Where to stay, eat, drink and go

Leisure in Aylesbury

Whether your interest is in the Arts or tends more to sport and the outdoors, Aylesbury is amply supplied with amenities to suit all tastes.

This year sees the opening of our magnificent new Waterside Theatre. The theatre has two auditoria: one capable of seating 1200; the other: 200. These halls will between them accommodate a full range of entertainments varying from the highest levels of professional opera, classical and popular music, ballet and theatre through to community and amateur dramatics. For bookings go to www.ambassadortickets.com/aylesbury

A fully community based arts venue is the Queens Park Centre which offers over 60 arts and crafts workshops every week. These encompass painting, pottery, needlecraft, circus skills, drama, all aspects of film and theatrical production, salsa and sign language. The relaxed Limelight Theatre at the centre hosts a range of theatre, comedy, music and exhibitions. If you would like to learn more about this, please contact the Queens Park Arts Centre on (01296) 424332 or go to www.qpc.org

Those with a love of history will enjoy the superb County Museum of Buckinghamshire. This institution houses displays and exhibitions traversing the centuries, from the iron and stone ages to the early 20th century. One of Aylesbury’s most popular attractions is the Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery, which forms part of the County Museum. Dahl fans of all ages come and experience the magic of his imagination with a visit to this exciting hands-on gallery. The museum and gallery are set alongside a lovely walled garden in the heart of the historic Old Town. For details of opening times please telephone 01296 331441.
Other family attractions near to the town include the Home for Retired Horses at Speen, and the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton, the Goat Centre at Stoke Mandeville

More entertainment opportunities include Jardines Ten Pin Bowling Alley in Bourbon Street, the Multi Screen Odeon Cinema off Exchange Street, Klub Kart Racing in Pembroke Road and ‘Scubanet’, the largest dive centre in the south of England, located in Rabans Lane.

For sports fans, Aqua Vale Swimming and Fitness Centre is Aylesbury’s latest state-of-the-art leisure experience. Three pools allow you to choose between an eight lane 25 metre competition pool complete with movable floor; the indoor leisure facility with its great river ride and interactive flume, or the heated outdoor pool. If you prefer your leisure on dry land there is also a modern gym and fitness suite, a dance studio, a sauna, a soft play room and a café. For further information on the activities at the centre please telephone (01296) 488555.

Aylesbury’s other major sports centre is the Stoke Mandeville Stadium. The centre is internationally famous as the birthplace of disability sport and benefited from a multi-million pound lottery funded renovation programme in 2003. A national centre for sport, the Staduim boasts a fantastic range of facilities for both able bodied and disabled visitors. The stadium includes a 12-court badminton sports hall, a 25m swimming pool, Harper’s Fitness Centre, the Mondo Athletics Track, a crèche, and a Café/Sports Bar, as well as a 100-bed Olympic Lodge Hotel. The venue also offers conferencing and banqueting facilities, for both small and large events. For further details please telephone (01296) 484848

If you prefer to take your exercise in the fresh air, then Aylesbury offers a wide variety of choice. There are a number of excellent golf courses very near to the town including the Aylesbury Park Golf Club at Fairford Leys. Walkers can easily access the open countryside from the town. The 12 mile “Round Aylesbury Walk” offers an energetic challenge or a range of more manageable shorter walks such as the riverside walk at Meadowcroft. The Aylesbury spur of the Grand Union Canal, which is the ‘green road’ into the Town, offers a gentle potter through beautiful countryside, along its level paths. We have an excellent children’s playground; tennis, bowls and a great skate park in the developing Vale Park. There is an all weather football pitch and a new teenage kick about area in Meadowcroft, and there are sports pitches in our parks and open spaces at Bedgrove, Alfred Rose Park, the Edinburgh & Walton Court Playing Field, Dunsham Park and at Fairford Leys. For further details of sports facilities in the town please telephone Aylesbury Vale District Council Leisure Services on (01296) 585210

For information on things to see and do in Aylesbury, why not call into the Town’s Tourist Information Centre located at the Kings Head just off the Market Square. (tel. 01296 330559). For more details of a wide range of visitor attractions in the Aylesbury area visit www.visitbuckinghamshire.org