Best cultural rides in London, Birmingham & South Wales
Credits: Luca Micheli
The Tour de France may be over on your screens, but you can still bring it to life, with family, taking your bikes for a ride. Find below our selection of the best routes for cultural spins around London, Birmingham and South Wales.
By Vanessa Alves Ferreira
London
Looking for a magical ride in the city? Swing by Platform 9 ¾ then hop on your bike from King’s Cross until Notting Hill to see the town’s hidden treasures. Go in direction of Camden Town then through Regent’s Canal Towpath at Granary Square and follow the canal until Little Venice. Leave in direction of Paddington Station and look for the Bishop’s Bridge Road then go straight until you reach Notting Hill. For refreshments, give the Portobello Market a go.
Credits: Luca Micheli
For some sightseeing, take your wheels riverside for a stroll and cycle around the city’s most iconic features having Big Ben as your finale destination. Kick off will be by the Tower of London then take the Lower Thames Street passing by the Monument to Great Fire of London on your right and The Shard, Shakespeare’s Globe and theTate Modern Museum on your left. Cycle your way to Victoria Embankment to get views of the London Eye and the South Bank, then, can you see it just ahead of you? Yes, BIG BEN!? You can have a glance at all the landmarks in under 30 minutes, but you probably won’t resist leaving your camera at rest.
Birmingham
Starting in Digbeth, we suggest a route that passes by the Birmingham New Street, Ladywood and finishes in Chad Valley.
We recommend a first stop at the Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum. Featuring a Planetarium, a Science Garden and a Marine Worlds and Spitfire Galleries, we believe your kids will be thrilled!
Up next: Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Until the 9th of September, you can see “in person” the Diplodocus dinosaur. This relic known as the “Dippy” has a residence in the London’s Natural History Museum and is now on a tour across the UK. This exhibition is free and booking at this museum gets you 25% off your entry to the Thinktank. Among other activities, you can try the “Dino Dig Excavation”, an event aimed for families to have their kids experiencing what being a paleontologist looks like.
Then head to the National Sea Life Centre for your chance to have a peek at sharks, jellyfishes, octopuses and other sea creatures. Check in at 13:30 for a Penguin Adventure or between 14:30 and 17:30 to have a 360° dive into the centre’s ocean tunnel featuring their Black Tip Reef Sharks and their Giant Green Sea Turtle.
Finish with Birmingham's Botanical Gardens to discover some plants or butterflies. And, from April to September, you can even set your eyes and ears on bands, every Sunday, for no additional cost.
Find above a map of the ride made with cycle.travel, a platform that has city and routes guides and lets you do route planners and download it in PDF format.
Wales
Our company being based in Swansea, we couldn’t avoid mentioning Swansea’s Path that takes you from the Marina to Mumbles Pier. Be prepared to be amazed by views across to Mumbles Head and the start of the Gower Peninsula!
Credits: Vanessa Alves Ferreira
And as an aurevoir and a tribute to Geraint Thomas, winner of the Tour de France, we suggest a ride in Cardiff’s Bay and across the seaside town of Penarth via the pedestrian and cyclist bridge of Pont y Werin. For a family adventure, check the Techniquest in Cardiff’s Bay for science and planetarium shows. Currently, kids can learn about the environment with “Operation Earth” or about stars, constellations and planets with “Stars Tours”.
