High Wycombe

High Wycombe is a large and historic town between hills in the county of Buckinghamshire in England. Furniture making played an extensive role in the town's industrial heritage. The market in High Street dates back to the Middle Ages.

Understand
Often just called Wycombe, it is the 'furniture capital of England'.

Each May the town has an unusual ceremony known as Mayor Making. A tradition dating back to 1678, the town holds a public weighing of the Mayor, the intention being to see if they have put on weight, i.e., "to see if they are getting fat at rate payers' expense". In the interests of confidentiality the actual weight is not revealed but the gain or loss of weight is and is announced by the town crier.

By road
The town lies on the main London-Oxford-Birmingham M40 motorway. 30 miles from London, 30 miles (48 km) to Oxford and 12 miles (19 km) from the M25 motorway.

The A404 main road connects the town to the M4 (London-Reading-Bristol-Swansea) motorway (to the S), close to Maidenhead.

By bus
Wycombe is also served by buses to and from many of the nearby towns and villages, though due to the sheer number of traffic lights installed along London Road and around the entrance to the bus station it's generally quicker to walk.

There are also bus services to Oxford and Stansted Airport.

The town boasts a spacious park and ride facility, see National Park and Ride Directory which stops running at 7PM, rendering it useless to anyone wanting to have dinner, visit the cinema or go late-night shopping. At 6:30PM, however, the Eden Car Park changes its pricing plan to £1.50 for the rest of the evening. The Dovecot car park is even cheaper, but much less well-maintained.

By air
Whilst the town does have an airfield Booker Airfield, this is a private airfield for light aircraft.

The town is 20 miles (32 km) from Heathrow Airport and 40 miles (64 km) from Luton Airport

Get around
Buses: Buckinghamshire County Council have a guide to bus services in the High Wycombe area.

Walking and cycling: The town centre is largely pedestrianised.

Car: Good links with the M40 and M4.

Do
The Cressex area of High Wycombe (near the main M40 junction) offers a few options close to the Holiday Inn hotel, a badminton centre, and Handy Cross sports centre (http://www.wll.co.uk) which has many facilities including a Gym and Swimming pool.

One of the best things to do in High Wycombe is use its fantastic transport links and go somewhere else.
 * Watch football at Wycombe Wanderers. They were relegated in 2021 and now play soccer in League One, the game's third tier. Their home ground Adams Park (capacity 9400) is two miles west of High Wycombe town centre.
 * Watch football at Wycombe Wanderers. They were relegated in 2021 and now play soccer in League One, the game's third tier. Their home ground Adams Park (capacity 9400) is two miles west of High Wycombe town centre.
 * Watch football at Wycombe Wanderers. They were relegated in 2021 and now play soccer in League One, the game's third tier. Their home ground Adams Park (capacity 9400) is two miles west of High Wycombe town centre.
 * Watch football at Wycombe Wanderers. They were relegated in 2021 and now play soccer in League One, the game's third tier. Their home ground Adams Park (capacity 9400) is two miles west of High Wycombe town centre.

Eat
There are many places to eat in the town centre, but it can be worth visiting some of the country pubs in the surrounding villages which often offer excellent food.







Drink
Some say: "There are no pubs in High Wycombe. There are some restaurants that have an alcohol licence, but none of any note." It's not (entirely) true! There are a few decent pubs in town; at the very least they have better drink than the restaurants.

There is a pub called The Antelope, which although rough in appearance serves only drink and is popular every night of the week. The prices are inexpensive but the place could be described as "the worst pub in the world".

Go next

 * Henley-on-Thames
 * Watford
 * Reading
 * Maidenhead
 * Aylesbury
 * West London