Why Oundle Should Be Your Next Weekend Escape (And Where to Stay When You Get Here)

There's a certain kind of English town that never quite makes the tourist lists - not because it isn't beautiful, but because the people who know it prefer to keep it that way. Oundle is one of those towns.

Tucked into the Nene Valley in north Northamptonshire, Oundle is a medieval market town built almost entirely from honey-coloured limestone. Its streets are lined with independent shops, good pubs, and buildings that haven't changed much since the 17th century. It has a proper butcher, a proper bookshop, a school that dates to 1556, and a Saturday market that feels entirely unperformed.

If you haven't been, you've been missing something. Here's why it's worth the trip - and how to make the most of a stay right in the centre of it.

What Makes Oundle Worth Visiting

The Architecture Is Genuinely Extraordinary

Unlike many English market towns, Oundle suffered very little in the way of 20th-century development. Walk down New Street, West Street, or along the Market Place and you're surrounded by uninterrupted stone architecture - townhouses, coaching inns, and almshouses that have stood for three or four hundred years.

The town is almost entirely conservation area, which means it looks now more or less as it looked in 1720. For anyone who appreciates a certain kind of English beauty - understated, solid, slightly austere - it's remarkable.

The Nene Valley Is Right on Your Doorstep

The River Nene runs along the edge of town, and the water meadows and towpaths around it are among the most peaceful walking country in the East Midlands. Head out past the marina at Barnwell and you can walk for miles along flat, open riverside paths. In summer, it's busy with narrowboats. In autumn and winter, you'll often have it to yourself.

Barnwell Country Park, just south of town, is a nature reserve with lakes, wildfowl, and well-maintained paths - ideal for a morning walk before a late breakfast or a proper pub lunch.

The Food and Drink Scene Punches Well Above Its Weight

Oundle has a collection of pubs and restaurants that would make many larger towns envious. The Talbot Hotel - a 17th-century coaching inn reputed to have a staircase salvaged from Fotheringhay Castle - is a destination in itself. The Ship Inn is a well-regarded gastropub. There are delis, bakeries, and coffee shops that are genuinely good.

The town's independent retail strip includes a much-loved deli, a proper wine merchant, and enough interesting food to make self-catering as pleasurable as eating out.

It's Brilliantly Located for Day Trips

Oundle sits in a rare triangle of England that's rich with things to see and do:

• Burghley House (15 miles) - one of England's greatest Elizabethan houses, surrounded by Capability Brown parkland

• Rockingham Castle (12 miles) - medieval castle with extraordinary views over five counties, regularly used as a film location

• Fotheringhay (4 miles) - the village where Mary Queen of Scots was executed; hauntingly atmospheric

• Stamford (12 miles) - arguably the most beautiful stone town in England, ideal for a day's walking and shopping

• Peterborough Cathedral (13 miles) - one of the finest Norman interiors in Britain, and free to enter

Silverstone is under an hour away for race weekends. Cambridge is 45 minutes by car.

Where to Stay: Great Escapes Oundle

If you're going to visit Oundle, staying in the centre of it is the only way to do it properly - and Great Escapes Oundle makes that possible in style.

Three luxury one-bedroom apartments occupy No. 1 Market Place, a Grade II listed building right in the heart of town. Renovated in 2023 by local developer Gracecliffe Developments, the building was transformed over six months with exceptional attention to detail: bespoke kitchens handbuilt in Lincolnshire, herringbone hardwood floors, walk-in showers with oversized heads, pocket sprung mattresses, and interiors that balance the building's original period character with a clean contemporary finish.

Flat 1 looks out over the War Memorial. Flat 2 is a split-level duplex with an upstairs bedroom that feels entirely private and calm. Flat 3 has large sash windows overlooking Market Square - you're watching Oundle go about its day from the best seat in the house.

The location means you can walk to everything: dinner at The Talbot is two minutes away; the Saturday market is on your doorstep; the towpath is a ten-minute stroll. You don't need a car once you've arrived.

When to Visit

Oundle works in every season. Spring and summer bring the Nene Valley to life and the farmers' market fills the square. Autumn is perhaps the most beautiful - the limestone glows amber and the countryside around town turns extraordinary colours. Winter is cosy in the best sense: roaring fires in the pub, stone streets with no one on them, a proper escape from the city.

Book Direct

The apartments can be booked directly at greatescapesoundle.co.uk. Booking direct means you're speaking to the people who own and run the apartments - they know the town inside out and will point you in the right direction.

Great Escapes Oundle is located at No. 1 Market Place, Oundle, Northamptonshire, PE8. Parking is available in the town centre car parks a short walk away.