You can cycle from the Greenwich Foot Tunnel in south east London to Canary Wharf in east London entirely on quiet streets and protected cycle lanes.
The route is 2.7km long (1.66 miles) and makes use quiet streets and riverside paths.
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You can see a digital map of the route and download a GPS/GPX file to use on whatever device or app you want here:
https://www.komoot.com/tour/2708569545?share_token=aohOqhG6ImhvUYq7Z0wQwZb68BefzS21rfyB6CI5CzLipBpH1y&ref=wtd
And you can find a viewer-created and maintained map of all the London Cycle Routes videos here:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1h9Hxm57fPvZmcuSXajM_Wu0G0s6f_bs&ll=51.50521349609208%2C-0.1285238120117249&z=12
I also highly recommend the Safe Cycle London map for route planning, which is compiled by @SafeCycleLDN on twitter:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1XlpvN9R-Wg7qZHyezO8y-eVlftr4e0WX&hl=en&ll=51.516975804561284%2C-0.21828576419061996&z=11
24 Comments
A bit to twisty and to many pedestrians for my taste, but seem like a nice walk most of the way.
More in south east London please. Would be great to see what paths you take. Love your videos and appreciate the work you put in, thank you.
finally one for us E14 locals!
generally for CS3 I would keep going down Mellish Street and join the Thames Path round St John McDougall Gardens (kind of wish the path went round the whole Isle instead of tapering off there)
Love watching your videos filmed on a bright sunny day especially in these dark dump cold winter days. More please. Thanks
It was after carrying my bike up from the tunnel as the north end lift was bust I resolved to buy a lighter bike. But I haven't yet…
Mudchute farm is one of the better city farms just by Millwall Park. There's a restored ack ack gun – antiaircraft gun – there.
Regarding routes across the river in the east, the new electric ferry between Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf has now opened to the public, and is potentially a big upgrade for people looking for step-free routes. The convenience and efficiency of embarking and disembarking has been significantly improved wih shallower access ramps, and a roll-on-roll-off design for the vessel itself.The old ferries had capacity for about 5 bikes, the new ones are said to be able to carry 100! However they're unlikely to ever need that capacity if the current pricing is maintained, at £4.10 for journeys paid with contactless. That is, somewhat incredibly, more than you'd pay to drive through the Silvertown Tunnel during peak times. There's no concession pricing to speak of either.
The route is still shared between the old and new ferries, there must be some kinks they've yet to sort out. They're hoping to be able to fully move across to the new electric ferry by Spring—which would be a full year after it was supposed to have started operating! My hope is that once it's only the new ferry running, and they can bank on its extra capacity, they have a rethink of the pricing. After all, no point having space for 100 bikes and 150 people if only a fraction of that are actually using it. I also had the thought that Lime should try to do a deal with them (after all one of their main investors, Uber, already sponsors the ferry) to offer free use of the ferry for people travelling using their bikes. Currently if you try to plan a trip from Hackney to Surrey Quays in the app, it wants to send you via the Rotherhithe Tunnel. Even if someone hiring one of the bikes uses an alternative app for navigation, they're unlikely to be happy paying £4.10 on top of the cost of hiring the bike itself.
Great route! Isle of Dogs is genuinely awful to cycle on in so many places so thanks for flagging a better route
The DLR used to run over that viaduct before the Lewisham extension was built
Saying you'll sometimes see people cycling through the tunnel is a bit of an understatement. On a weekday morning rushour, the majority of people down there are cycling. It generally seems to be happily tolerated, but the combination of rapid execelaration and clumsiness of e-bike riders does make them intimidating.
If you find those railings coming out of Millwall Park problematic, from Island Gardens, you could turn left into Saunders Ness Road, left down Ferry Street, which then curves sharp right, then does so again a bit further on before crossing Manchester Road to take you to East Ferry Road. Unfortunately, Manchester Road is quite a wide main road that some people might not feel confident about crossing. There is a zebra crossing nearby, but it would be awkward to get back onto East Ferry Road once you've used it to get across Manchester Road.
Something I only found out recently is that the DLR is actually free from Greenwich to Island Gardens (and visa versa) – good for those with heavy bikes wanting to avoid the tunnel and the inevitability of being confronted by a broken lift
Loved it! That's a part of London that was derelict last time I was staying there. It's really come alive! Very interesting…
It's a real shame you aren't allowed to cycle through the foot tunnel.
But can understand as it's a long straight tunnel, with curved walls great for riding mountain bikes up, and there is a school close to the northern end.
Really enjoyable Jon 👍. The change there since I lived in S.E London is unbelievable. 🤔 How long does an above/below grade option need to be to make it a viable option as a cycleway? Depends on the gradient of approaches, obviously ….
The old viaduct was in use for the DLR until the extension to Cutty Sark was built!
2:13 You should see what Haringey Council has just put in on CS1 between Sperling Rd and Strode Rd!
Nice route. I tend to stick to using West ferry road or Manchester road. Have muddled my way avoiding either in the past. Will be checking this out 🍻
I have used a similar route going further than you through the park emerging at Mudchute, staying on the road until the crossing using the two inclines with the 180 degree turn to emerge on to the dockside. Following your route up to the bridge crossing but once on the far side turning right and sticking close to the dockside until the restaurant, turning left and joining the road before rejoining your route wheeling over the footbridge. After the steps I rode left along the dockside and turning right under Herons Quay, avoiding the smokers to see Canary Wharf DLR ahead and the Jubilee line to the right.
Quite pleasant and less troublesome as you say than the main road on the left of the Isle of Dogs and without the buses or ASDA traffic of the main road to the right.
This, sadly, is one route that has not really improved much for cycling in the past 10 years or so (if at all?). Canary Wharf have not done much to make cyling a pleasant viable option in the area. You either have to stick to very twisty backroads with multiple barriers, chicanes, pavements and steps you have to dismount on or pretty busy roads.
On the horrible anti motor bike gate/barriers. You can submit them to be removed if it's on a national network route (appreciate this might not be relevant here, but I he info can used to submit it to a council to) There has been extensive research and been proven that they are far more exclusionary than inclusive. Eg far more spaces aren't accessible because of them over the very minimal amount of things they are designed to prevent (motorbikes) which usually get over/round them anyway. Google 'walk wheel cycle trust barriers on the nation cycle network' for a page with all the info and resources 👌
Another great video. I used to cycle all the way up the river on the west side of thebisle of dogs, all the way up to close to the Limehouse basin. Is it not a designated cycle route the whole way?
Nice – I’ve always found it hard to find an easy route along here.
Have you seen the latest proposal from the City for a bus gate on Fleet Street? One to watch, currently at cabinet and could open up lots of central London routes. Would also be interested if you could test out any safe routes from the Heathrow ‘cycle hub’ to nearby suburbs like Southall, given Heathrow has been in the news a lot recently
I've just discovered a new cycling channel, The Eager Cyclist (https://youtube.com/@theeagercyclist?si=jxImo_X_oUSKY_cm), which complements this one as it focuses more on skills for cycling, including in traffic as well as in protected lanes. Anyone looking for more help cycling in London, and wants to venture out of protected lanes occasionally, check it out.
Please could you do some tours of south such as Dulwich areas
Wow, this looks incredibly useful! I've always just bitten the bullet and gone down Westferry Road. This looks a whole lot more agreeable!