An old town, Bicester remains a fairly small place but it currently enjoying the benefits of considerable redevelopment in its centre. Visitors are attracted to the town's historic buildings and the rolling countryside that surrounds it goes a long way to explain the popularity of the area with residents.

Bicester is connected by direct rail services to London Marylebone and Birmingham and is also on a branch line to Oxford - making Bicester a popular base for rail commuters to these cities. At the weekends, traffic is in the opposite direction, as thousands flock to the Bicester Village Outlet Shopping Centre, which despite its name is outside the town, on a purpose-built site.

Such is the size of the Bicester outlet village that shoppers from surrounding towns such as Banbury, Brackley and Buckingham are all willing to make the trip when the need for retail therapy strikes.

Bicester has a long-standing connection with the Army and is the home of a large Army Ordnance (ammunition) depot - so large, in fact, that it has its own railway, the Bicester Military Railway. Needless to say, this huge site is strictly out of bounds to visitors!

Despite its modest size, the demands of both residents and business owners in Bicester mean that the town does have its own van hire facilities. Van hire in Bicester is easy - a full range of rental vans should be available at most times:

• Medium / short wheelbase vans - e.g. Ford Transit, Vauxhall Vivaro, Renault Trafic, Volkswagen Transporter
• Small vans - e.g. Vauxhall Combo, Ford Transit Connect, VW Caddy
• Large / long wheelbase vans - e.g. Mercedes Sprinter XLWB, Ford Transit LWB, Renault Master, LDV Maxus
• Luton vans & box vans (3.5 tonne / 3.5t).