A Cycle Tour in SW England

A Cycle Tour from Crowthorne to Cornwall and back again

Our aim on this trip was to see how far we could get going SW from the edge of London, taking our time to explore the changing landscapes of southern England.

This account is mainly of interest to cycle tourists who fancy trying a similar two-week 'Travelodge tour' (other cheapish hotels are available). In these days of comfortable and fast motor transport (aside from traffic jams), you appreciate a destination even more if it takes a lot of planning and two weeks to get there and back under your own steam.

We now pre-book cheap hotels that (unlike B and Bs) allow bikes in rooms and a quick get-away in the mornings. We used to use Youth Hostels, but they are now fewer and often booked up with school parties, so we miss being able to self-cater and socialise with fellow travellers in the evenings.

A 5-day Circuit of London by Bicycle

A tour of the Green Belt around London

There’s hardly a car or house to be seen, yet we’re going to be less than 33 miles from the centre of London for the next 5 days.  Feelings of anticipation and slight apprehension have given way to excitement to be on our way.  A warm June breeze pushes us along.  It’s going to be an easy first day, from St Albans to Chelmsford, on our route around the capital.

Hutting in Austria

Fancy trying a hutting holiday? 

Nurnberger Hütte in the Stubai Alps

Hutting is a great way to enjoy mountains like The Alps, hiking between remote mountain hotels at around 2000m. Once up at that level, you follow waymarked paths, contouring along mountainsides, traversing cols and avoiding too many long ascents and descents. On a clear day the scenery can be stunning. You won't often see many people between huts, except a few at midday doing the route in the opposite direction. You'll probably come across marmots and steinbock, with birds of prey circling overhead.

A Cycle Tour to Suffolk

YHA Stour Valley trip 7-9 June 2011

I’m not sure now where the idea came from, but a 3-day tour, riding to Suffolk and spending a day there before riding back again, proved to be a popular offer.

Stuart had visited the Stour Valley YHA with Cambridge CTC and the Southend Forty plus CC had also been there, so I looked into using this bunkhouse as a base for a midweek trip in June.  Some cyclists have been put off using Youth Hostels, claiming they are now poor value and dominated by families and couples arriving by car rather than by outdoor enthusiasts arriving under their own steam - why not use a Travelodge - it’s often cheaper.  This may partly be true of the larger hostels, but there are now some 17 YHA bunkhouses spread across England and Wales.  These are what simple hostels used to be like, but without the compulsory ‘chores’.

Having fixed the destination, it was now time to plan some routes.  How do I get 10 cyclists the 85 miles from places like St Albans to the Suffolk coast in a day?  How much energy would they have left for a ‘rest’ day before cycling home?  So out with the maps, a lot of googling and a look at the websites of some cycle clubs in the area.

Barcelona to Barnet by Bike

Barcelona to Barnet - a cycle tour including a french end-to-end

It’s not easy to define an end-to-end in a country that is roughly hexagon shaped.  There are companies and CTC tours offering rides between the Channel and the Mediterranean, but we decided we wanted to do a full end to end, between the most northerly and most southerly points in France.

A quick inspection of the Michelin road atlas revealed that the most southerly through road was the road over the Col d'Ares, south of the Prats-de-Mollo ski resort in the French Pyrenees.  The most northerly point was the Belgian border, near the coast.  We then started planning a route for Judy and me to ride.

Cycling in the Peloponnese

Greece: Peloponnese Cycle Tour 1st - 15 March 2006
View photo album




The Peloponnese is our favourite area for cycle touring and this was our 3rd tour of this lovely part of Greece, having cycled around here previously in 1988 and 2001. It has georgious scenery, relatively quiet roads, friendly people and some spectacular ruins.

The best time for cycle touring is in the spring, when the wild flowers are at their best and before the main tourist season.

Tuesday 28 February: Train to Coulsdon South and cycled to Gatwick. Checked in at 10 pm and stayed overnight at TravelLodge Gatwick (£26). Distance 45.67km. Climb 651m.

Wednesday 1 March: 06:40 Easyjet flight to Athens. Suburban train to Athens Hotel Dioskouros €25 inc. b'fast. 4.9 km.

Athens: Temple of Zeus

Athens: Hadrians Gate

Corsica Cycle Tour

This is Sardinia and Corsica in late October 2005. The weather was mostly hot and sunny.


Templet of Malchittu - a neolithic ruin in the hills near Arzachena in northern Sardinia.