Where to Stay in Luton, England

What is Luton known for?

Luton is known as a market town in Bedfordshire, gathered around the old parish church of St Mary's. Its parks give the town room to breathe. Wardown Park and the Wardown Park Museum hold its record, while the Stockwood Discovery Centre and the Mossman Collection tell the story of the roads and the land around it.

Woodside Farm and Wildfowl Park lies out toward the edge. St Mary's has stood at the centre of the town for centuries.

What are the main landmarks in Luton?

Luton's landmarks gather between the old centre and its parks. The parish church of St Mary's stands at the heart of the town, while Wardown Park and the Wardown Park Museum hold its history. The Stockwood Discovery Centre and the Mossman Collection sit toward the southern edge.

Woodside Farm and Wildfowl Park lies further out, and the Bedfordshire And Hertfordshire Regiment Museum keeps the county's military record. Luton Castle once stood here.

What is the history of Luton?

Luton grew as a market town in Bedfordshire, gathered around the old parish church of St Mary's. The early settlement rose along the valley, a small place trading with the land around it. A castle once stood here.

Luton Castle held the medieval town for a time, though it left the streets long ago, remembered now only in the name. The town spread outward as its trade grew, and the roads that crossed it drew people and goods through the valley. The story of those roads survives in the Mossman Collection at the Stockwood Discovery Centre, where the carriages and carts of earlier centuries are kept.

Wardown Park was laid out as the town expanded, and the Wardown Park Museum came to hold its record, alongside the Bedfordshire And Hertfordshire Regiment Museum. Later came the Church of All Saints and Christ Church, rising as the town grew around them. The castle is gone.

Yet the parish church of St Mary's still stands where the town began in Bedfordshire.

Where is Luton?

Luton lies in Bedfordshire in England, set in a valley that opens through the surrounding land. The town spreads along the low ground of the valley. Parkland edges it.

Wardown Park breaks the built-up streets to one side, and Woodside Farm and Wildfowl Park marks the greener rim, while the open country of Bedfordshire rolls away beyond the town on every side.

What is the climate of Luton?

Luton has a mild, changeable oceanic climate typical of inland Bedfordshire. Winters are cool and grey, with rain and the occasional frost settling over the valley and the parkland of Wardown Park. In the warmer half of the year the town runs warm and green.

Rain comes in every season. When the clear days arrive, the open country around the town stands out bright and green under a wide sky.

How do you get to Luton?

Luton is reached by air, rail, and road across Bedfordshire. Its international airport sits on the higher ground above the town, one of the busiest in the country. Trains run in from the south.

The main line links the town to the wider region, and the motorway that crosses Bedfordshire carries road traffic past Wardown Park and on toward the country beyond.