Photo of Stowe, a Grade I registered house & garden in Buckinghamshire, south east England.

Stowe© DeFacto / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Places to explore near Northampton

Boots and shoes made Northampton — the county shod armies from Cromwell's onward — and one of England's grandest market squares still anchors the town above the River Nene. The countryside around is quietly historic. Naseby, where the Royalist cause was broken in 1645, lies to the north near the Spencer estate at Althorp; the ancient oaks of Salcey Forest spread south; and Rockingham Castle keeps its Norman walls above the Welland to the north-east. The Grand Union Canal climbs its long flight of locks out toward the Midlands.

87 places within 25 km — the standouts first, nearest first within each group. 1 is a national icon.

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Worth the tripnational icons and local highlights within reach

Photo of the River Nene, a 91-mile river navigation running from Northampton to near Wisbech, England.

River Nene

River navigation

Guillotine-gated locks and water meadows from Northampton to Peterborough, where the Nene slips out into the Fens.

0.4 km NW · Northamptonshire & Cambridgeshire

Photo of Harlestone Firs, a visitor attraction in Northamptonshire, central England.

Harlestone Firs

Attraction near Northampton

Pine and mixed woodland on the Althorp estate edge west of Northampton, laced with easy forest walking and cycling paths.

4.5 km NW

Photo of the Grand Union Canal, a 137-mile canal running from Brentford to Birmingham, England.

Grand Union Canal

London to Birmingham by water — the trunk route of the canal age, with arms reaching Leicester, Aylesbury, Northampton and Paddington.

6.4 km SW · spans 9 counties

Photo of Althorp, a Grade II* registered house & garden near Great Brington, Northamptonshire, central England.

Althorp

House & garden near Great Brington

Spencer estate and burial place of Princess Diana.

7.9 km NW

Photo along the Macmillan Way, a 290-mile long-distance path running from Boston to Abbotsbury, England.

Macmillan Way

Long-distance path

Boston to Abbotsbury down the limestone belt — 290 miles waymarked in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

8.6 km NW · spans 10 counties

Photo of Pitsford Water, a reservoir near Brixworth, Northamptonshire, central England.

Pitsford Water

Reservoir near Brixworth

Large reservoir north of Northampton ringed by a nature reserve, cycle track and sailing water, with wide open views.

9 km N

Photo of Holdenby House, a Grade I registered house & garden near Great Brington, Northamptonshire, central England.

Holdenby House

House & garden near Great Brington

Once England's largest house, finished in 1583 to lodge Elizabeth I.

9.1 km NW

Photo of Salcey Forest, a visitor attraction near Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire, central England.

Salcey Forest

Attraction near Stoke Bruerne

Ancient royal hunting forest of 600-year-old oaks south of Northampton, with waymarked trails through the ancient woodland.

10.1 km SE

Photo of Stoke Bruerne, a village in Northamptonshire, central England.

Stoke Bruerne

Canal village on the Grand Union where locks, a towpath and the old corn mill turned Canal Museum draw walkers and boaters to its waterside pubs.

10.7 km S · Northamptonshire

Photo of Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum, a visitor attraction in Northamptonshire, central England.

Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum

Attraction near Stoke Bruerne

Three-storey former corn mill by the locks telling 200 years of narrowboat life on the Grand Union Canal.

10.9 km S

Photo of Lamport Hall, a Grade II registered house & garden near Brixworth, Northamptonshire, central England.

Lamport Hall

House & garden near Brixworth

Home to Britain's oldest surviving garden gnome, set in a rockery of the 1840s.

13.6 km N

Photo of Cottesbrooke Hall, a Grade II registered house & garden near Guilsborough, Northamptonshire, central England.

Cottesbrooke Hall

House & garden near Guilsborough

A near-perfect Queen Anne house of 1702 with a 1937 parterre by Geoffrey Jellicoe.

13.8 km N

Photo of Everdon Stubbs, a visitor attraction near Badby, Northamptonshire, central England.

Everdon Stubbs

Attraction near Badby

Woodland Trust ancient wood near Everdon that blazes with bluebells in spring, with views over the rolling west of the county.

14.2 km W

Photo of Kelmarsh Gardens and Parkland, a Grade II* registered house & garden near Braybrooke, Northamptonshire, central England.

Kelmarsh Gardens and Parkland

House & garden near Braybrooke

An Anglo-Palladian house by James Gibbs, with borders planted by Nancy Lancaster.

18.9 km N

Photo of the site of the Battle of Naseby, fought in 1645 in Northamptonshire, central England.

Battle of Naseby

Battlefield near Naseby

The site of a 17th-century battle in Northamptonshire.

20 km N

Photo of Harrold, a village in Bedfordshire, eastern England.

Harrold

Riverside village west of Bedford known for its picturesque Ouse bridge, green with a round lock-up, and adjoining country park.

20.4 km E · Bedfordshire

Photo of Wicksteed Park, a visitor attraction near Lowick, Northamptonshire, central England.

Wicksteed Park

Attraction near Lowick

Historic Kettering pleasure park, one of Britain's oldest, with heritage rides, a boating lake and vast open green.

21 km NE

Photo of Rushton Triangular Lodge, a folly near Braybrooke, Northamptonshire, central England.

Rushton Triangular Lodge

Folly near Braybrooke

Three-sided lodge built in the 1590s by the Catholic Sir Thomas Tresham, with walls, windows and gables all worked around the number three.

23.8 km N

Photo of Stowe, a Grade I registered house & garden in Buckinghamshire, south east England.

Stowe

House & garden near Buckingham

Sublime Georgian landscape garden of temples and lakes.

24.2 km S

Photo of Willen Lake, a Lake near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, south east England.

Willen Lake

Lake near Milton Keynes

Twin lakes in Milton Keynes with a lakeside park, watersports and a Buddhist Peace Pagoda on the northern shore.

24.5 km SE

Also nearbygood places nearby, nearest first

Photo of Holy Sepulchre, Northampton, a church in Northamptonshire, central England.

Holy Sepulchre, Northampton

Church near Northampton

One of only four surviving round churches in England, its circular Norman nave modelled on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

0.4 km NE

Phipps NBC Brewery

Brewery near Northampton

Revived Victorian brewery in central Northampton with a brewhouse taproom and tours of classic town ales.

0.5 km SE

Delapré Abbey

Garden near Northampton

Former Cluniac nunnery on the edge of Northampton with walled gardens and parkland beside the site of the 1460 Battle of Northampton.

1.9 km SE

Photo of St Matthew, Northampton, a church in Northamptonshire, central England.

St Matthew, Northampton

Church near Northampton

A grand late-Victorian Gothic church built by brewer Pickering Phipps, later famed for its Henry Moore Madonna and Graham Sutherland Crucifixion.

2.1 km NE

Photo of The Whyte Melville, a pub near Boughton, Northamptonshire, central England.

The Whyte Melville

Pub near Boughton

Village pub in Boughton with a terrace and walled beer garden looking out over open countryside.

5.2 km N

Photo of Blisworth, a village in Northamptonshire, central England.

Blisworth

Canal village of local Blisworth stone at the south mouth of the 3,000-yard Blisworth Tunnel on the Grand Union.

7.7 km S · Northamptonshire

Sywell Country Park

Country park near Earls Barton

A country park in Northamptonshire.

8.8 km NE

Photo of Althorp Coaching Inn, a pub near Great Brington, Northamptonshire, central England.

Althorp Coaching Inn

Pub near Great Brington

Five-century-old thatched coaching inn in Great Brington, its low beams and stone floors intact behind a careful refurbishment.

9.4 km NW

Photo of Great Brington, a village in Northamptonshire, central England.

Great Brington

Thatched estate village beside Althorp, its church holding the Spencer family tombs and Washington ancestral memorials.

9.5 km NW · Northamptonshire

Everything else within 25 km (58) — reserves, earthworks & places to check before travelling

BrixworthVillage9.9 km N
All Saints' Church, BrixworthChurch10.4 km N
All Saints' Church, Earls BartonChurch10.5 km E
The Navigation Inn (Stoke Bruerne)Pub10.9 km S
The Red Lion (East Haddon)Pub10.9 km NW
Castle AshbyVillage11 km E
Earls BartonVillage11 km E
Castle AshbyHouse & garden11.1 km E
Towcester Mill BreweryBrewery13.2 km SW
Coton Manor GardenGarden13.2 km NW
Irchester Country ParkCountry park16.2 km E
Whittlewood ForestSSSI16.4 km S
Emberton Country ParkCountry park16.4 km SE
Ouse Valley WayLong-distance path16.5 km SE
St Mary, WellingboroughChurch16.6 km NE
Cowper and Newton Museum GardensGarden16.8 km SE
Northampton CastleCastleaccess unclear0.4 km SW
The Wheatsheaf (Dallington)Pub1.6 km NW
Battle of NorthamptonBattlefield2.2 km SE
Eleanor Cross near Delapre AbbeyAbbeyaccess unclear2.6 km S
Hunsbury HillHillfortaccess unclear2.7 km SW
Upper Nene Valley Gravel PitsSSSI3.1 km E
Berry ringworkEarthworks of a former castleaccess unclear5.3 km SW
Clifford Hill motteEarthworks of a former castleaccess unclear5.5 km E
The Brampton HaltPub5.9 km N
Roade CuttingSSSIaccess unclear7.5 km S
Bugbrooke MeadowsSSSIaccess unclear7.9 km W
Pitsford ReservoirSSSI7.9 km N
Blisworth Rectory Farm QuarrySSSIaccess unclear8.4 km SW
Brixworth Country ParkCountry park8.6 km N
Yardley ChaseSSSI9.9 km SE
Earls Barton motteEarthworks of a former castleaccess unclear10.5 km E
The Boat Inn (Stoke Bruerne)Pub10.9 km S
Hardwick Lodge MeadowSSSIaccess unclear12.4 km NE
Easton NestonHouse & gardenaccess unclear12.7 km S
Bury Mount motteEarthworks of a former castleaccess unclear13.2 km SW
Ramsden Corner PlantationSSSIaccess unclear13.3 km W
Badsaddle and Bush Walk WoodsSSSIaccess unclear13.4 km NE
The Swan at LamportPub13.7 km N
Castle Dykes motteCastleaccess unclear13.8 km W
Motte NW of the parish churchEarthworks of a former castleaccess unclear13.8 km S
Mount ringwork at AldertonEarthworks of a former castleaccess unclear13.8 km S
Ravenstone PrioryPrioryaccess unclear13.9 km SE
Long Buckby ringwork and baileyEarthworks of a former castleaccess unclear14.2 km NW
The Witch & SowPub14.2 km NW
Mill CrookSSSIaccess unclear14.4 km S
Wollaston MeadowsSSSIaccess unclear14.7 km E
Bozeat MeadowSSSIaccess unclear15 km E
Calender MeadowsSSSIaccess unclear15.4 km NW
Beacon Hill motteEarthworks of a former castleaccess unclear15.9 km E
Mantles HeathSSSIaccess unclear15.9 km W
Moor End CastleCastleaccess unclear16.1 km S
Borough Hill (Northamptonshire)Hillfortaccess unclear16.2 km W
Birch Spinney and Mawsley MarshSSSIaccess unclear16.4 km N
The SlipeCounty topaccess unclear16.6 km E
Lavendon AbbeyAbbeyaccess unclear16.7 km SE
High Wood and MeadowSSSIaccess unclear16.7 km W
Irchester Old Lodge PitSSSIaccess unclear16.8 km E

Ordered by how far each place is worth travelling for, then by distance. Distances are straight-line to the nearest edge of each place — paths wind, of course.