From Handy Cross at High Wycombe to Thame, this stretch carries the M40 over the Chiltern Hills and down into Oxfordshire. It includes the oldest part of the motorway. Reports for these junctions are shown below.

The junctions on this stretch

• Junction 4 — the A404 at Handy Cross, High Wycombe.
• Junction 5 — the A40 for Stokenchurch.
• Junction 6 — the B4009 for Watlington, Princes Risborough, Lewknor and Chinnor.
• Junction 7 — the A329 for Thame and Wallingford.

The Stokenchurch Gap

Just beyond Junction 5 the motorway passes through a deep cutting in the chalk of the Chiltern escarpment, known as the Stokenchurch Gap, where the road enters Oxfordshire. The cutting is 1,200 metres long and up to 47 metres deep, and runs through the Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve. It was built in the early 1970s.

The area is known for frequent heavy fog in winter, which is worth remembering on an early journey. Red kites, reintroduced to the Chilterns, are often seen overhead.

A little history

The first section of the M40 to open, in June 1967, ran from Handy Cross to Stokenchurch, Junctions 4 to 5. The motorway was extended from Junction 5 to Junction 8 at Great Milton in 1974.

How busy is this stretch?

M40 Junctions 4 to 7 — Stokenchurch and the Chilterns: vehicles a day, stretch by stretch

Stretch	All vehicles	Lorries	Share lorries
J4 to J5	99,611	6,646	6.7%
J5 to J6	100,922	8,311	8.2%
J6 to J7	95,958	6,528	6.8%

© M40Traffic.co.uk · Statistics from the Department for Transport

Traffic holds close to 100,000 vehicles a day over the hills. The lorry share rises to 8.2% between Junctions 5 and 6. The Department for Transport records the Junction 5 to 6 stretch at two count points either side of a council boundary with the same figure; it appears once.

Previous stretch: Junctions 1 to 4. Next: Junctions 7 to 9, Oxford.

Traffic count figures on this page are from the Department for Transport road traffic statistics, 2025.