Founded in Saxon times and the county town of Buckinghamshire since 1725, Aylesbury is a market town sheltered by the Chiltern Hills. The cobbled market has been a part of Aylesbury life since the 13th Century and in it stands statues of politician Benjamin Disraeli and John Hampden, a local hero and a key figure in the defeat of the Royalists in the English Civil War.

The Exchange is home to Aylesbury's main leisure and entertainment facilities as well as the Civic Centre. There is also the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery at Aylesbury's Bucks County Museum, the magnificent Rothschild treasure house at Waddesdon, motor racing at the nearby Silverstone, Stowe Landscape Gardens and Claydon House. The main shopping centres are in Friars Square, Hale Leys and the High Street.