Something else I'll not be able to see
I have the Sky Safari app on my phone that I've used in the past. Best places I've used it (it terms of minimal light pollution) are the Yorkshire Dales and semi-rural Spain. The view of stars was hugely improved in both cases, but didn't see the Milky Way, as I've said.
It's very faint. You won't see it at first, but when eyes starts to become accustomed to the very dark (it can be up to 30 mins), it starts to appear as a faint 'line' or cluster of stars, spanning across the sky.
Unfortunately, it will never appear as detailed as it would do from photographs, which requires a good camera (a DSLR or even a latest smartphone) & post processing software.
Good luck next time. You should use a red light torch to see where you are going, to keep your eyes accustomed to darkness.