
Great things to see and do from Chiltern Hundreds busesBuckinghamshire
Beech woods with a carpet of bluebells or gold leaves in the autumn pass by the windows of the Chiltern Hundreds buses. These seven bus routes connect High Wycombe, Amersham, Beaconsfield, Uxbridge, Slough and other towns, each with its own attractions: theatres, swimming pools, cinemas and shopping centres. But the Chiltern Hundreds buses, which run Monday to Saturday, can also transport you to rural escapes and hidden treasures, woodland walks and waterside strolls. Visit the cottage where poet John Milton lived or ancient Chenies manor with a garden full of roses. See Bekonscot model village or the Chiltern Open Air Museum – all without getting in a car.

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1. Milton's Cottage
The old cottage where John Milton lived and finished his epic poem Paradise Lost is a hidden gem of a museum right next to a bus stop. The poet moved here from London in 1665, escaping the Great Plague; his friend Thomas Ellwood hired the cottage for him, calling it “that pretty box in Giles, Chalfonte”. Milton’s Cottage is currently open on Wednesday to Sunday afternoons (book ahead) and has interesting displays about all stages of his life and work.
- Get there on bus 104 from outside Gerrards Cross station or from Beaconsfield. From Beaconsfield Station, you need to walk a couple of minutes to Maxwell Road to catch the bus. The journey takes about 20 minutes from either station.
- Get off at the bus stop called Milton Hill in Chalfont St Giles, which is almost outside the cottage.
- Don’t miss the cottage garden, which echoes Milton’s descriptions of Eden with flowers and fruit trees copied from his verse.
- There are plenty of places to eat and drink: Milton’s Indian restaurant right opposite to the pub, cafés, a bakery, and a deli on the nearby village green.
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2. Chiltern Open Air Museum
Well worth the wooded walk from the nearest bus stop, this veteran collection of reconstructed local buildings has granaries and apple stories, lambing fields and cattle byres. The Chiltern Open Air Museum is a beautiful place for a stroll. Besides thatched barns, cottages with patchwork bedspreads and flowering gardens, there’s a brick toll house from High Wycombe, a prefab bungalow from Amersham, wartime Nissen huts, and even an Edwardian cast-iron public loo.
- Get there on bus 105 from outside Amersham station. Get off at the London Road stop. Walk a few steps further in the direction the bus was going and turn left up a path signed Chiltern Way. Follow the signs along pretty paths for twenty minutes to arrive at the entrance to the museum.
- Refreshments include tea, cake and sandwiches from Skippings Barn.
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3. Walks along the Chiltern Way
The lovely Chiltern Way is a long-distance route, which rambles for more than 100 miles around the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It was created by the Chiltern Society to showcase the prettiest parts of the area. The Chiltern Hundred buses are perfect for sampling short stretches of the route. Simply follow the signs from bus stop to bus stop with refreshments at the end in case you’re early for the bus. In fact, these pubs and cafés are so good, you might decide to skip the next bus and have an extra pint or slice of cake…
Chalfont St Giles to Chenies (4 miles) A wooded walk along Old Shire Lane and through the rolling fields. Look out for roe deer and buzzards wheeling overhead.
- Start: Bus 105 to London Road stop.
- Refreshments and End: Bus 103 from Garden Centre. The Van Hage garden centre has a popular café, where you can have tea and cake while you wait for the bus. Or stroll a couple of minutes more into the village for the Red Lion and Chenies Manor.
Coleshill to Chalfont St Giles (3 miles) Over the rolling hills near Hodgemoor Woods and then south along the Misbourne Valley to one of the Chilterns’ prettiest villages.
- Start: Bus 103 to Quarrendon Farm.
- Refreshments and End: There are some great pubs and cafés in Chalfont St Giles, including the riverside Merlin’s Cave with a big marquee and lots of benches in the garden. When you’re ready to head home, bus 104 goes from the High Street nearby.
Holtspur to Forty Green (3 miles) This varied walk is very easy to get to, with buses every 15 minutes, and passes one of the oldest and most amazing pubs in the country: the Royal Standard of England, full of log fires and ancient candlelit corners.
- Start: Buses 101, 102, 103 or 104 to North Drive. Cross the grassy area into Kiln Court and continue on a footpath past St Thomas Church.
- Refreshments and End: When the Chiltern Way reaches the road at Forty Green, keep straight to find the pub. You can either walk back the way you came or leave the Chiltern Way and follow local footpaths for a mile to Beaconsfield Station (buses 102, 103 and 104 on Maxwell Road nearby).