Get cycle•travel's free app at Google Play and the Apple App Store. It is suggested that you download the maps. Under Settings → Offline maps there are four quadrants to download that cover all these routes.
If you bike a route, and have a suggested tweak, I can be reached at
Slide shows of sights along the routes will be added after I've biked a route. (Not pictures of the route itself.)
- Bedfordshire: Stevenage to Bedford (all paved).
32 miles. ↗ 100m ↘ 170m | Max 3.2% - Historic Villages: Harlow to Cambridge.
48 miles. ↗ 280m ↘ 300m | Max 7.6% - Essex: Enfield to Chelmsford, via Epping Forest.
34 miles. ↗ 260m ↘ 250m | Max 5% - Essex Coast: Kelvedon to Colchester, via Coggleshall, West Mersea (all paved).
Has train from end to start.
45 miles. ↗ 420m ↘ 430m | Max 8.2% - North Kent Marshes: Gravesend to Faversham (or Canterbury).
35 miles. ↗ 240m ↘ 240m | Max 6% - Kent Downs: Staplehurst to Canterbury, via Tenterden.
44 miles. ↗ 240m ↘ 250m | Max 8% - High Weald: Tunbridge Wells to Uckfield, via Sheffield Park.
30 miles. ↗ 420m ↘ 510m | Max 9.8% (reverse ↗ 460m ↘ 370m | Max 6.8%) - South Downs: Guildford to Brighton (all paved).
50 miles. ↗ 200m ↘ 210m | Max 5.5% - North Downs: Aldershot to Reading, via Basingstoke.
40 miles. ↗ 230m ↘ 280m | Max 6% - Chilterns Hills: Henley-on-Thames to Oxford.
43 miles. ↗ 390m ↘ 360m | Max 11.5%
1. Bedfordshire: Stevenage to Bedford. 32 miles [N of London]
cycle•travel Route
This route has a Slide Show
- Stevenage [a new town, but route goes through the Old Town]
- Bedfordshire
- Little Wymondley
- Fishers Green [flood plain where they used to harvest gravel]
- Great Wymondley [agricultural landscape. soil is boulder clay above chalk]
- Hitchin [market town]
- North Hertfordshire Museum [in Hitchin Town Hall. free]
- Ickleford [12th century nave and stained glass in church]
- Arlesey [long history, but nothing but two churches now]
- Henlow [church is Grade I listed]
- Clifton [church, town now residential]
- Shefford [has fords over two rivers]
- Old Warden [church and post office]
- Shuttleworth Collection [bicycles, motor cars, aeroplanes. plus house, garden, park. ticketed.]
- Ickwell [known for its maypole]
- Northill [church, small village green with duck pond]
- Cardington [known for airships]
- Priory Country Park [a stunning park]
- Bedford [market town on the River Great Ouse lined with gardens. Bedford Castle mound.]
Bedford: Thameslink to St. Pancras. Frequent.
2. Historic Villages: Harlow to Cambridge. 48 miles [N of London]
cycle•travel Route
- Harlow [won't be in the town]
- The Gibberd Garden [take footpath from route]
- High Wych [has church]
- Bishop's Stortford [historic market town. over 100 listed buildings]
- Waytemore Castle
- Stansted Mountfitchet [ancient village. lots of landmarks]
- Stansted Mountfitchet Windmill
- Elsenham [several notable homes and village centre]
- Wendens Ambo [old cottages]
- Audley End House [loop round]
- Saffron Walden [market town set in hills]
- Audrey End House and Gardens [miniature railway] Littlebury [church has a beautiful stone font with decorated oak canopy]
- Walden Castle [route passes by]
- Great Chesterford [ancient village with many listed buildings]
- Ickleton [village besides the River Cam]
- Hinxton [Village Hall and mill on the River Cam]
- Duxford [two Grade I churches]
- Whittlesford [old church]
- Little Shelford [church]
- Great Shelford [has a 1307 church and houses]
- Cambridge
Cambridge: Great Northern to King's Cross.
3. Essex: Enfield to Chelmsford, via Epping Forest. 34 miles [NE of London]
cycle•travel Route
- Enfield [route doesn't go into]
- Essex
- Epping Forest [steep uphill entering forest!]
- Epping [market town]
- North Weald [manor houses]
- Moreton [bridge crossing the Cripsey Brook]
- Fyfield [extensive remains from successive phases of prehistoric to post-medieval activity]
- Willingale [two churches]
- Writtle [traditional village green, with variety of ancient cottages]
- Hylands House [Grade II building in a park]
- Chelmsford
Chelmsford: Greater Anglia to London Liverpool Street. Or at Stratford switch to Elizabeth Line Shenfield. Timetables. Timetable is 02.
4. Essex Coast: Kelvedon to Colchester, via Coggleshall, Tollesbury and West Mersea. 45 miles [NE of London]
This is the only route where the two stations are on the same train line. You can take a train back to the start. This is also my favorite route. I like the water.
cycle•travel Route [Need to check for high tides]
This route has a Slide Show
- Kelvedon [Victorian Kelvedon is set along High Street]
- Coggeshall [almost 300 listed buildings!]
- Tiptree [Tiptree Heath lies to the south]
- Tolleshunt D'Arcy [D'Arcy Hall, early 16th-century building]
- Tolleshunt Knights
- Tollesbury [see village sign]
- Trinity Lightship
- Great Wigborough
- Peldon [had salt-production industry. red hills created by the process]
- Blackwater Estuary
- West Mersea [known for local oysters. most famous place to eat them is The Company Shed (closed Mon-Tues)]
- Abberton Reservoir [water pumped from from the River Stour]
- Abberton [has church]
- Abbey Field [suburb of Colchester. known for its grassland]
- Colchester [famous for Roman ruins]
5. North Kent Marshes: Gravesend to Faversham (or Canterbury). 35 miles [ESE of London]
cycle•travel Route
- Gravesend
- North Kent Marshes
- Higham [original Saxon village. all four pubs now closed]
- Wainscott [surrounded by agricultural land and ancient woodlands]
- Frindsbury [many old buildings, manor and barn]
- Rochester Castle
- Rochester [historic center. on the River Medway]
- Chatham [developed around the Chatham Dockyard]
- Heritage Trust: Fort Amherst [Napoleonic Fort. stop and wander in. tours of the tunnels 11-2]
- The Historic Dockyard [maritime museum. expensive]
- Gillingham [route does not go into the town. there is a High St]
- Strand Miniature Railway [goes around Fort Apache]
- Upchurch [church is Grade I]
- Lower Halstow [Church is Grade I and pubs are Grade II]
- Sittingbourne [route goes around]
- Faversham [long history]
- 9-1/2 more miles to Canterbury going direct. Or make a detour to Whitstable, for 18 more miles.
Faversham: Southeastern to Victoria
6. Kent Downs: Staplehurst to Canterbury, via Tenterden. 44 miles [SE of London]
cycle•travel Route
- Staplehurst
- Kent Downs
- Frittenden [historic village in the flood plain of one of the tributaries of the River Medway]
- Tenterden [the edge of the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother]
- Shadoxhurst [the woodland gateway to the countryside]
- Ashford [see World War I tank]
- River Stour
- Wye [had a ford across the River Great Stour]
- Eggringe Wood and Denge Wood
- Larkey Valley Wood Nature Reserve
- Chartham
- Canterbury. Walking and Cycling Map [PDF].
Canterbury: Southeastern has two stations. West goes to St. Pancras [best] or Stratford. East goes to Victoria. Timetables. West is Timetable 1. East is Timetable 2.
7. High Weald: Tunbridge Wells to Uckfield, via Sheffield Park. 30 miles [SSE of London]
It has been suggested to ride this route in reverse. Tunbridge Wells is a more interesting place to end up in than Uckfield. Under Route tools, there is a button to reverse the route. But doing so gives you a long train ride in the morning.
cycle•travel Route [has steep uphill, less steep in reverse]
- Royal Tunbridge Wells
- Weald
- Groombridge
- Forest Way Country Park
- Hartfield
- Ashdown Forest
- Winnie the Pooh Park: Pooh Sticks Bridge
- Nutley
- Sheffield Park and Garden
- Bluebell Railway Museum
- Fletching [historic church]
- Uckfield
Uckfield: Southern Railways to London Bridge. Change to Thameslink in East Croydon. Long trip. Timetables. Timetable is N.
8. South Downs: Guildford to Brighton, 50 miles [SSW of London]
cycle•travel Route
- Guildford
- South Downs
- Artington [has manor house]
- Shalford [many older cottages. church has lychgate and stained glass.]
- Bramley [many historic buildings]
- Wonersh
- Cranleigh [not much]
- Rudgwick
- Roman Gate
- Slinfold
- Barns Green [rural community with a few shops]
- Shipley [church]
- Ashurst Wood
- Steyning [long history]
- Shoreham-by-Sea
- Brighton
Brighton: Gatwick Express to Victoria Station. Every 30 minutes. Leaves :08 and :38.
9. North Downs: Aldershot to Reading, via Basingstoke. 40 miles [WSW of London]
cycle•travel Route [has some hills]
- Aldershot [Victorian military town]
- Farnham [market town. long history]
- North Downs
- Farnham Castle [in town center. route passes]
- Odiham [large historic village. castle ruins]
- Up Nately [kilns and brick works in Heather Lane]
- Old Basing [many old houses. ruins of Basing House]
- Basingstoke [old market town, with great growth in the second half of the 20th century]
- Chineham [suburb to Basingstoke]
- Bramley [was prehistoric settlement]
- Reading [important trading center in the Middle Ages]
Reading: Great Western to Paddington. Timetables. Timetable is BL.
10. Chilterns Hills: Henley-on-Thames to Oxford. 43 miles [WNW of London]
cycle•travel Route [has a mountain]
- Henley-on-Thames
- Chilterns Hills
- National Trust: Greys Court [route passes]
- Nuffield [church]
- Ewelme
- Ruins of Wallingford Castle
- Wallingford [historic market town]
- Wittenham Clumps [wooded chalk hills on your right]
- Pendon Museum [displays scale models. would skip Dorchester]
- Dorchester On Thames
- Dorchester Abbey
- Clifton Hampden [see bridge]
- Abingdon-on-Thames [historic market town. route goes over the bridge]
- Abingdon Abbey
- Radley
- Sandford-on-Thames [river, lock and church]
- Oxford
Oxford: Great Western to Paddington. Frequent trains.