Oxford/Cotswold advice please

[al-fresco]

I'm planning a short (2 day) tour starting and finishing in Oxford and I'd appreciate some local knowledge:

Is it easy enough to pick up NCR 5 and head out of the city towards Woodstock or does the proximity of the A44 make that noisy and impractical?

Same thing about heading back in on NCR 57 - does that peter out at Witney or is it a practical way to get back into the city?

Finally can anybody recommend accommodation in or near Moreton-in-Marsh?

 

[Big T]

We stayed at a nice B&B in Ebrington, which is about 6 miles from Moreton in Marsh.

http://www.hollyhousebandb.co.uk/

You can eat dinner at the Ebrington Arms, which is about 50 yards away. Nice selection of real ales too.

I've also stayed at the hotel which hosts the Pudding Club in Mickleton, but it's a bit expensive.

 

[T4tomo]

NCR 57 isn't officially opened between Witney and Oxford, but via Stanton Harcourt and Eynsham is country lanes type roads before running into the city up,the Botley road is fine.

I think 5 is on cycle path alongside the A44 for some of its route, so yes bit noisy, but not impractical, Easily picked up by heading up Woodstock road.

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

NCN 5 towards Woodstock is indeed beside the A44 once you're past the ring road, but it's set back a short way so it's not too noisy. It's never going to win any prizes for scenic beauty but it's practical and fairly fast.

NCN 57 does peter out at Witney, I'm afraid. We need either a cycle track along the B4044 or a new bridge across the Thames at Bablock Hythe to complete the route back to Oxford! You can either cycle along the cycle track beside the A40, or take the scenic route south to Aston, across the Thames at Duxford Ford (fine in summer, but your feet will get wet), then along the back road through Appleton to Oxford. I'd be wary of the B4044 from Eynsham to Oxford - it's twisty and very busy.

Richard (local Sustrans ranger)

 

[al-fresco]

Thanks for all the replies! One thing - there appears to be an unclassified road from Swinford that runs through Wytham Great Wood, Wytham, under the A34, over the Thames and comes out in Wolvercote. Is that not a viable route for some reason?

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

There's no road from Swinford to Wytham, sadly. There's a footpath but you're not allowed to cycle it.

 

[al-fresco]

There's no road from Swinford to Wytham, sadly. There's a footpath but you're not allowed to cycle it.

Damn!

 

[al-fresco]

Thanks for the help and advice - NCR 5 was a good start to the ride (we took a short detour to Winston Churchill's grave at Bladon) and, after a couple of days cycling around the Cotswolds, we forded the Thames at Chimney Meadows Nature Reserve and rode back to Oxford over Boars Hill.