first tour ideas

gergusmcbergus

hi
me and me old man are gonna go on a little ditty in the summer - hopefully the first of many!
for our first time, anyone got any suggestions?
-we want to stay in britain
-our home is in the southeast of engalnd, just south of cambridge to be precise
-we are willing to jump on the train somewhere and use that place as our base,
-we don't want to be going up and down loads of hills on our first tour.
-we have 5 days!
-we don't wana be going round urban areas, we want to go somewhere with countryside (but not totally isolated so we're alone if we get a problem)
-we will be camping
we've had a few ideas of our own, but wondered if anyone has any suggestions, and some tips to remember for a first time tour.

andymiller

Suffolk and Norfolk coast and then loop in land through the villages.

inaperfectworld

national route 1 of sustrans national cycle network goes from hull to fakenham and then fakenham to harwich and part of the route can't be too far from you. the advantages of this route is that it is signed, uses mostly quiet roads, maps are available to cover the route, accomodation will probably be more readily available to cater for people using the route and if you find a hill well in your enthusiasm you've gone too far and ended up in scotland!

El Gordo

+1 for a loop around the Norfolk and Suffolk coast and then back across through the middle. Depending on you mileage you may be able to start and finish from home.

The roads round there are perfect for cycling - quiet, not too hilly but not too flat.

Thinking about it, my first ever tour was five days round that coast with my Dad. That was about 22 years ago and I've done quite a bit more since then so it must have been good!

andymiller

inaperfectworld wrote:

national route 1 of sustrans national cycle network goes from hull to fakenham and then fakenham to harwich and part of the route can't be too far from you. the advantages of this route is that it is signed,

The regional Suffolk coast route is also fairly well signed. Use one going out and the other coming back?

pneumatic

There is something very pleasing about setting out by bike from your home and arriving back there after a tour with a squeeze of the brakes and a good feeling.

If you can do Norfolk, Suffolk etc. from where you are, I would recommend trying to plot a loop from home.

MichaelW

I did my first 5 day tour from Norwich, down to Essex, across to Cambridge up to Lincolnshire and back throught he Fends, around the Wash via Hunstanton.
The Fens are not ideal, too flat and featureless but the rest of East Anglia is perfect for pootling along with enough gradient to be interesting without any pain.
The Sustrans route is most useful for the approach to towns and cities. Dont feel compelled to stick to it in the countryside.
I dont think you will find a better region for easy touring and as said, there is a special feeling to touring entirely by bike with no "getting there" issues.