Princes Risborough

Princes Risborough is a small town in Buckinghamshire.

Understand
It's on the A4010 about halfway between High Wycombe and Aylesbury. The population is around 10,000. Why "Princes"? Because Edward the Black Prince apparently had a palace near St Mary's Church. (The site is now, in the finest British tradition, a car park.) Before then, it was "Great Risborough" on the same pattern as Great Missenden, and there was a Little Risborough, which changed its name to Monks Risborough as it had a monastery (no longer extant).

Getting information about Princes Risborough ("Risborough" for short) is very easy. No emigrants to other parts of the world seem to have called anywhere else by the same name, so a Google search for "Princes Risborough" (with the quotes) will get useful results. Unless you want to look a chump, don't say or write "Princess Risborough".

By road
A4010 from Junction 4 of the M40 south of High Wycombe, or B4009 from J6 - both about 10 miles of driving from the motorway junction.

By bus

 * Ariva 300 bus route runs from High Wycombe to Aylesbury and both stop in Risborough.
 * Redline Service 320 runs between Princes Risborough and Chinor.
 * Redline Service 321 runs between Princes Risborough and High Wycombe.

Get around
For the town, you can just use your feet. For the local countryside, you need a car or bike unless the bus routes or railway lines suit.

See

 * The High Street and Duke Street - some old buildings and good local shops among the vast number of estate agents. Note the Trumpton-style market square.
 * Manor Park Avenue and Church Lane are worth walking along for some nice private houses, and one cottage in Church Lane has a plaque commemorating Amy Johnson the aviator.
 * Red kites: the population started from a breeding programme to the west has reached Risborough, and you can quite often count six or more kites soaring above the town.
 * Red kites: the population started from a breeding programme to the west has reached Risborough, and you can quite often count six or more kites soaring above the town.
 * Red kites: the population started from a breeding programme to the west has reached Risborough, and you can quite often count six or more kites soaring above the town.

Do
Get into local countryside for walks - the Ridgeway National Trail and Icknield way pass close by.

Nightlife: for anything other than pubs and eateries, you need to go to High Wycombe or Aylesbury.

Visit the Tourist Information Centre in Horns Lane opposite Marks & Spencers to find out whats on in and around Princes Risborough. Walking & cycling leaflets available.

Buy
Food: Clark's is an excellent butcher. Tesco and Marks and Spencers Simply Food supermarkets are just what you'd expect, though anyone used to modern Tesco stores should be aware that this one is tiny. There's a deli in the High Street as well as the usual shops you would expect in a small town. Thursday sees a street market with some stalls selling some more exotic items. There are about four charity shops with the usual range of stuff - reasonable quality as Risborough has plenty of wealthy people.

Eat
Three curry houses of which Radhuni, which replaced a Chinese in the helf-timbered old library building, is the most ambitious, and an expensive one, Coco Tamarind, on the road to Aylesbury. Snacks/sandwiches at the deli and a sandwich bar. Many pubs in and around town will serve you food.



Drink
About four pubs.

Sleep
There are no longer any hotels in the town, but a number of B&Bs and inns in the surrounding area.

Go next

 * Wendover 5½ miles to NE
 * Aylesbury 8 miles to N
 * Thame 7 miles to E
 * High Wycombe 9 miles S
 * Great Missenden 7½ miles E
 * Oxford 25 miles to W
 * Bicester 22 miles to NW
 * Leighton Buzzard 19 miles to NE