We cycled to Paris from Blackpool a few years ago. I live in Macclesfield so that was the first stopover. Our next stops were near Rugby, and then near Harlow. We were heading in a SE direction using B roads and country lanes for most part, with a crossing of the Thames on the Tilbury Ferry and then onto Dover. Not knowing your time scale but if you bare in mind the location of the named towns you should be able to plot a route. Work out how far you will/can cycle in a day and look for stop overs We used Travelodges, but the may have shut in the last round of cutbacks Tillbury Ferry is a foot ferry only but do carry bikes Good luck