Border Country Cycle Routes

The 40 circular cycle routes in this guidebook are in the Borders of SE Scotland and NE England. The routes vary in length from 15 to well over 40 miles. Most have off-road sections, and they vary in difficulty from easy to more demanding routes in the mountains. The Northumberland National Park and the Southern Uplands offer a blend of isolation and charm.

The Scottish Borders and Northumberland rank among the finest and most scenic parts of the country and this guide brings you descriptions and sketch maps of 40 original cycle routes in the area, presented in roughly north-to-south order. Most, but not all of them, have off-road sections but there is a wide variety, and if you enjoy cycling then you should be able to find something here to suit your tastes. Some of the routes are content to wander along leafy lanes and through quiet villages, while others are more demanding and will take you to wild and remote hills and mountains.

This part of the country is often overlooked by tourists and yet its secrets are there to be discovered by those who take time to seek them out. The coastline varies from craggy cliffs, like those found at St Abbs Head, to the miles of golden sand that is Druridge Bay. Inland, the coastal plains give way to upland areas such as the Lammermuirs, the Southern Uplands, the Cheviots and the Pennines, all of which have their own characteristics and all of which offer their own challenges.

The Northumberland National Park, in particular, is in stark contrast to its neighbour on the other side of the country, the Lake District National Park. The scenery in both is quite stunning, but whereas in the Lake District it’s often difficult to get away from crowds, in the Northumberland Park you can often cycle all day and seldom see a soul. The same can be said of parts of the Southern Uplands, and this area has its own unique blend of both isolation and charm in equal measure.

Of course, many prefer more leisurely trails and enjoy exploring the rich history of the towns and villages. The Border country has a bloody and violent past, and this is clearly reflected in the variety of architecture to be found here – abbeys and churches for the pious and the poor; castles and keeps for the reivers and the rich.

Cycling is one of the best and most efficient ways to get around the countryside, and a bike will get you to places that you may not otherwise be able to get to easily. In a similar vein, walking along forest tracks wouldn’t be my favourite pastime, but using them to reach fairly inaccessible places by bike is an altogether different matter.

Modern bikes have come a long way in terms of design and materials in recent years and are quite different machines to those that many of us remember from our childhood years. Innovation doesn’t, of itself, guarantee improvement, but today’s bikes are a good deal lighter and much easier to ride than many of the old steel beasts that I remember.

All the routes are circular and have a suggested starting point, but obviously it may suit some people to start from a different location, depending on where they access it from. A summary description indicates the length and difficulty of the route, and this should help you to decide whether it is suitable for your ability and your bike. Outdoor skills are needed for some of the more challenging excursions, and you may need to exercise some caution when choosing these. Occasionally you may have to get off and push for, hopefully, a short distance but none of the routes sets out to be a test of endurance. Sometimes there is an alternative way of cycling a particular part of the route, and these are shown in italic type. Places shown on the sketch maps are highlighted in bold type in the text to aid orientation.

A small number of the trips involve cycling on beaches and, although this can be tremendous fun, there are obvious problems here – salt water and sand are not bike-friendly. However, alternatives are suggested if you don’t want to use the beach and, in any event, it may be best to leave these sections for the end of the day so that any sand can be washed off before it does damage.

The time spent on main roads has been minimised as far as possible, though sometimes it simply isn’t possible to avoid them altogether. No attempt has been made to put a time on the routes as there are just too many variables. In any case, these are meant to be leisurely trips, so take your time, stop and look at whatever takes your fancy and, most of all, enjoy!

Route Grading and Distances

Routes in the guide are graded on a scale of 1 to 5 in increasing order of difficulty. The grade is purely subjective but tries to take into account the length of the route, the terrain, whether there are any strenuous sections – for example, if you need to push for a while – and whether it involves steep climbs.

Grade 1 routes should be reasonably short, fairly leisurely and present no real difficulties. At the other end of the scale, grade 5 routes might be quite long, involve steep climbs, travel through more challenging or isolated areas, or require some walking with your bike – likely as not, there will be a combination of these features.

Distances are approximate. Generally speaking, I’ve used ‘track’ to mean anything not on a public road, but where a ‘track’ becomes a ‘path’ is a little more difficult to define. Sometimes it’s the nature of the surface – a path may be a little rougher than a track – but mostly it’s because a path will be narrower and you’ll probably need to cycle single file.

Getting Around

Despite the proximity of major towns and cities like Edinburgh, Carlisle and Newcastle, public transport in the area is particularly poor. Although the main east coast rail line passes through Scottish Borders, there isn’t a single rail station in the entire region. Access by train to the Borders is therefore limited to Edinburgh and other towns such as Lockerbie in the west, Berwick in the east and Dunbar in East Lothian.

South of the border, the east coast rail line has a number of stations, as does the Newcastle to Carlisle line. Some bus operators may carry bikes, but whether you’re travelling by train or bus, you would really need to check in advance to see whether this is feasible or not.

The nearest airports are at Edinburgh and Newcastle and in both cases they are quite a way out from the city centre, though Newcastle airport does at least have a rail link.

Accommodation

All the main towns have hotels, and indeed tourism is seen as an increasingly important element of the region’s economy. Similarly, bed and breakfast accommodation is widely available, though you may wish to book ahead for the more popular places and  those near to the long-distance routes – mentioned later – which pass through the area.

Youth Hostels operated by the YHA and the Scottish YHA are another option, and can vary from the simple- and basic-category hostels to the more luxurious Grade 1 variety as found in, for example, Edinburgh. The price, of course, reflects the accommodation provided.

Campsites, too, vary from the cheap and cheerful to the more expensive. Nowadays I’m more inclined to pay a little more for a decent site with reasonable facilities and, more importantly, some expectation of a peaceful night ahead. A sign of the times, I suppose, but it’s all a matter of taste.

I mention bothies with some reluctance. If you follow the routes in this guide you’ll come across four. Two of them – Yearning Saddles and Auchope Rigg – are little more than shelters and, being on the Pennine Way, are quite well known. The other two are not so well known, but quite delightful in their own way. I’ve used bothies in the Highlands and have always appreciated that there’s a code of ethics involved in doing so. Of course, they are there for people to use but my only concern is that those who do so recognise that these are special places and should be treated as such. Leave them in as good a condition as you find them – indeed, you should try and leave them in a better condition than you find them.

When to Go

Prevailing weather systems come from the west and, generally speaking, the eastern side of the country gets less rainfall then the west. Of course, the weather can be fickle at any time of year and there are never any guarantees.

Cycling is really a year-round activity and, for the visitor, it’s well worth considering going out of season. A good spell in October will reveal rich autumn colours, while spring brings out the early flowers. Winter days are short, but clear air and snow on the tops can make for some breathtaking views.

At any time of the year good weather is a bonus, but sometimes it’s refreshing to just go riding in the rain, come what may. Take the opportunity to unwind and let the stresses of modern living simply melt away.