4 days off - where to go in the UK?

mpatts
mpatts Posts: 1,010
edited March 2014 in Tour & expedition
with Easter looming (which also happens to fall on my birthday), Mrs Mpatts and I are thinking of going somewhere for a few days cycling.

We live in Woburn Sands (near Milton Keynes), so have good access to trains - this is the preference. As weather is somewhat unpredictable, I've kind of ruled out something like the coast to coast - but does anyone have any other ideas?

Mrs Mpatts has a good level of fitness, but I'd like to avoid tonnes and tonnes of climbing. I wondered if the Cotswolds was a good idea, but struggling to find good routes (we had a day out of Woodstock earlier in the year and had a great time).

I've had a good search around the forum too to no avail.

Thanks in advance

Michael
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Comments

  • littledove44
    littledove44 Posts: 871
    Train to brockenhurst. Two days new forest, two days Isle of Wight.

    Simples.
  • mpatts
    mpatts Posts: 1,010
    littledove44 wrote:
    Train to brockenhurst. Two days new forest, two days Isle of Wight.

    Simples.

    Love that idea, but it appears that the trains back are ruined by engineering works!
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  • bob6397
    bob6397 Posts: 218
    Go by train to york/harrogate and then have a trip around the dales - you can't really go wrong anywhere (some of the valleys are to be avoided if you don't want masses of climbing though :) I can recommend going pateley bridge - grassington - arncliffe - halton gill - horton in ribblesdale - ingleton along the B6479. I did this in a say from Ripon last summer and it was great The route from pateley is 43 miles without too much climbing - the worst is out of pateley itself..
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  • ForumNewbie
    ForumNewbie Posts: 1,664
    bob6397 wrote:
    Go by train to york/harrogate and then have a trip around the dales - you can't really go wrong anywhere (some of the valleys are to be avoided if you don't want masses of climbing though :) I can recommend going pateley bridge - grassington - arncliffe - halton gill - horton in ribblesdale - ingleton along the B6479. I did this in a say from Ripon last summer and it was great The route from pateley is 43 miles without too much climbing - the worst is out of pateley itself..
    The route out of Pateley Bridge towards Grassington starts with Greenhow Hill which is a really tough climb of over a mile with several 18% ramps if I remember correctly. A great route you describe up into the Dales from Grassington but tough climbing as well.
  • mpatts
    mpatts Posts: 1,010
    I like the york idea. Will check it out.
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  • Bodhbh
    Bodhbh Posts: 117
    Round the coast of East Anglia?
  • bianchimoon
    bianchimoon Posts: 3,942
    littledove44 wrote:
    Train to brockenhurst. Two days new forest, two days Isle of Wight.

    Simples.

    good idea, we're doing 1 day new forest/1 day IoW in may :)
    All lies and jest..still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....
  • BobScarle
    BobScarle Posts: 282
    Why not the Cotswolds? It is a lovely area. We ride down there many times throughout the year.

    Maybe head west to Chipping Norton and Broadway and then into Worcestershire and the Vale of Evesham. Go south west to Stroud in Gloucestershire coming back towards Oxford. There are loads of quiet Cotswold lanes and villages, and a good number of hills as well.
  • disquieting_museeuws
    disquieting_museeuws Posts: 601
    mpatts wrote:
    I like the york idea. Will check it out.

    There's a lot of nice cycling country to the north of York, before you get to the North York moors. Places like Sheriff Hutton, Kirkham, Easingwold, Coxwold, Kilburn, Ampleforth, Castle Howard. Lots of small roads and interesting corners to poke around. There are hills, but they're generally not too serious.

    I grew up on the IOW if you want any advice on that part of the world.
  • hdow
    hdow Posts: 186
    Most trains to Harrogate are Northern Rail and their bike rules make them a poor choice. York is better for the Wolds and Howardian Hills and a long way from the Dales.

    For the Dales a better start point is Northallerton which is closer to the northern dales. Lots of train companies use it and most of them allow pre-booking of bikes. You will still get some hills tough

    Harry D
  • max174
    max174 Posts: 9
    You could take the train to Lincoln, and spend some time exploring the city - the Cathedral is very impressive. You can cycle National cycle route no 1. to Market Rasen (flat route), if you continue beyond the village of Walesby there are hills in the form of the Lincolnshire wolds - not too bad by the standards of the Pennines, Lake District etc. The Wolds have lots of quiet roads, ideal for cyclists IMO.
    You can also take the cycle route in the opposite direction, towards Boston, this is a flat route.
    Enjoy your break

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