Where is your favourite place ever to go on a bike ride

[Kittenswhiskers]

ideally with a nice solid path for most of it
ideally water views and a proper cycle path not in the road

Oh I’m going to look this one up, I’ve not heard of this

Margate to Broadstairs and Ramsgate along the beautiful coastal path. Lots of sea and cliffs. It's a very safe five miles to Broadstairs and one mile further to Ramsgate.

I only do paths as well OP, never roads, or very short sections or we walk it

Peak district is amazing

Monsal Trail
Manifold Way
High Peak Trail
Tissington Trail

Then you have coastal routes, round south Wales, I havent done this yet
Bristol to Bath, I havent done that either
Morcambe bay, very nice

Exe esturary trail, this is lovely, down the Exeter canal

Round the canals between Edinburgh and Glasgow, we went to the bit near the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel, amazing, fantastic

The Midlands is really good for old railway lines, Northampton etc

Also Dorset for the Portland trail around Weymouth, thats really nice, The North Dorset Trailway and then the Castleman Railway

Hadrian's Cycleway (national cycle route 72) runs 170 or so miles from Ravenglass in West Cumbria up to Carlisle and then across the country, finishing in Whitley Bay. It's a mixture of dedicated cycle way and (mostly fairly quiet) roads, and although there's a few biggish hills a lot of it is one of the less demanding coast to coast routes. The first section that runs along the West Cumbrian coast in particular is flat so if you didn't fancy the climb up to Hadrian's Wall you could spend a nice couple of days riding from Ravenglass to Carlisle.

Did you do this independently or as part of a tour?

The problem when people talk about 'quiet roads' is that they're often country roads which have 60mph limits on them, very dangerous and frightening. I find drivers drive very close and Im very wobbly and prone to sudden stopping out of panic so I wont go on roads at all.

Oh I’m glad someone else only likes cycle paths
I feel
like the odd one !

where about in the midlands is good ?
Bristol to bath sounds fab
and morecombe

and anywhere near water I love

@Kittenswhiskers lake vyrwyn wales

Wow ! 😲

@Kittenswhiskers it's breathtaking! There are tons of waterfalls to hike up aswell. There's a beautiful hotel and spa. That's actually the view from the restaurant and hot tub in the spa! Highly recommended x

We've been around a lot of 'waters', so Rutland water, Pitsford and Alton water

In the midlands you have Brampton Valley way, a couple of reservoirs, Lincolnshire you have routes from Woodhall Spa to Lincoln and then out the other side along an old rail line
Peterborough has lots of cycle trails right along the river.
Birmingham has good trails along canals

Also Tonbridge to Penshurst
Along the river Medway into Maidstone
Cantebury to Chartham is along a river
Viking coastal trail as someone said, but you can go from Herne Bay past Reculver and into Thanet

I quite like the New Forest but some of that is limited for me by involving busy roads.

Ils de Re in France. Fly to La Rochelle, taxi across Bridge to island. Cars mostly parked up . Every village has bike rental so lots of cycling paths. Totally safe and not hilly. Cycle through vineyards and by the sea. Beautiful little villages. We love it. Best not to go in July August as gets very busy.

Im going to research this, sounds lovely

A couple of people asked about my cycle to Vienna along the banks of the Danube. It was a pre-booked tour in a group although in practice we hardly saw anyone else in our group as everyone was free to set off at any time during the day. We weren't all together all the time.

The guest houses were booked in advance by the tour company and our luggage was driven from destination to destination (so easy peasy). The cycling was all flat and perfectly easy to do in an unhurried day. I think it took a week or 8 days. As you can imagine the scenery was breath taking at times and we didn't actually hit a road (apart from in the Austrian city of Linz, very pretty) until we reached Vienna.

I am a keen cyclist and live in Norfolk. For a few days I would recommend the Norfolk coastal cycling route. It is relatively easy. Is not on any busy roads and has beautiful views. For a day ride I would recommend the route which goes between the National Trust properties of Blickling and Felbrigg and then onwards to Cromer. For a very short ride go from Burnham through the Holkham estate and on to the sea. The Holkham estate has a cycle path right through it which is traffic free (great for kids) and you see some fabulous things including the deer.

The Loire in France. One of my favourite holidays ever. Nearly all cycle paths. Mostly along the river. Through beautiful towns and plenty of castles to visit, including Villandry and Chambord which are just gorgeous. Many people do 60km a day, we averaged 35 as we had long lunches with wine and then meandered along slowly. Check out Loire à Velo.

Hayling Island in Hampshire (ex railway line) and the Isle of Wight from Sandown to Cowes. Done both with kids (DS in a trailer and then on a tagalong) several times, always very enjoyable.

I have too many favourites to mention, as it really depends on what kind of distance you're after and fitness ability, but a safe bet is to circumnavigate the Isle of Cumbrae, which although is on (very quiet) roads which I know you're not looking for, there is very little motor traffic and I'd say it's safe for young children too. About 10 mile flat route and amazing views across the water on the west side particularly, cafe stops and a 10 minute ferry from Largs to get to the island for that extra feeling of remoteness, wonderful 🤩

Mallorca. In the UK, New Forest - gravel roads with no motor traffic for miles.

Same. Great memories of this place.

I second this

The New Forest has loads of cycling routes on gravel paths.

Exe Estuary Trail in Devon. It's only one day worth of cycling though.

There's also the Granite Way and Tarka Trail

Lake Annecy bike path goes right around the lake. It's my happy place

New Forest
The forest trails round Aberfoyle.