You can cycle from Greenwich in south east London to Woolwich, entirely on quiet streets and protected cycle lanes.
The route is 7.8km long (4.8 miles) and makes use of Cycleway 4, Cycleway 14 and the Thames Path, as well as quiet streets around the Royal Naval College.
If you find this video useful or you just enjoy watching it please remember to subscribe to the channel and hit the bell icon so you’re alerted to new videos, as I try to post new ones like it every week.
And if you like what the channel is doing, you can also contribute to the London Cycle Routes Patreon below. It really helps keep the channel going:
http://patreon.com/londoncycleroutes
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/1382511810?ref=wtd&share_token=ah8SYU3F5K9hbTywb0UX2iacd0rDfxlpoObSWQB03kEv8iIDS5
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=51.505213496092054%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=0%2C0&z=11
32 Comments
hello
Another excellent video and great route. I'd like to stitch about 50km worth of your gpx routes for a mega day of urban cycling!
It's not a route designed for me, especially going up & over the bridge 🤢 I do want to see the stairwell at Greenwich tho, the Thames barrier and the pumping house gawd knows where that is. I attempt it every open house, one time cycling past tower hill, DLR to Woolwich arsenal and there to the pumping station 😅omg… Raised paths and motorway roundabouts. I couldn't cope with that at all are you even allowed to cycle on those motorways 😂 luckily it was Sunday and quiet and I was still too late x
LCR do you know when the new cycleway between peckham and greenwich opens
Really enjoying your videos. This route is very interesting as well as quiet.
Would be interested if you know of a quiet route from Canary Wharf to North Woolwich or from Canary Wharf to the north entrance of the Greenwich tunnel on the Isle of Dogs.
Thanks for supplying the missing jigsaw piece. I already knew how to cycle to Woolwich from Erith using the Thames Path but it was the section beyond on to Greenwich which was the problem even with the cycle lane. That peters out as you reach historic Greenwich and it isn't as quiet and scenic as your route.
After crossing the Woolwich ferry approach 12:15 there's that odd circular building on the right 12:35 – at the rear of that is the entrance to the Woolwich foot tunnel the counterparty to the one at Greenwich. There are lifts down and it is called a foot tunnel for a reason.
Err. 40 minutes by public transport? It’s 13 minutes on Southeastern from Greenwich to Woolwich Arsenal.
Thanks for covering this area, especially the Charlton section of the path. I used to live nearby and enjoyed the rare industrial feel combined with the big sky effect of being near the Thames. I know it's progress but I feel sad at the number of flats built in the area which takes away that feeling of space.
Excellent route, Jon. Thank you for filming it. Last time I did this route I ran out of cycle path just before the ferry approach. Good to know it’s been finally opened. Woolwich looks amazing.
Jon, a small suggestion. Would it be possible to mount the camera on the frame so it doesn’t move so much. Your videos are speeded up and I find I get a little sea sick watching. I have a spare mount if it helps. 🙂
Good video. I have cycled every section shown. 3:15 I have not cycled the Armitage Rd/Harriet Close in recent years, because I use different routes and tend to either stick to the Thames path around the O2, or stay on the cycle lane straight towards Charlton/Woolwich. 5:35 That park route is a valid cycle route, but as you say, the the owners of the estate are trying discourage cycle, if they can get away with it. But I take an alternate route via West Parkside/Peartree Way to re-join the Thames path by Greenwich Yacht Club. A lot of the vegetation and shrubs have been cut back since your ride. Nice to revisit my 'local' area.
All cycle lanes in the country need to be standardised going forward. Preferably all Dutch red!
Another brilliant video – I was just trying to figure out this route last week and was really hoping you'd done it – and ta-da here it is! Really enjoy your commentary too.
Wich map are you using?
Is there a decent pub at the Woolwich end that would make this worth the ride – anyone?
Anyone looking for an extension of this route or want to come from further east, you can get onto the Thames cycle path at Erith and follow the river all the way to Greenwich (and beyond if you want). It's my go to route if I just want to pedal out some miles to keep the he fitness up. I also recommend The Trafalgar tavern right next to the old naval college as a stopping pint for a cheeky one along the way 🙂
Good to see the path just before the ferry is open again, I'd been avoiding going that way, that new barrier on the blind corner at 12:53 is terrible.
@7:51 That pub is such a good old school pub, it's not gastro, it's not trendy but it's a great place to have a pint looking up and down the Thames.
At 9.48 there’s a decent cafe to the right there should anyone wish to partake….
at 6.37 the bike path sign has been ripped out and is blocking the path!
Nice route.
My 1993 AZ shows the area north east of Beresford Square and Beresford Street as a big blank white space right up to the riverbank where it simply says 'Mud'.
Ha! I was along that way just yesterday, but included the Thames Path around the O2 as well.
The situation with the made-up signs in Southern Park reminded me of when the company that manages the building just north of St. Mary's Church in Battersea decided to put up some 'no cycling' signs on 'their bit' of the Thames Path. These signs were a blue background, a white bicycle with a white line through it, surrounded by a white circle 🤣
Obviously no-one took a blind bit of notice of them, and they quietly disappeared after a month or so.
Edited to add: Had to take a short break just here – 7:47 – as the way was completely blocked by a crane lorry delivering a helicopter next to the pub 🤷♂
Lovely route!
⚡👌🏼👌🏼⚡
College Way etc looks so nice, I've seen fellow skaters skatin through this route.
Hadn't realised how much segregated/dedicated bike lanes there were along this route, really nice.
Those turns were really confusin 😂 I'm better with lots of straights.
In that park with the no cycling/ cycling route, I usually turn left after crossing the road and go around the park the other way (it’s about the same distance). I think the route you went was blocked off for the building works until recently, which is why they’d put up the no cycling signs
I'm moving from Sydney to London early next year and I will definitely be trying all these cycle routes!
What I find exasperating is the lack of cyclists using such amazing facilities for cyclists you have in London. A lot of the space for other forms of traffic (bus, delivery vans, taxis) is taken up with cycling infrastructure that is often completely unused.
Thank you for this. I did a ride out from Blackfriars to Ebbsfleet following as much of the Thames path as I could, which is very variable indeed! I wish I'd used your more direct route from Greenwich. One nice featrue of my route was the very useful ferry from Canary Wharf to the other side of the Thames. You have to push your bike through a hotel foyer, a unique experience. You might do a video using that ferry as a link between cycle paths on both sides of the Thames. There has been a plan for a bridge, but there never seems to be the money.
@01:15 I love Greenwich
@01:56 Absolulety gorgeous houses!
@02:35 Nice pavement extension to cut rat-running!
@03:54 Nice continuous pavement
@10:23 When I lived in London it was in Brentford, in an estate surrounding two locks, and the beginning of a canal, we'd get 'tidal water' every now and then and some streets became inaccessible due to partial flooding. That was over 10 years ago, I don"t if it's just going to get worse and more frequent with, you know, global warming and stuff.
@13:43 This pedestrian avenue is absolutely beautiful, it's so great that it's actually residences and not just high-end shops. I didn't know Woolwich, it looks lovely!
One of my fave to routes south of the river.
I worked for Greenwich up until a couple of years ago in the transport strategy team, good to see that some progress has been made, though the final sections of C4 at either end, especially to Woolwich, cannot come soon enough!
With the section through Warspite Rd industrial estate, I think there used to be time restrictions on the gates, around 6am – 9pm if I remember right. Has this changed now?
Another great video! Thank you for mentioning the Thames Barrier. Any reference always makes me smile as it was invented & designed by my late uncle Charles Draper. 😊
If you aren't in a rush you can follow the river all the way from Cutty Sark and don't have to deal with the roads and that bridge