Historical interest tours

[007fair]

Has anyone been on a Historical Cycling tour in the UK ? I see there are one or two guided tours advertised but are these really cycling tours that have a quick look at a castle or distillery etc or are there some with real historical depth ?

 

[snorri]

You will have to tell us which tours you are referring to. I have never heard of such tours, and a quick Google does not reveal any either.

 

[rollinstok]

Hadrians cycleway starts at a roman bath house at Ravenglass and roughly follows Hadrians wall before finishing at a roman fort in South Shields. Its 170 miles and most of them easy but would still require a few days if you wanted to explore the various ruins.

 

[007fair]

Reason for the thread was that I am thinking of a short tour this year in the UK After watching the TV cycling program tracking Hannibal of the Alps route from Spain to Rome it struck me that a similar tour in the UK would be a good idea - following Historically famous routes or a route that vists related hostorical sites. This would add interest to the tour.

There is this US based site .. one or two references to historical interst tours in the Uk but I have not looked hard. My first port of call was here

Maybe i have a business idea?

 

[YahudaMoon]

I Bike MCR have done a few events over the years. Also London though only local history. not heard of any others though

 

[growingvegetables]

You could have a lot of fun with that - mediaeval pilgrim routes, Yorkshire Abbeys, Borders Abbeys, Roman roads ......... hmmm, lots and lots and lots of fun

 

[Bigsharn]

http://www.scootcyclingholidays.co.uk/submenu/day-tours-and-hire/sightseeing.html

There's this one that I know of, I'm not sure if the ones venturing out of the city are historic, but I know the ones within the city are (I may have eavesdropped one of them once :roll)

 

[Canrider]

The trick would presumably be fitting in sufficiently long site visits in with the time spent cycling between night stopping points. The York tour I can see working as York is very small and compact, in addition to being extremely cycle-friendly, but cross-country touring with site stops would rapidly get trickier (which is not to say impossible!). Likewise the USian tour company appears more to be aimed at people wanting to 'retrace the steps' of historical explorers rather than targeting specific sites for extended visits.

 

[Bodhbh]

I'd be interested to see the links to the ones you are referring too.

But it's a great way idea for a trip! Just go do it, yourself if you have to. Read up in advance, or take some audiobooks for the road.

Not too highbrow - plenty of calvados and cider - last year I did a 'William The Conquorer tour' - basically a 4day loop around Normandy, taking in his court at Caen, birthplace at Fallise, and ofc Bayeaux. All well worth seeing in themselves, not matter how deep your interest in the subject is. tbh the Hastings site itself makes a great day trip on a bike - you loop about 45 miles to take everything in from the landing site at Pevensey, to Hastlings, to the actualy battlefield on Senlac Hill.

But whatever floats your boat, like growingvegatbles says the possibilities are really endless.

 

[Gary Cummins]

I used to organise (along a with a friend) and lead cycle history tours for my local LCC group in London, one was reviewed in the Saturday Independant, (the article is now oddly filed in the education section):
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/travel-cycle-the-red-route-1163010.html
But these were just evening rides rather than tours. The CTC who I now lead tours for, do occasionally have history themed cycle holidays. Bernie Curtis leads a London sights ride I think with a strong 'tourist' focus, but there are occasionally CTC tours taking in WW1 battlefields and the Normandy beach museums and sights. I have had mixed success when I've mixed history with a tour. On one trip I planned a stop at a particular rural history site with a museum and cafe (all set out in the tour itinerary) and only one of the group wanted to go there on the day. The rest by-passed this for another tea stop! Possibly because someone's mum lived nearby but a bit embarrasing. I'd suggest quizzing the leader beforehand to try to gather how serious the history is, there certainly are loads of holidays for real history buffs, but few that mix good cycling with good history. It's a lovely idea but probably with a limited market.

 

[Je ta Dawes]

Come on folks - this is Britain - you can't cycle 100yds without passing a bit of history! Last summer's tour was St David's Pembrokeshire to Canterbury, mostly on NCN routes (route 4 and 1) picking up half a dozen stone circles and burial chambers, and probably twice that number of abbeys and cathedrals, just by looking at an AA map book. Free guides and knowledgable locals gave us all the background we needed and most of them were free to enter (even Canterbury if you 'fess up to being a 'pilgrim'). High points were Tintern Abbey, Avebury stone circle and Rochester castle and cathedral - just get your maps out and let your imagination go.