Devon & Cornwall 6-day tour

 

Stage 1, Thursday: Salisbury to Exeter

distance 163 km; climb 1,800 m

This tour departs from Merchant's House Hotel in Salisbury. Please aim to arrive between 08:00 and 08:30 ready for departure by 09:00. Breakfast is available at the hotel (included if you are staying at the hotel on Wednesday night). We'll take your luggage, give you a briefing and set you off on our GPS-mapped recommended route. We head west across rural Wiltshire and the Cranborne Chase AONB, with an early optional detour into Longleat Park for an easy bonus climb up Park Hill. Numerous small Somerset towns provide ample refreshment opportunities before hitting the brutal Blackdown Hills AONB and crossing into Devon for a well-earned cream tea in Honiton. From there it's a benign final 30 km to Exeter.

Night 1: Jurys Inn Hotel

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Stage 2, Friday: Exeter to Charlestown

distance 126 km; climb 2,900 m

The Queen Stage! By a considerable margin this is the hilliest stage of the tour, and you are going to be using your granny gears almost from the get-go as you haul yourself up onto Dartmoor before the long fast plunge down into Tavistock for coffee. Then you'll be climbing again but not for long before another eye-popping descent to cross the River Tamar...welcome to Cornwall, where the fun really starts! You may get the impression that there are no flat roads anywhere in Cornwall, which is not entirely true but almost. Along with the hills and the full-body workout however goes breath-taking scenery at almost every turn. A pasty or cream tea will go down a treat when you hit the coast at Looe, and then for the specialist climbers looking for a bit extra there's a bonus climb opportunity at Polperro. We cross the Fowey estuary using the Bodinnick ferry from where it's a relatively gentle 13 km to your salvation in Charlestown, where much of the BBC Poldark series was filmed.

Night 2: Pier House Hotel

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Stage 3, Saturday: Charlestown to St Just

distance 118 km; climb 2,100 m

A day of climbing and descending between picture postcard Cornish fishing ports such as Mevagissey, Portloe, Newlyn and Mousehole. Take a short walk – and a dip! – at Pendower Beach on the Roseland Heritage Coast before boarding the King Harry Ferry across the River Fal to Trelissick where there's a National Trust garden and coffee. Our route then cuts across the north of the Lizard peninsula and hits the coast again at Marazion for splendid views of St Michael's Mount. We use the coastal path to skirt Penzance and the national cycle route to reach Land's End, where you can get photos of that signpost and eat chips. Ten hilly kms later you'll arrive in St Just where there are four pubs within 100 m of each other and you might just need them all!

Night 3: Commercial Hotel and Wellington Hotel

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​Stage 4, Sunday: St Just to Padstow

​distance 99 km; climb 1,500 m

This is the shortest day of the tour, but don't let that lull you into any sense of complacency! Every cyclist knows that scenic means hilly, and today is a supreme example of that truism. Our route hugs the rugged Atlantic coastline and the hills come in never-ending waves, just like the Celtic Sea to our left as we pass through St Ives, Carbis Bay, Hayle, St Agnes and Newquay. It's well worth making an effort today to get to our hotel earlier rather than later, as it is the grandest hotel of the tour with complimentary carafes of sherry and gin in every room! And if you are minded to push the boat out and eat at one of Rick Stein’s establishments, you are advised to book very early.

Night 4: Padstow Harbour Hotel

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Stage 5, Monday: Padstow to Exeter

distance 126 km; climb 1,700 m

Today's climbs are perhaps longer but the gradients are kinder. We take the ferry across the Camel estuary from Padstow to Rock before ascending steadily for the first 30 km to an altitude of 300 m, so just 1% on average. Then begins the long bleak descent to Launceston for elevenses, shortly followed by the Tamar crossing back into Devon... and back up onto the northern fringes of Dartmoor! At Lydford we turn onto the Granite Way cycle route – 15 km of delightfully smooth car-free tarmac all the way to Okehampton (formerly the rail link to Tavistock and Plymouth), a good place for lunch. Then we take the old A30 to Tedburn St Mary before turning onto the Whitestone road for fantastic Dartmoor views to your right and a fast descent into Exeter.

Night 5: Jurys Inn Hotel

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Stage 6, Tuesday: Exeter to Salisbury

distance 163 km; climb 1,800 m

Today we retrace most of the stage 2 route back to Sutton Veny before turning south-east for the final 30 km back to Salisbury. So that means a second chance to appreciate the Blackdown Hills, and the Longleat bonus climb will still be there in case you missed it on the way out! Congratulations, you've just ridden to the end of England and back!

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