Northamptonshire is centrally located within the UK in the very heart of England with easy access from the excellent road and rail links that serve its thriving business, leisure, retail, and residential communities.
By road, Northamptonshire is intersected by the M1, A5, A14 and M1-A1 link roads, while the M45, M6, M40 and A1 touch its boundaries.
Airports at Heathrow, Luton, Stansted, Birmingham and East Midlands are all just an hour away, so Northamptonshire is open to visitors from around the world.
The rail network serves the county well, with links to Northampton and Long Buckby from London Euston and Birmingham New Street. East Midland Railway connects London St Pancras to South Yorkshire, passing through Wellingborough, Kettering, and Corby.
Getting to Northamptonshire by Road
Northamptonshire is located right in the heart of England and has a number of key roads leading to and around the county in addition to having the M1 motorway and A14 running through it.
- The M1 runs north-south through the middle of the county from London to Leeds
- The M6, M40 and M45 give access to the west of the county
- The A1 runs along the eastern border of the county
- The A5 links Milton Keynes in the south to Warwickshire in the west
- The A6 links Luton in the south to Leicester in the North
- The A14 links Cambridge in the east and Birmingham in the west
- The A43 links Oxford in the south-west to Stamford in the north
- The A45 links to Coventry in the west
- The A428 links to Bedfordshire in the east
- The A508 links Milton Keynes in the south to Market Harborough
Getting to Northamptonshire by Train
Northamptonshire is centrally located within the UK and enjoys good rail links to both London and the North.
- London St Pancras to Wellingborough in 50 minutes.
- London St Pancras to Kettering and Corby.
- London Euston to Northampton in 55 minutes.
- Northampton to Birmingham International in 45 minutes.
- Services also run frequently to Nottingham, Leicester and beyond.
A number of train operating companies provide regular services :
East Midland Railway run services to Corby, Kettering, Market Harborough and Wellingborough.
London Northwestern Railway run services to Northampton, Long Buckby and Milton Keynes.
Avanti West Coast provide high speed links to Northampton, Rugby and Milton Keynes.
Chiltern Railways operate a service to King's Sutton.
Getting to Northamptonshire by River or Canal
Peaceful scenery and a rural landscape surround the idyllic waterways of Northamptonshire.
Industrial towns in the south give way to stone-built villages and farmers’ fields as the Grand Union Canal makes steady progress past Milton Keynes, into the county and heads north into the West Midlands. The canal passes through Stoke Bruerne and on through the Blisworth tunnel and meets up with the River Nene at Northampton via The Northampton Arm of the canal system. Here the River Nene comes into its own as a quintessentially rural waterway.
The Nene meanders through farmland and the industry of Northampton, Wellingborough and Irthlingborough. From here it flows through a rural landscape of gently rolling hills interspersed with numerous traditional stone villages. It flows on to Peterborough and Wisbech until it reaches the Wash.
Moorings
The Environment Agency currently provides many free visitor moorings along the River Nene.
There are free visitor mornings along the Nene available for you to moor for a total of 48 hours. Visitor moorings can be found at Titchmarsh, Islip, Nene Park Trust, Nine Arch Bridge, Thorpe Meadows Moorings, Peterborough Embankment, Wansford Station Visitor Moorings, Rushden & Diamonds, Wellingborough Embankment, Northampton Washlands, and Midsummer Meadows.
There are also several privately owned visitor moorings available on the Nene navigation. There may be a charge to use these moorings and you will need to call ahead to book a mooring space.
