LOCAL KNOWLEDGE SALISBURY

The gentle landscapes of Wilts, Hants and Dorset offer lovely countryside cycling on smooth, quiet lanes. There are remarkable sights from Stonehenge to Old Sarum, plus an iconic TV hill climb, England’s most winding road and the New Forest. Easily accessible Salisbury, 90 minutes by train from London, is our base, with a cathedral, big-town facilities and family cycle routes.

ROUTE ONE

Golden views, 55 miles To Shaftesbury and back Head out along the quiet and easy Wylye Valley and into the rolling Dorset countryside towards quaint Shaftesbury, whose cobbled Gold Hill is famous from the 1970s Hovis ads. Head back via Zig Zag Hill, England’s wiggliest road, through lovely hills, scenery and some picturepostcard villages. Get the route: komoot.com/tour/55919410

ROUTE TWO

Pony express, 48 miles Into the New Forest Once out of Salisbury’s suburbs, a half day of pleasant, away-from-itall cycling. Back lanes and small climbs take you into the almost-wilderness of the New Forest (though never far from cafe or pub): mind the ponies! Moorland riding, then return along the quiet lower Avon Valley. Get the route: komoot.com/tour/55919446

ROUTE THREE

Stonehenge saunter, 27 miles Monumental! Easy, near hill-free, any-bike jaunt along quiet lanes. Up one side of the upper Avon Valley to Amesbury (cafes, Wetherspoons!) and back down the other. Takes in Old Sarum’s historic hill fort, Stonehenge (careful crossing the A303) and a riverside pub, the Bridge Inn. Get the route: komoot.com/tour/55919492