Woolwich Ferry to St Pancras?

My place of employ changes soon, so will my commute. What route would you take and why? Locals knowledge appreciated. Do's/Do nots.

Information I Ooop!

Ta.

I guess it depends which side of the river you live on, North or South side.
I wouldnt recommend commuting using the ferry or the tunnel but would cross further up river as both take an age on a daily commute.
Same goes for Greenwich foot tunnel, the routine of getting off the bike and using the lift or stairs, then pretending not to pedal and ride your bike through the tunnel will soon become a chore.
I would use the most direct route be it North or South, its fine now but when its cold later in the year the last thing you want to be doing is following meandering cycle paths along the river.
Good luck.

Yup, noted.

It was from North side I'm seeking advice on. I live waaaaaaaay out South East, Dartford, and already commute in to Holborn by bike twice a week so have the route from Dirtfud to (and through!) the Woolwich tunnel nailed, got it down to about 35-40mins thesedays... its just the bit from North side of the Woolwich Tunnel to St Pancras I'm after expert route knowledge on. Sorry, I should've explained myself betterererer.

Fair enough, I always get lost on the North side, so im of no help at all

But holborn practically is st pancras (when viewed from Kent) ...

If it was me: from Holborn Viaduct heading west, turn right onto Grays Inn Road towards Kings Cross. Avoid the last awful bit of the junction by turning left into Argyle St (bike lane allows you to go against the 1-way street) and following it to the nice crossing between the lights on Euston Rd, making turning up Pancras Rd easy.

On the way home it's usually more flowing in the other direction so I'd use the main roads for the 1-way system in front of Kings Cross, eastbound on Euston Rd onto Pentonville Rd, get in the right-hand lane for Kings Cross Rd, follow it round and south it turns into Farringdon Rd. And then to avoid Smithfields I'd cut left on Farringdon Lane (mind the step in the road, take it perpendicular!) just to avoid the crossroad, left on Clerkenwell Rd, right on Goswell Rd, past the Museum of London still heading south, then left on Gresham Rd or Cheapside to get to the Bank.

out of interest, why cross at Woolwich and not one of the central bridges? (Blackfriars, Southwark or London would all work) The Old Kent Rd is a bit slow in rush hour, but then the Lower Lea crossing, East India Dock Rd etc isn't all that fun either.

greenway then canal if you aren't in a hurry

This.

I live north of woolwich and when I was renting at South of the river, the roads seems better and travelling from woolwich to Greenwich you get a lot more people on bikes riding together. North travelling to west isn't great considering you got to navigate to towards the blackwall tunnel/popular area which isn't great at rush hour. Plus not many cyclist on the road riding together (probably a handful compared to the south of the river)

But holborn practically is st pancras (when viewed from Kent) ...

It is....'ish', my workshop is located very close to to the LSE just off Aldwych so technically 'South Holborn' I'd guess!

But I was wondering if there's some super-route I'm missing using my usual route of (Dirtfud->Woolwich Tunnel followed by) Silvertown->Dock Road->Lower Lea Bike track-> CS3 at Saffron Ave following it up to Tower Gateway then I've got some wiggles on to Fenchurch Street then past Bank then Cheapside onto High Holborn with final drop down through Lincolns Inn Fields. Sooooo, having read your reply and looked at the Grays Inn ->Argyle St shimmy I could use a lot of the same route I do already which is quite nice actually. Many thanks for the bike lane tip-off on Argyle Street, thats precisely the sort of local info I was hoping for. Getting across Euston Rd looked scary!

out of interest, why cross at Woolwich and not one of the central bridges?

It's the Roman in me!... straightline navigation being the shortest distance between 2 points. Also, there's no hills at all 'cept East Hill in Dirtfud which I hack down using a back road so its cycle-quiet all the way from Dirtfud pretty much to Poplar High Street. I like that, I'm not really a 'group rider' unless I'm forced into it which happens to be the case usually along Cable Street all the way up to Lincolns Inn.

EDIT. See what I mean about fairly straight?

Ah yeah that looks pretty direct. Do you take Lower Lea in both directions? For some unknown reason I tend to go via the A13 when travelling eastbound, but either A13 or Lower Lea is good when heading west.
For a bit of variety you can take East India Dock Rd/ Commercial Rd, but I expect you know that.
Two alternatives that I've done, south of the river is main roads all the way to Southwark Bridge.. you can also go via Lower Rd / Jamaica Rd but Lower Rd always feels hectic and pushy to me.

1. South of the river (all main roads): Woolwich - Greenwich - New Cross - Old Kent Rd - (from this point quieter) Great Dover St - Marshalsea Rd - Southwark Bridge (segregated lane) - over the bridge go straight across to join shared path up to Cheapside - Holborn - Grays Inn Rd etc

2. This is the route I choose if I have time, it's a bit slow but fairly calm and takes in some nice back streets around Shoreditch, Spitalfields and Stepney: take your usual route to the CS3, then head up to St Anne's of Limehouse and cross Commercial Rd there (it's a toucan or similar) - Salmon Lane - make your way to Stepney Way, follow to the hospital - Cavell St (on the way home take Sidney St) - Whitechapel Rd - Vallance Rd - Hanbury St (short bike path) make your way across to Commercial St (this bit's a pain in this direction due to much 1-way-ness, but very simple going eastbound...) - cross Shoreditch High St onto Great Eastern St - Leonard St - cross City Rd onto Featherstone St (bikes allowed contra to 1-way) - Banner St - Golden Lane - Clerkenwell Rd - Grays Inn Rd etc

Also 3. This is the route @dicki suggested - Greenway then follow the canal. Definitely worth doing when you have the time, but bear in mind there is no nice way from the ferry to the Greenway in Beckton... especially the first bridge over the dock, which is when the HGVs have just caught you up after getting off the ferry, and the road does a little wiggle for added excitement. The second bridge (Steve Redgrave) has a bike path on the pavement northbound, although you have to do a rather sharp hop to get to it. Fantastic views of the runway, if that's your thing. There is a diversion around the Stratford end of the Greenway at the moment, which is a bit of a pain. Also you can't follow the canal exactly as it has a super long tunnel through Islington! The bike route is fairly well signed I think, from memory.

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Yuppers, direct and pretty much hill-less which I like. I did it today in 1Hr 20mins.

Yeah, Lower Lea in both directions, I like the views from the top over the Thames and over to the Dome plus it's a pretty direct way of linking Factory Road in Silvertown with CS3 at Saffron Ave. Proper rough bit of road by Dock Road that you get rumbling big Tipper lorries going down though unless you take the high road option.

I use your Lower Rd/Jamaica Rd route occasionally at the weekends if I'm heading up to dah-schmoke but TBH I like the quieter Woolwich Tunnel way up unless I've got hours spare in which case I go up via Dirtfud Tunnel and take a cruise all the way up through Rainham, Dagenham, Becton etc etc etc.

now edited and augmented! (maps in the wrong order tho)

Thats super helpful, thanks for the advice Hoefla. I can see a hybrid commute route coming on! I like the little shimmy's at the very end nr the British Library which is very close to where I'll be working. Cheers for the route advice. Would rep or summat I believe is the saying.

I've done the Greenway and Redgrave bridge paths on weekend runs up to "London's Historic Lundun" (correct forum address?!). My Yorkshire cycle chum loves that route too as he's rowed or summat along that bit of the docks competitively in his past and recognised it as we zoomed past whilst avoiding little jet aircraft landing on our heads at the end of the runway.