Hornsea Rail Trail Cycle Route Overall Rating: ⭐⭐ The Hornsea Rail Trail links the centre of Hull with Hornsea, 15 miles further along a disused rail trail. Just over half of the route is tarred, with the remainder quite decent compacted gravel. This trail forms part of the Trans Pennine Trail, and is signed as … Read more
Union Canal Cycle Route Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ The Union Canal, starts by the Falkirk Wheel and ends Edinburgh, 34 miles away. It is a contour canal, therefore has no climbing. There are three aqueducts and two tunnels and the path along each of those is narrow and cobbled, so it’s suggested that you walk your … Read more
Cambridge Guided Busway Cycle Route Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ The Cambridge Guided Busway was originally built as a service road for the busway. Sadly, when it floods (as it does from time to time) the local authority refuses to do anything about it, claiming it’s a service road. However, when talking about what they’re doing for … Read more
Forth and Clyde Canal Cycle Route Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ The Forth and Clyde Canal links Glasgow with Falkirk, and most of the 35 miles of towpath is tarred. It is a stunning, flat (as you’d expect from a canal towpath) route, but it’s not perfect. For a significant part of the canal, the towpath is … Read more
The Granite Way is a stunning, traffic-free shared path that follows a disused railway, high up on Dartmoor. Skirting the high moor, it runs for 8.68 miles, from Okehampton to Lydford. It also forms part of the Devon Coast To Coast route. Built on the track bed of the old London And South Western Railway … Read more
Stover & Wray Valley Trails cycle route overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐ The Stover Trail links Newton Abbott with Bovey Tracey, mostly traffic-free, or on very quiet lanes. The Wray Valley Trail links Bovey Tracey with Moreton Hampstead, again either traffic-free, or on normally very quiet lanes. It therefore makes sense to do a single route guide … Read more
Dawlish to Exeter cycle route overall rating: B3⭐⭐⭐⭐ If you’re looking for a stunning day out, this is the route for you. At 14 miles in length, it offers spectacular sea views, quaint waterside villages, and even canalside cycling. Overall, the route is very flat, but it does have a section that tops out at … Read more
Star-rated traffic-free cycle routes As you may have noticed, I started grading the route guides I publish, using a star grading system. This grading system is to give an indication of family-friendliness of a route, which is a grading that will also help new adult cyclists, as well as less confident adult cyclists. Some routes … Read more
Drake’s Trail starts in Plymouth and at first mostly follows the course of the river Plym, eventually leading to Clearbrook, which is a village on the edge of Dartmoor. From Clearbrook, Drake’s Trail leads through Yelverton, on to the town of Tavistock, 19 miles later. Most of the route is built on a disused railway … Read more