Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes is a town located in Buckinghamshire in the Midlands of the United Kingdom, equidistant between Birmingham and London. It is a "new town" and as such employs a relatively unique road system for the UK (see end of this article), which hitchhikers would do well to bear in mind.

Hitching In
Hitchhiking into the town is generally considered to be relatively easy given its location and the consistently high volume of road traffic that travels into Milton Keynes.

Hitchhiking out
Hitchhiking out of Milton Keynes has proven to be difficult, especially within the limits of the town, as in most places. Milton Keynes, being so recently and constantly developed, does not have a core centre with regard to the road network. As such it can be difficult to judge precisely when one is out of town! Despite this the high number of bus stops, lay-bys and petrol stations on major roads through town (including the A509, A422, A4146 and A5130) enable potential hitchhiking.

The closest motorway to Milton Keynes is the, which runs across the east of the town. Hitchhikers looking to join the from Milton Keynes might try the A509 (H5 Portway) around the areas of Newlands or Pineham, though alternative access points will not be difficult to locate on both the A421 or A422.

The Grid System

It is worth noting that the road names given above also go by different names on the ground, Milton Keynes is based on a grid system road network, and major roads are named H (for horizontal) and V (for vertical) and are assigned a number, i.e. H5. This makes navigation within the town itself very easy given that you know where you want to end up. However, it can be confusing as to which A-road or B-road you are on! It is also worth mentioning that the majority of the main roads through Milton Keynes are bordered by wide (often VERY wide) grass verges which make navigating the road network on foot very easy. Also the majority of the "Redway" paths that run all over the town match up conveniently with the road network, emerging at bus stops which might make good hitching spots for example.