If you want to break out of London for the weekend then where can you cycle to?
That was the question posed to me by London Cyclist reader David. Below I post some of the classic destinations along with route suggestions where possible. Feel free to add your comment if there’s a cycling destination you often head towards from London.
London to Brighton
This well trodden route is a classic. Made incredibly popular by all the charity rides, it’s a great ride to do on a weekend when the sun is shining. The official Brighton route is easy to find. Here’s one on Everytrail. At around 50 miles in length, it can be done in 3 to 4 hours. The train back in the evening takes less than an hour.
London to Cambridge
Another hugely popular destination is Cambridge. Cycle routes are once again easy to find. It’s a fairly decent journey at nearly 70 miles in length.
London to Waltham Abbey
This is a route from the London Cycle Routes eBook. It can be followed along the canal and therefore is largely traffic free. It’s also a nice short ride from London so you can ride there and back in a day.
London to West Wittering
Once again a route from the London Cycle Routes eBook. West Wittering is one of the UK’s finest beach destinations. With gorgeous wide expanses and intricate spots dotting the coast line, there’s a really beautiful variety here to be discovered. The ride is long at over 75 miles in length, so you’ll probably want to spend an evening there before getting the train back the next day.
London to Oxford
Oxford has a popular cycling culture, spurred on in part by the many students that inhabit the area. It’s a great place to discover on two wheels. The route is around 70 miles in length and is fairly quiet passing through small towns and villages. The train back takes around 1 hour.
For more coastal destination inspiration I really recommend the Wild Swimming book by Daniel Start.
Any further suggestions? Please leave them in the comments below.
Martin, there’s no need to be rude, it’s a legitimate debate.
I’ve recently ridden to Whitstable, a beautiful seaside town on the Kent coast, along this route: http://www.lfgss.com/thread58461.html – a great ride and a destination that I’d really recommend.
Cambridge and Brighton too are really great rides – thanks for the route to West Wittering Andreas, I’ll have to try that next. There’s something beautiful about ending a long ride with a dip in the sea, and fish and chips makes the perfect recovery food. I wouldn’t have thought you’d need to stay the night though – this time of year the days are long enough that as long as you leave early in the morning, anybody should be able to manage 75 miles with enough time left to enjoy plenty of the afternoon at your destination.
The Oxford route looks great as well so I’ll have to give that a try. Anybody else got any routes?
Why not a trip to Latin America too: http://www.mexplora.com/arte-viajar-bicicleta/
London or Kingston to Windsor is a short (40-45 miles) and pleasant ride with the delights of Windsor at the end of it. The route can be found on cycleroutes.com
Sorry that’s http://www.cycle-route.com – the curse of the iPhone autocorrect struck again hahaha!!
I would recommend a route from margate to rye along the Kent coast but unless you have a folding bike, you aint going to get the train connection on Southeastern from/to London at each end. This is a shame because it is a great route and has long off road sections and fine views. It is signposted as sustains routes 1/2 and 15.
I just recently cycled some of NCN4 in the Vale of Pewsey, despite having lived in the Wiltshire area most of my life. Lovely quiet lanes, beautiful villages and scenery, and you can get to Newbury, Hungerford or Pewsey easily by train.
One for the more adventurous.. London to Portsmouth (75miles) is a good route for someone taking on a bit more of a challenge. If you’re still feeling energetic once you’re there, jump on a ferry and keep on going to Paris!
Do you have a link to a nice route for this? Ferries go from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight too, could make for a great trip!
Or go on the ferry from Portsmouth to St. Malo in Brittany, it’s lovely and so’s most of Brittany by bike.
Just like Dave I have recently completed a classic pilgrimage route from London to Canterbury but I did it thru National Route 1. It took us two days to really enjoy the scenery and it was really amazing.
Can I suggest the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. About 40 miles from Central London to Henley-on-Thames on the southern edge or 30 miles to Berkhamsted in the north. Or catch the train out (served by three train lines and the tube) and do some road or mountain biking. Loads of options and lots of info on our website.
Yes, this is a totally shameless plug for Cycle Chiltrens, a not for profit cycle development project run by CTC in association with the Chilterns Conservation Board to encourage more cycling visitors to the Chilterns. So come and say hello and see what amazing riding we’ve got.