text: Welcome to Northampton Online, your guide to Northampton and the East Midlands. If you're new to Northampton, it's a bustling town with excellent shopping facilities, a great range of pubs and restaurants and has several theatres. Use our guide to find out where to go, what's on, and where to stay.
  The Northampton Online website provides booking facilities for many of Northampton's hotels and enabling us to offer special discount rates for booking online. Whether you are looking for a cheap B&B or a luxury top end hotel, visit our hotel section to see how much you could save. Visit the Northampton Hotels Centre »
  Explore Northampton Online's local business finder - shops, restaurants and businesses across Northampton.
  The market town of Northampton sits upon the river Nene and is home to around 190,000 residents. Having repeatedly missed out on city status over the years, Northampton is often thought of as England's largest town.
  Northampton made its name through shoemaking and tanning and, although these industries have all but disappeared now, their influence can still be seen in the layout and architecture of the ex-industrial districts.
  These days Northampton's primary sectors are businesses such as financial services and distribution companies, attracted by the town's direct motorway and rail links to London, and by comparatively low house prices.
  One very notable feature of the centre of Northampton is the sheer number of parks and open spaces on offer, one of which plays host to the town's annual hot-air balloon festival which is a sight to behold.