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Sounds ace. North Wessex Downs are beautiful to ride through. Have a look at the ridgeway from reading to Swindon the onto chippenham. Chalk trails and may take you a bit far south but would be a great start to the tour. Here's a route I've done twice now. Some bridle paths and trails along with lanes and b roads so not the quickest but enjoyable and quiet.
https://www.strava.com/routes/7633156 — Adventure pt1 Reading to Aylesbury
Do share any route you take from Worcester to chepstow as my folks live in Malvern so I'd be keen to see what route you take in case i ever go visit with the bike.
dsalmon-
The Ridgeway looks a bit more off-roady than I was planning, but I like the look of Adventure pt1, thanks.
I've also got a mate from Malvern, probably won't be there when I am but I was planning on heading that way anyway.@hanford - Which side of the river does that go down? Would it be any more preferable to Wye Valley? I know nothing of that part of the world other than a single MTB trail session in Forest of Dean many years ago.
PhilPub
I'm thinking of making a week's holiday of the Green Man festival (Brecon Beacons) in August, with lots of cycle touring and some hiking in the Beacons, then the festival to unwind. Rough plan is to get the train out from London for a better starting point, ending up at Brecon mid-week for a hike before setting up festival camp on Thursday. My genius crude plan of looking at the green bits on Google maps threw up something like this:
Saturday: train to Reading, Reading to Chippenham (North Wessex Downs AONB)
Sunday: Chippenham to Worcester (Cotswolds)
Monday: Worcester to Chepstow (Malvern Hills, Wye Valley)
Tuesday: Chepstow to Brecon via Hay-on-Wye
Wednesday: Hike: The Beacons Circuit
Thursday: festival... (Train back Monday from Abergavenny/Newport.)
I'd probably camp for duration of the cycling then get a couple of nights' B&B in Brecon for recuperation and a proper scrub. Cycle route looks like 70-80 miles/day over B roads without too many diversions.
Any recommendations to fill in details or suggestions for alternative routes much appreciated.