London to Bath via Thames/Kennet & Avon Canal

Greetings fellow travellers,

I'm cycling from London (Chiswick) to Bath over the Easter weekend and wondered if anyone else has done the journey before...

I'm planning on keeping it strictly to the waterways if possible. So the Thames Path all the way to Reading where I'll join the Kennet and Avon Canal which will take me all the way to Bath.

Any tips/advice/suggestions?

Cheers!

Are you planning on splitting it into two days? Its a pretty long ride on roads, and I would expect the Thames path to be relatively slow going over Easter weekend with plenty of pedestrians around

Plenty of muddy-going along the stretches between Marlow and Sonning at the moment, fwiw

yeah, I've done this. it's a sweet ride, nice to not ever have to worry about hills, even if the gates get a bit annoying after a while.

could ride on 32c or bigger tires. best bike overall would probably be a rigid MTB with gear and decent tires I guess.

oh yeah, there are taps at most/some locks, so you don't need to carry much water at all. loads of great wild camping opportunities along the way, although make sure you get up a hill, as down by the river the cold air will gather overnight

Cheers both

@branwen Yep, I'll be spending a night in Fullers pub in Reading. There's 4 of us cycling so fingers crossed there aren't too many peds!

@richardshill How muddy are we talking? We'll all be on retro rigid MTBs for what it's worth...

Hopefully, the weather holds up and it doesn't snow again!

cheers mate! Great to hear that someone else on here has done it and that it was good!

I'll definitely do it wild camping one day and all the way to Bristol. And the water taps are a welcome bonus too :)

Thanks

Reading to Bath is a LOT further than London to Reading...you might have a bloody hard second day!

Also remember to book bikes in advance on GWR trains back as it's now boring policy

Water points on the Kennet and Avon below Newbury are few and far between ( I dont know the situaction above Newbury ) also they may well be in a locked box or building and for that you will need a Canal and river trust key ( look on ebay ). This key will open the toilets as well.

Ah, it'll be fine in that case I think. Just didn't want you to think you'd be hitting a 18mph average the whole way!

You should be fine on mtbs - was just mentioning in case you were fixing skidding / skinny wheeling it. Was down at the Shiplake to Sonning path last w/e and some off-roadies went past (heading East), they were plastered (in mud, it was early) but looked like they were having a right blast :)

I have to disagree, they're not hard to find at all, I saw and refilled at many taps right next to the canal when I did it, none were under lock and key

Anyone got a RWGPS route for this?
or strava link?

subscribed, as above, I'm lazy and would appreciate GPS links :)

Decent ride in one day

I was happy on 32's with panniers, will try and find Strava link as i did some slight detours which were good.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20823314

EDIT -

This is my actual ride

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/14377895

These both go to Wellow, just outside Bath, but if you are doing a two dayer @cryptthing then the Fox and Badger is worth the detour and then use the tunnels to go into Bath.

damn - in 1 day?!

But thanks a lot for this, very useful :)

How was the ride, looks like mainly minor roads?

And which tunnels are you talking about into Bath?

@branwen @richardshill nice one - cheers!

Its a great Ride, on a mix of Canal path, NCR 4 and quiet country roads.

A day was grand for the ride tbh, I had good weather, no wind and a pub lunch, I would certainly do it again.

The Tunnels are the Two Tunnels Greenway

If you need any pub recommendations for Bath let me know, I had to live there for two years in a previous life.

Wow, those lit tunnels look amazing - I'd never heard of them before!

And thanks, I too lived there in a previous life. Spent 10 of my 24 years in Bath so this is somewhat of a pilgrimage :)

There are worst places to spend time.

There will be bits that are not exactly welcoming to bikes. Narrow towpath with extremely worn gully /muddy trough to ride in. Other bits are a breeze on a bike, I did bits of it with camping gear (on cross tyres) pulling a kid on a tagalong, so the constant gates were a serious pain in the arse - basically an access issue that discriminates against atypical cycles. For the really rough bits I would consider following the NCN that leaves the canal at certain sections to follow nearby quiet roads in the same general direction.

Have a lovely time! It’s brilliant, just a few sections where it wasn’t that easy for a cumbersome trailer and/or heavy loads, so travel light.

Cheers skully - out of the 4 of us going the thinnest tyes are going to be 54mm so I welcome the challenge of a worn gully :)

Although when it comes to the crunch I may well relish the respite of smooth tarmac... we will see!

I did it last year. Went down to BeSpoked in Bristol. However,rode riverside paths out of London, then from Windsor back on quietish roads till after Hungerford. Even then it was a bit rough off and on till Devizes and I went on to the country lanes around Etchilhampton at one point. Got bogged down in mud which as I was carrying camping kit wasn't great! From there the K&A is fine though. So, if you're planning to follow the waterside paths all the way, it will be a tough ride. Im not sure its absolutely worth it, because the countryside lanes are lovely too. And much easier! But then Im getting old. If you have the time, its worth stopping off in Bradford on Avon. About a mile up from the village centre are the Moulton workshops. I was lucky enough to pop by when they had a bit of an anniversary gig going on. Fascinating array of Moultons on display.

We'll be doing it the other way after bespoked this year.....last year, we used the kennet and Avon as far as bath, then hopped on the ridgeway to Ivinghoe beacon. This year, we are going to be going from Clifton suspension bridge to tower bridge via canals. It's just lovely 'tune out' biking...take it easy, look at the boats and ducks, stop and have a mooch at something interesting.....it's all good!

Do you have a route for Clifton > tower bridge?