We checked 10 Boxing Day walks near Bedford, from the Embankment and Priory Country Park to Harrold-Odell, for distances, parking and cafes. Updated Nov 2026.
Bedford has ten Boxing Day walks worth getting out of the house for in 2026, and this guide puts them in one place with distances, start points, parking and the cafes and pubs along the way. Most people head for the Embankment and walk the river to Priory Country Park. For woods and a view, Putnoe Wood and Mowsbury Hillfort are on the north edge of town; for a proper country walk, Bromham and Harrold-Odell are a short drive west. Every route and park was checked against its owner’s own pages on 12 November 2026.
Boxing Day 2026 is a Saturday, and the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. What to know before you go:
- Light. The sun sets just before 4pm, so start the longer routes by 1pm.
- Trains. There are almost no trains on Boxing Day. Our Christmas trains and travel page has the detail as it is published.
- Cafes. None of the park cafes had published Christmas hours by mid-November. Ring before you plan lunch around one.
- Car parks. Harrold-Odell’s overflow car park and the Forest Centre car park both close at 5pm.
- Wet ground. The Ouse valley floods. Fenlake Meadows can be under water, and the Bromham, Harrold and Putnoe paths get muddy in winter, so wear boots.
- Shut on the day. English Heritage lists Wrest Park at Silsoe as closed 24 to 26 December; it reopens on Sunday 27 December.
In Bedford
1. The Embankment and Mill Meadows
The town’s own walk. The council describes the Embankment as a promenade people have enjoyed since Victorian times, with tree-lined avenues and green spaces along the Great Ouse.
Start by the Swan Hotel and walk east along the river to the Suspension Bridge: built in 1888 to a design by John Webster, with ironwork by E Page and Co of Bedford, and listed Grade II. Cross it to Mill Meadows and come back along the south bank, or carry on past Russell Park towards Priory Country Park.
It is flat and a few minutes from the town centre car parks.
Two places on the Embankment publish Boxing Day menus for 2026: the Swan Hotel has a carvery at £43, £19 for under-12s, and The Embankment charges £40 to £45. Both need booking; our Christmas dinner guide has the details.
Address The Embankment, Bedford MK40
Parking town centre car parks, including Riverside
Access flat riverside paths
Website bedford.gov.uk/leisure-parks-and-sport/parks-and-open-spaces/rivers-waterways-and-fishing
Good for river views, short stroll, pubs on the route
2. Priory Country Park
The big one: 360 acres of lakes, meadows and woodland, partly wrapped in a bend of the Great Ouse, and one of four council parks with a Green Flag. The council’s leaflets give three marked trails: the Riverside Wildlife Trail (6.5km, 4 miles, about 3.5 hours), the Lakeside Wildlife Trail round Priory Lake (2km, 1.5 miles, 1.5 hours) and the Finger Lakes Wildlife Trail (1.5km, a mile, about an hour).
The council says the park is open every day of the year and the main route can be walked in all weathers, while other areas get wet and muddy. The path round the lake is surfaced for wheelchairs and prams.
Weekends are busy.
The Priory Marina Beefeater is in the park. Stagecoach route 4 stops about 200 metres from the western end, on Riverfield Drive.
Open every day of the year
Parking Barkers Lane car park, MK41 9DJ (main, with disabled spaces); Cardington Mill car park off Stannard Way, MK44 3RZ
Toilets at the Visitor Centre
Cafe Cloverdale Retreat, by the lake
Access surfaced path round the lake, suitable for wheelchairs and prams
Call 01234 718012
Address Visitor Centre, Barkers Lane, Bedford MK41 9DJ
Website bedford.gov.uk/leisure-parks-and-sport/parks-and-open-spaces/parks-bedford-borough/priory-country-park
Listing Our listing
Good for lakes, river, bird hides, play areas, wheelchair-friendly lake loop
3. Fenlake Meadows
Between Cardington Road and the river, a short walk south of the Embankment. The council calls these the largest and best-preserved floodplain grazing meadows in Bedfordshire, grazed continuously since 1794, and they are a Local Nature Reserve.
A circular walk goes round the site, but, as the name suggests, the meadows can be under water, and the council warns the full loop is not always possible. On a dry Boxing Day it is the quietest walk in town. The Kingfisher on Cardington Road serves Boxing Day lunch at £70, £35 for children.
Parking car park on Cardington Road
Access grass paths; parts flood in wet weather
Address Cardington Road, Bedford MK42
Website bedford.gov.uk/leisure-parks-and-sport/parks-and-open-spaces/parks-bedford-borough/nature-reserves-0
Good for river meadows, wildlife, quiet walk close to town
4. Bedford Park and Hill Rise
The largest urban park in Bedford, laid out in 1888 and listed Grade II, with a lake and a council tree trail that picks out trees from the original planting. Walk the perimeter, then cross to Hill Rise, a small Local Nature Reserve of meadow, scrub and ponds next to Foster Hill Road Cemetery, where the council says the ponds are home to midwife toads found in only a few places in the UK.
The Pavilion at the Park is the cafe. The Park pub, at 98 Kimbolton Road, publishes a Boxing Day menu at £40 to £45.
Parking on-site car park, three hours free with a ticket
Toilets chargeable
Cafe The Pavilion at the Park
Website bedford.gov.uk/leisure-parks-and-sport/parks-and-open-spaces/parks-bedford-borough/bedford-park
Good for lake, play areas, tree trail, wildlife pond
North of the town: woods and a hillfort
5. Putnoe Wood and Mowsbury Hillfort
Two old places side by side on the north-east edge of town. CPRE Bedfordshire’s walk combines them as a figure of eight from Mowsbury Park.
Putnoe Wood is ancient woodland of oak, ash and hazel, recorded in the Domesday Book, and the council says it is a good example of a coppiced wood. Mowsbury Hillfort is an Iron Age hillfort and scheduled monument with a medieval moated site inside it.
From the top of the meadow, the view is over Bedford and the Ouse valley. CPRE says the walk from the Wentworth Drive car park to the hillfort takes about 20 minutes, just over a mile, with a stretch of roadside pavement and a climb at the end.
Stagecoach East route 7 serves Mowsbury Park.
Distance about a mile from the car park to the hillfort, then as long as you like in the wood
Parking Mowsbury Park, off Wentworth Drive (nearest the cafe) or off the B660
Toilets near the cafe in Mowsbury Park
Cafe small cafe in Mowsbury Park
Access wood paths level but muddy in winter; hillfort paths boggy after rain; wide hard paths in the park
Website cprebeds.org.uk/discover/discover-mowsbury-hillfort-and-putnoe-wood
Good for ancient woodland, views, history, play area
6. Clapham Parkwood, Browns Wood and Judges Spinney
Three council woods on the northern edge of town, by Clapham. Clapham Parkwood is ancient woodland first mentioned in records in the 1270s, with earthworks that may be Iron Age, a past as a deer park and ridge and furrow under the trees.
Browns Wood, off Twinwoods Road, was planted by the Duke of Bedford in the 18th century and extended around 2000; the council recommends its big glade on a clear night for stars. Judges Spinney, on Highfield Road, gives views over the Ouse valley north of Bedford.
Parking no car park; walk in from Hawk Drive, Carriage Drive or Woodlands Park for Parkwood
Access woodland paths
Address Clapham, Bedford MK41
Website bedford.gov.uk/leisure-parks-and-sport/parks-and-open-spaces/parks-bedford-borough/nature-reserves-0
Good for ancient woodland, history, views, stargazing
West: Bromham, Stevington and Harrold
7. Bromham Mill and the Bromham and Stagsden walk
Bromham Bridge crosses the Great Ouse on 26 arches. It is first mentioned in 1224 and was much altered in 1813 and 1902.
The mill beside it is partly 17th century, and the council says a watermill has probably stood there since before Domesday. The council’s six-mile walk leaflet starts here and heads through the fields to Stagsden, which has thatched cottages and a 13th-century church.
On the way it passes Hanger Wood, an ancient wood recorded in 1200. For something shorter, Bromham Lake Nature Reserve, at the end of Lower Farm Road, is a former limestone quarry with two bird hides.
The Swan is at 21 Bridge End, a few steps from the bridge.
Distance 6 miles (9.5km), about 3 hours
Parking Bromham Mill car park, during the hours on the gate; the leaflet says the Swan and the Prince of Wales let walkers park if they eat there
Toilets at the mill
Access muddy after rain; parts unsuitable for wheelchairs and hard with pushchairs
Address Bromham Mill, Bridge End, Bromham
Website bedford.gov.uk/media/4416/download
Good for river, historic bridge, ancient woodland, village pubs
8. Stevington Windmill
An 18th-century post mill on the edge of Stevington, and the council says it is the only complete windmill left in Bedfordshire. It ground mostly cattle feed until 1939 and was restored by the county in 1951 for the Festival of Britain.
It is being restored again, so there is no way inside. You can see it from outside any day of the week, without booking, and it makes a good end point for a walk out from Stevington village or Bromham.
Open outside only, any day
Access no access inside during restoration
Address 2 Windmill Lane, Stevington, Bedford MK43 7QZ
Website bedford.gov.uk/leisure-parks-and-sport/arts-and-culture/history-and-heritage/stevington-windmill
Good for history, views, short stop
9. Harrold-Odell Country Park and the Harrold-Odell walk
Harrold-Odell Country Park is 144 acres of lakes, river meadow and nature reserve on the Great Ouse north-west of Bedford, with a Green Flag and two bird hides. For the full day, the council’s six-mile Harrold-Odell walk starts at the park and loops through both villages.
It crosses the old Podington airfield and two ancient woods. Harrold has a village green, a bridge with medieval origins and a lockup built in 1824.
The Dragonfly Cafe in the park is run as a takeaway; the council says it opens daily.
Distance full walk 6 miles (9.5km), about 3 hours
Parking main car park open 24 hours; overflow car park closes at 5pm
Toilets yes
Cafe Dragonfly Cafe, 01234 331278
Call 01234 718799 (park office)
Address Carlton Road, between Harrold and Odell, Bedford MK43
Website bedford.gov.uk/leisure-parks-and-sport/parks-and-open-spaces/parks-bedford-borough/harrold-odell-country-park
Listing Our listing
Good for lakes, river, bird hides, two play areas, village pubs
South-west: Marston Vale
10. Millennium Country Park and the Forest Centre
The Forest of Marston Vale Trust’s park at Marston Moretaine covers 225 hectares of woodland, meadow and wetland on land the Trust says was once scarred by industry. The Trust says it is open on foot 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
It has miles of surfaced paths, and the 120-metre wind turbine is one of the few in the country you can walk right up to. The 1.2-mile Wetlands Trail round Pillinge Lake has three hides but needs a ticket.
The Forest Centre cafe welcomes dogs on a short lead, and there is a playground and a Changing Places toilet. On Monday 28 December the Trust runs a Christmas bird walk.
Open park 24 hours on foot; Forest Centre 9am to 4pm daily (no Christmas hours published by 12 November)
Price parking £1 up to an hour, £2 up to three hours, £3 over three hours
Parking on-site car park, closes 5pm in winter
Cafe Forest Centre Cafe, dogs welcome downstairs
Access surfaced paths; accessible hides; Changing Places toilet
Address The Forest Centre, Station Road, Marston Moretaine MK43 0PR (satnav MK43 0PS)
Website marstonvale.org/opening-times-and-directions
Listing Our listing
Good for surfaced paths, wetland birds, dogs, playground, buggies
How we chose
These are the walks people in Bedford look for at Christmas and the places open on 26 December. The routes and facts come from Bedford Borough Council’s park and nature reserve pages and its walk leaflets, CPRE Bedfordshire, the Forest of Marston Vale Trust and English Heritage. The Boxing Day prices are the pubs’ own 2026 menus. We will add cafe hours when they are published. For more ideas, see things to do in Bedford, what’s on this month, Christmas dinner in Bedford and the Bedford business directory.
Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@bedfordtimes.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@bedfordtimes.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I walk in Bedford on Boxing Day?
The Embankment is the obvious stroll: the Victorian riverside promenade runs from the town centre past the 1888 Suspension Bridge to Mill Meadows and Russell Park. For a longer walk, Priory Country Park is further east along the river, with 360 acres of lakes, meadows and woodland and marked trails of one to four miles. The council says the park is open every day of the year.
Which Boxing Day walks near Bedford have a cafe or pub?
Priory Country Park has the Cloverdale Retreat cafe and the Priory Marina Beefeater; Harrold-Odell Country Park has the Dragonfly Cafe; the Millennium Country Park has the Forest Centre cafe; Bromham has the Swan by the bridge. On the Embankment, the Swan Hotel and The Embankment both publish Boxing Day menus. None of the cafes had published Christmas hours by 12 November, so ring first.
Is Wrest Park open on Boxing Day?
No. English Heritage lists Wrest Park as closed on 24, 25 and 26 December 2026. It reopens on Sunday 27 December, 10am to 4pm.
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