How to find quiet cycling routes near you

By Paul Norman

Published: Thursday, 26 May 2022 at 12:00 am

If you want to find a quiet cycling route, there are a number of resources available to help you explore away from the hum of traffic.

From maps to apps, finding and following a route doesn’t have to be intimidating, regardless of whether you’re following a signposted route or putting together your own ride.

The latest cycling apps and GPS bike computers mean you can also have a route at your fingertips, with turn-by-turn navigation to make sure you stay on track.

Here are our favourite resources for planning quiet cycling routes.

Use an app

""
Most apps enable you to tailor routes by surface type, distance and difficulty.
Our Media

There are many apps that offer routing functionality designed specifically for cyclists.

In the UK, the OS Maps app also enables you to find both on- and off-road cycling routes with filtering options for length and difficulty.

Komoot Highlights recommend sections of road or trails, as well as local highlights as selected by the app’s users and ambassadors. These are usually illustrated with a short description and photos. Ride With GPS and Strava offer similar functionality.

Another way to find quiet routes to ride is to look at where other people have ridden. Most cyclists aren’t looking to ride along busy roads, so if you know where most people are riding, chances are it’s a quiet, more enjoyable route.

Fortunately, you can access this information from heatmaps, which show traces of routes cyclists have used most frequently.

There are a few sources of these: lots of cyclists use Garmin computers and Garmin gives you heatmaps on its Connect app. Strava does the same, although you’ll need to pay for a Strava subscription to access its heatmaps.

Explore the National Cycling Network

""
The National Cycle Route overlay is handy for planning trips.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Another really useful resource, if you’re looking for quiet routes, is Sustrans.

The organisation is responsible for the UK’s National Cycle Network (NCN), which includes a huge number of traffic-free cycle routes that criss-cross the country and range from short stretches to really long adventures. They’re also all well signposted.

Many NCN routes are traffic-free, and we rate some of these as among the best cycling routes in the UK. Check out our guide to the best family-friendly cycling routes for more information.

An NCN overlay is available in the OS Maps app. Openstreetmap, which provides open-source mapping information for apps including Komoot and Ride With GPS, also includes NCN mapping.

Use a map

""
Paper maps remain popular, but many apps offer the same mapping in a digital format.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Studying a good old-fashioned map is a great way to find quiet cycling routes.

Ordnance Survey (OS) maps are the most popular and cover the whole of the UK. They offer lots of details about geography, points of interest, roads and bridlepaths.

OS Maps are available as traditional paper maps or via the subscription-based OS Maps app. This subscription includes every scale of map available, with coverage across the whole of the UK as standard.

OS Explorer series mapping uses a 1:25,000 scale, where 4cm on the map is equivalent to 1km. Landranger series mapping is produced at a 1:50,000 scale, covering a wider area with 2cm on the map showing 1km.

Larger-scale maps can also be used for cycling, but smaller roads may be dropped to maintain clarity.

On OS mapping, main roads are marked in red or green, and motorways in blue, while B-roads are brown and minor roads are yellow.

If you’re looking to put together a quiet road-cycling route, link together yellow roads, as these are likely to have the least traffic. The route might be a bit longer than following main roads, but it will be far nicer and there’ll almost certainly be more to see.

Finding off-road routes with a map

""
Cycling is permitted along bridleways, byways and routes marked with green circles, as above.
OS Maps

If you’re in England or Wales, also look out for bridleways. These will be shown on OS mapping as longer green dashes. Short green dashes show footpaths, which aren’t open to cyclists.

You can also cycle on byways and restricted byways, which are marked by long dashes with cross-bars on them. Lines of green circles denote cycle routes.

Access laws in Scotland mean you can access pretty much any off-road path.

Cyclists are only permitted on carriageways in Northern Ireland, and are explicitly forbidden from riding on bridleways.

Check council resources

Tourist offices, national parks and councils usually have plenty of resources if you’re looking for designated cycling routes.

Often, those include off-road routes such as cycleways and riding trails. Old railway lines dot the landscape and many of these have been turned into bike paths.

Go by water

""
Canals can be a great way to get in and out of the city on traffic-free routes.
Our Media

Canals are often a good option to get from A to B without traffic, particularly ones that go into towns.

Towpaths are usually very rideable and often tarmacked, so you can zip under roads and emerge where you want to be.

Towpath quality varies, so it’s worth trying a short run before you commit. Some are quite narrow and bumpy and parts can get muddy in the winter and after rain. The Canal and Rivers Trust has more information on cycling on towpaths.

Many rivers have cyclable tracks beside them too.

Ask a cyclist

""
Where there’s a will, there’s a way out of town.
Our Media

Cyclists are adept at finding cunning routes and cut-throughs to avoid traffic, so asking a rider is a good option.

They’re sure to have a few preferred routes and directions to get out into the countryside.

Often, they’ll have them mapped out too and will be happy to share them with you if you’ve got a compatible computer or route-planning app.

Most cycling clubs will also have local routes.