Secure cycle storage facility in Gournay-en-Bray (Avenue Verte, Stage 5)
In general, the route is safe and the risk of theft low. However, you should always lock your cycle and watch your belongings, especially in cities.
Insurance
Travel insurance policies usually cover you when cycle touring but they do not normally cover damage to, or theft of, your bicycle. If you have a household contents policy, this may cover cycle theft, but limits may be less than the actual cost of your cycle. Cycle Touring Club (CTC), www.ctc.org.uk, offer a policy tailored to the needs of cycle tourists.
About this guide
Text and maps
There are 20 stages, each covered by separate maps drawn to a scale of 1:100,000. The maps for the English stages 1–3 of both the classic route and Avenue Verte are based upon UK Ordnance Survey mapping and as a result differ slightly in style to those for the French stages. Detailed maps of city centres (including London and Paris) and major towns are drawn to 1:40,000. The route line (shown in red) is mostly bi-directional. Where outward and return routes differ, arrows show direction of travel. Some alternative routes exist. Where these offer a reasonable variant, usually because they are either shorter or offer a better surface, they are mentioned in the text and shown in blue on the maps.
Place names on the maps that are significant for route navigation are shown in bold in the text. Distances shown are cumulative kilometres within each stage and altitude figures are given in metres. Please note that ‘signposted’ is abbreviated to ‘sp’. For each city/town/village passed an indication is given of facilities available (accommodation, refreshments, youth hostel, camping, tourist office, cycle shop, station) when the guide was written. This list is neither exhaustive nor does it guarantee that establishments are still in business. No attempt has been made to list all such facilities as this would require another book the same size as this one. For full accommodation listings, contact local tourist offices. Such details are usually available online. Tourist offices along the route are shown in Appendix B.
While route descriptions were accurate at the time of writing, things do change. Temporary diversions may be necessary to circumnavigate improvement works and permanent diversions to incorporate new sections of cycle track. This is particularly the case in London where on-going work to create a cycle super-highway network will affect Stage 1 of the classic route for a few years. Where construction is in progress you may find signs showing recommended diversions, although these are likely to be in the local language only.
GPX tracks
GPX files are freely available to anyone who has bought this guide on Cicerone’s website at www.cicerone.co.uk/914/gpx.
Language
This guide is written for an English-speaking readership. In France, English is taught as a second language in all schools and many people, especially in the tourist industry, speak at least a few words of English. However, any attempt to speak French is usually warmly appreciated. In this guide, French names are used except for Normandie and Picardie where the English Normandy and Picardy are used. The French word château covers a wide variety of buildings from royal palaces and stately homes to local manor houses and medieval castles.
Porte St Martin in Paris commemorates battle victories of Louis XIV (classic route, Stage 11/Avenue Verte, Stage 9)
CLASSIC ROUTE
(via Dover–Calais)
The Eiffel Tower, built for the Paris world exhibition in 1889, is the finish point of the classic route
STAGE 1
Tower of London to Rochester
| Start | Tower of London (18m) |
| Finish | Rochester bridge (4m) |
| Distance | 50km (31 miles) |
| Ascent | 207m |
| Waymarking | CS4 Southwark–Woolwich (under construction), LCN18 Woolwich–Barnes Cray, NCN1 Barnes Cray–Ebbsfleet, NCN177 Ebbsfleet–Strood |
This stage starts with a level ride through suburban south-east London, mostly on cycle lanes beside minor roads but with some busier sections. After Dartford, it follows cycle tracks beside the old Roman Watling Street (now a busy motorway), climbing over two small outliers of the North Downs before descending to cross the Medway into Rochester. If you want to avoid cycling in London, Southeastern trains have frequent services from Charing Cross and London Bridge stations to Dartford.
The classic route starts from the Tower of London
THE TOWER OF LONDON
When it was built in 1078, the Tower of London was seen by the Anglo-Saxon English as a hated symbol of Norman oppression following William the Conqueror’s invasion in 1066. However, over the centuries it became a cherished symbol at the heart of London, Britain and the British Empire. It is said that if the ravens that live there should ever leave, the kingdom will fall. The tower has been used as a fortress, royal palace, armoury, treasury, the home of the royal mint and is nowadays a museum holding important national collections including the British crown jewels. For over eight centuries (1100–1952) it also housed a prison, mostly for prisoners who had fallen foul of the monarch including the uncrowned king Edward V (imprisoned by his uncle Richard III who took the crown for himself), Anne Boleyn (second wife of Henry VIII) and Sir Walter Raleigh. The heart of the complex is the White Tower, the oldest and best-preserved Norman stone keep in Britain. This is surrounded by other buildings, two sets of encircling walls and a moat, which is nowadays dry. A poignant use of the moat in 2016 saw it filled with 888,246 ceramic poppies in commemoration of British and empire combatants killed during the First World War.
From Tower Hill on N side of Tower of London follow Tower Bridge Approach S and cross Thames on Tower bridge. Turn L (Queen Elizabeth St) and R at end (The Shad) to reach T-junction. Cycle Superhighway CS4 will be joined here. Turn L (Jamaica Rd, A200), using bus lane, to Rotherhithe roundabout. Turn R (third exit, Lower Rd, sp Greenwich) past Surrey Quays shopping centre L (3.5km, 3m) and continue on Evelyn St to Deptford. Go ahead (Creek Rd) over Deptford Creek to reach T-junction in Greenwich (7km, 6m) (accommodation, refreshments, tourist office, cycle shop, station).
Greenwich (pronounced Gren-itch), which has a long maritime history, is synonymous with the zero meridian which passes close to the Royal observatory in Greenwich park. The former naval hospital designed by Christopher Wren, which became the Royal Naval college from 1873–1998, now houses the university of Greenwich; while