You can cycle from Wapping in east London to Limehouse London entirely on quiet streets and protected cycle lanes.
The route is 2.7km long (1.7 miles) and makes use of Cycleway 3 as well as the bus gate at Wapping High Street.
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 and want to support it, 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/2793008079?share_token=aNyK2N15lZVHfh3VQD75MMfV00odikfWG5dT1EC4vKe7IWXMBq&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=51.505213496092054%2C-0.1285238120117249&z=12
I also highly recommend the Safe Cycle LDN 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=51.516975804561255%2C-0.21828576419061996&z=11
25 Comments
Put in Dutch style red bricks instead of those cobble stones.
I love this channel! I wish every city would build great cycling networks with infrastructure and low traffic neighborhoods
well done on the cobblestones – I hate riding on them
On the cobbles, maybe the cheapest solution is to run something along them which creates a smooth strip to cycle on. I have noticed that some of the cobbled streets in this part of London which are older, aren't as jarring to cycle over. So I assume the vehicles have smoothed them out a bit over time.
Check out 6SIaZYT7v0o for how to make cobbled streets work for cycling
As you note, that route is a nightmare to cycle on if you don't have large squishy tyres. The cobbles are horrible and also very slippery in the wet. Pretty though it is, I'd avoid going that way unless I'm on my mountain bike
National cycle route 13 provides an alternative to the route shown. It's a bit of a crazy ramble around some quay sides, but it does avoid the cobbles. The Marquis of Granby is rather creepy, as if you go down the alley on the right hand side (preferably at low tide) you come out onto a small beach with a hangmans noose, supposidly where Pirates were strung up as a warning to others. It's also a good example of the sort of steps down to the river which have been used for centuries when the water was the easiest way to get around. Shakespeare might have been there.
I left a comment, it got hidden for spam but hopefully you can still check it out?
🤙🏽⚡️🤟🏽⚡️👌🏽
A couple of updates not connected to this route, Jon – I noticed over the weekend that a protected cycle lane on Cope St in Surrey Quays that connects Rotherhithe Old Rd to the C4 on Lower Rd has been completed. The owner of La Cigale cafe also told me that parking along Lower Rd between Cope St and Plough Way will soon be removed easing a bottle neck there.
Another great video but the cobbles a no go for me. Now if there was a "cycle path" along the edges that would be different. Thanks
Lutfur Rahman, who was elected mayor of Tower Hamlets on an anti-LTN manifesto, caved in early doors on scrapping the Wapping bus gate, and has now lost in the court of appeal in his determination to rip out LTNs in Columbia Road, Arnold Circus, and Old Bethnal Green Road.
When I was in Heidelberg Germany, I saw that they added a smooth strip for cyclists in the cobblestones. It actually blended in really well with the cobblestones itself and I didn't realise it was difference until someone yelled at me to get out of the cycle lane 😛
you ought to do a Paris -Roubaix style London Cycle Route
@5:39 the first time I used Cycleway 3 eastbound, I got to this crossing and was confused as to where I was supposed to go!
TfL really need to improve signage here!!
Another great video. Thanks.
Great route! Wapping High Street used to be quite a challenging cycle — narrow with cars driving unreasonably fast etc — so it's great to see the improvement! Previously worked in this area and I remember cycling a traffic free option along Spirit Quay, Ornamental Canal a few times to reach Shadwell Basin. Of course Cable St also super handy connector in that part of the world. Do visit Hermitage Moorings if you ever get a chance… It's amazing! Cheers 🚲
Hi,
Not really your job, but do you know of similar channels to yours for other cities.
I'm specifically interested in York, but would look at any others.
As always love your vids. @04:50 (blue cycleway) "keeps you separate from vehicle traffic" is for me, and I'm sure many others, a very important feature in terms of feeling comfortable on busy roads.
I'm back on crutches again so thanks for the reminder to never go through wapping – that would be 3 months crutches for me f'shure. I hate the end bit thru to canary wharf as well, I mostly dismount cross over the motorway and walk along the Thames rather than the overly steep hill. If that's changing or there is another route amazing x
A wapping good ride!
Cobbles on that route are very annoying to cycle on – particularly on a road bike.
I do appreciate the historical authenticity though.
Tower Hill cycling junction is awful- id agree
Great video
Been really enjoying your videos! Sorry if you get asked this a lot, but do you have a preferred live navigation app? I'm new to cycling in London (mainly renting e-bikes) and don't have the level of familiarity that say you would have with routing in London. What app auto suggests the best routes do you think? And practically, what app UI do you like for live navigation? I've used Google Maps, CityMapper and Komoot so far and I must say, Google Maps live navigation feels the most intuitive, but the routes themselves definitely don't seem as safe as Komoot or CityMapper "quiet" routes. I'm open to other apps too! Thanks for reading 🙂