Abbey, and the villages of the heavily wooded Chiltern Hills.