Luton to Northampton drive: Distance, time & best road trip stops
The distance from Luton to Northampton by car is 35 miles, with a 44m driving time. The best road trip stops on the Luton to Northampton drive are Woburn Safari Park, Milton Keynes and the Canal Museum in Stoke Bruerne.
Finding things to do between Luton and Northampton
The drive from Luton to Northampton takes you from one of London’s satellite towns to the East Midlands.
Luton doesn’t tend to feature on many tour itineraries, unless you’re flying out of London Luton Airport. However, there are a couple of decent attractions in this Bedfordshire town. Wardown Park has a lake as its centrepiece. The eclectic Wardown House Museum has a massive hat collection. And the Stockwood Discovery Centre flits from local life to an enormous hoard of carriages.
Northampton has plenty of attractive parks, but the highlight is arguably the Abington Park Museum. The museum is standard local history fare, but the estate surrounding the manor house is lovely.
Luton to Northampton distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Northampton to Luton is 35 miles. That makes for a driving time of around 44 minutes. The quickest route is straight up the M1. The best stops on a Luton to Northampton road trip are Woburn Safari Park, Milton Keynes and the Canal Museum in Stoke Bruerne.
Things to do between Luton and Northampton: Woburn Safari Park
Woburn Safari Park offers a more safari-like take on a zoo. Animals are allowed to roam relatively free wherever practical, and visitors drive through the enclosures. Watch out for the monkeys – they tend to like jumping on the cars and pulling on the windscreen wipers.
There’s a walk-through foot safari area with less threatening creatures, plus a ropes course and several children’s play areas.
Luton to Northampton road trip stops: Milton Keynes
Oft-maligned Milton Keynes is a new town gradually coming into its own. There are lots of fun attractions here, including the Snozone indoor ski centre and indoor skydiving at iFly.
Top of the list of Milton Keynes experiences, however, should be Bletchley Park. This was the secret codebreaking centre in World War II, where teams of mathematicians and scientists made key breakthroughs that turned the tide of the war. The stories are fascinating, and the on-site National Museum of Computing takes you through the history of computers.
Luton to Northampton drive: The Canal Museum, Stoke Bruerne
Stoke Bruerne is a pretty little village on the Grand Union Canal. The Canal Museum here looks at life on the canals, with interactive displays showing what it has historically been like to live and work on Britain’s canals.
There’s a narrow boat parked outside – the Sculptor – which is now a museum boat with a convoluted backstory. During World War II, it was pressed into action putting out fires in London.
More Luton road trips
Luton to Coventry | Derby to Luton | Luton to Leicester.
More Northampton road trips
Northampton to Birmingham | Northampton to Cambridge | Northampton to Coventry | Northampton to Leicester.