Things to do in Luton and places to eat nearby

[Flannelfeet]

👋. Im staying in Luton next friday till Tuesday with my husband. We are heading to Knebworth to eddfest on the Saturday. Anyone who knows Luton or lives there can you please share ideas of things to do and great places to eat? ❤️

if you’ve got a car, head up to Dunstable Downs. You can buy a kite to fly in the national trust shop and watch gliders taking off. You’re near Whipsnade Zoo. Pricey, but easy to spend a whole day there. Weekdays will be quieter. I’m out of touch with the best places to eat, but you’ll find food from every culture in the centre. If you want a quieter town for nighttime, you’re near Hitchin, which is lovely and has plenty of good restaurants. You can also drive or hop on the train to St Albans, where there’s a great little museum in the old prison, the abbey is beautiful and you’ve got the Roman museum at Verulamium.

Thank you for your reply, we are getting the train down and staying at the linton hotel...totally unsure where that is as we have never been to luton before, we are staying there and heading to the iron maiden concert in Knebworth on the Saturday. Was hoping for some local places for the sunday and maybe going a bit further on the monday.

Hehe, that was my suggestions to do but I didn’t post my reply. You could also walk over to Stockwood Park for an hour or two, they have a decent cafe. I’d not eat out in the town centre, it‘s dire.

Get the hell out of Luton, by any means possible.

Oh come on, it can't be that bad. I firmly believe that it's possible to have a couple of days wandering around any city having a good time seeing nice and interesting things and have done this in places that are widely derided including Hull and Birmingham, both of which have many nice parts.

In Luton, I can see some nice looking big parks and museums/galleries on Google maps, so that would be fine. Plus a variety of restaurants as well as travel to other places nearby.

Or London is only half an hour on the train so go there if you don't normally get the chance to without booking months in advance so tickets are reasonable.

Luton is unfortunately awful. The town centre is grim. If you can change your hotel, do so. St Albans is close by and much much nicer. Do not underestimate how terrible Luton is.

I can assure you that Luton is to Hull and Birmingham (both, I agree, interesting cities worth visiting) as a stale vending machine snack is to a Michelin-starred meal. It is a place people live. The OP should either switch hotels or, if not, get out of Luton every day and just sleep at the hotel.

Get the train to St Albans, it’s not far. Lots of nice shops, restaurants, bars. Luton is not a great place.

St Albans - abbey, Verulanium park. Roman remains, market (twice weekly)

Woburn - pretty village, nice walks around Woburn estate, deer park etc

Dunstable Downs

Rushmere country park

Milton Keynes - large shopping centre,

Tring - fascinating small museum, nice canal walks

Harpenden - small town, nice park, drive around West common to look at the lovely large houses

Exactly what I was going to say!!!

Luton is truly awful, go to St Albans

The town centre is awful, there are lovely places in and around Luton. Stockwood Park, Wardown park are both nice and the walk from Stopsley to Barton is amazing. There’s lovely countryside around, which you won’t find in St Albans for example.
There are no half decent restaurants or even delivery services though, OP would be better off having dinner in Harpenden or St A. The hotel she booked is also on the outskirts and absolutely fine area.

Agree about St Albans.

If John Betjeman had ever been to Luton, his poem 'Slough' would have been replaced by one about Luton with similar sentiments.

I don’t know if it’s still there, but, quite a long time ago I went the museum,which was really interesting. Luton was a “hat town” in the eighteenth century, women did piece work plaiting straw at home. It’s a fascinating place.

Oh, and enjoy the concert, we saw them last year in London. Bloody brilliant

You're wrong, it is that bad. Completely incomparable to Birmingham. Agree, go elsewhere, anywhere elsewhere, the idea that you could spend 2 days wandering pleasantly around Luton is frankly hilarious.

More awkward to fit into his rhyme scheme, but agreed!

The restaurant in the Linton is good and the parks nearby are really nice.

If you are reliant on public transport then I agree getting a train to somewhere else is your best bet. You could be in London in 30 minutes and even just mooching around Coal Dros Yard by St Pancras would be nicer than Luton

Stockwood park which is opposite the hotel is nice. Opposite the park is a bus stop the 321 goes to Harpenden and St albans

It may once have been, just like Leicester was a Roman settlement, a big centre for Puritanism in the 17thc, big in 19thc stocking and shoe manufacturing manufacturing, employing lots of women and hence seeing important support for women’s suffrage. But the fact remains that Leicester city centre these days is a hollowed-out shadow of its former self, though it would still be just about possible to spend the guts of a day there, visiting Richard III’s grave, the museum, the Guildhall, the National Space Centre etc, and heading to the Belgrave Road for good Indian food.

Luton has none of that. The idea that it somewhere you might spend two days exploring is laughable. The things people have suggested doing are all out of town.

Is it that bad? 😆 🤣

I was thinking about a trip to London on the Monday, have a look around, find a nice restaurant and relax a bit.

If anything, Luton is worse than Slough.

Come friendly bombs and fall on Luton,
I wouldn't suggest it even for Putin,
It isn't fit for humans now,
Or a cat, a dog or even a cow.