This was going to be our third Cycling UK route over the last couple of years and this time Tim and I were looking forward to sharing our Autumn adventure with a couple of other friends. At 140 miles and an almost flat elevation profile, plus the opportunity to stop for ice-creams en-route, the Cantii Way looked to be a viable contender.
Day 1 - Wye to Sandwich
It was a typical start to any adventure. An early morning pickup from various parts of Surrey before briefly hitting the M20 and then finding a secure parking spot in Wye. Bikes unloaded, bags strapped on and water bottles filled we were quickly winding our way north for the start of our long weekend.
We'd chosen to divert away from the "official" route, avoiding the leg through Kings Wood and Chilham Village. The guide book route takes a very pretty ride along a mix of lumpy single and double tracks. However, being the start of our expedition, we didn't fancy a puncture or lost pannier early on, so stuck with the Olantigh Road joining the route proper at Shalmsford Street some seven miles later. And being National Cycle Network 18 anyway, we didn't feel it detracted from the overall adventure at all. Next stop Canterbury, which for some unknown reason is by-passed by the guide book route. We had planned to take a straight line through the middle to ride its cobble streets and take a brief look at the world famous Cathedral.
The Crab and Winkle Way (NCN 1) took us out of Canterbury, through the University of Kent and onto the pretty town of Whitstable, the first of our tick-list of quintessential sea-side towns we'd be passing through over the three days. What followed was a fantastically scenic jaunt round the coast, first west - passing through Hearn Bay, Reculver and Margate - then turning south towards Broadstairs and Ramsgate.
Twenty five miles later, and with a horizon bending pink sky on our left, we switched on our lights as Ramsgate harbour did the same. I don't think I've ever visited this part of the world before but we all agreed it was pretty special. Boats bobbing in the marina, the ornate brick arches forming three tiers to the cliff side route and beautiful art deco lights illuminating our way up Royal Parade. The sun had set by the time we reached The Viking Ship Hugin near Pegwell Bay and from there it was three miles to our over night stop in Sandwich. Beers, Burgers and three in a Travelodge room for the evening finished the first day perfectly.
Day 2 - Sandwich to Lydd
We set off reasonably early, pausing to gather supplies from the local Spar and obligatory sausage rolls from Greggs. It was a cool Autumn morning, the sun not quite strong enough to take the chill out of the air as we wound our way back towards the coast at Sandwich Bay. Our first sight of sand and sea was approaching the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Course and rolling into Deal. We passed the pier on our left and castle on our right as we slipped once again onto the familiar dedicated sea-front cycle paths.
The route crops off St. Margaret's at Cliffe and South Foreland Lighthouse, our direction being the first of only two real ascents on the entire journey via NCN 1. We were quickly topping the hills above Dover, the imposing castle in the foreground, recounting scenes from Ian Fleming's novel "Moonraker" where Bond drives his Bentley 4 1/2 litre to investigate Hugo Drax's rocket research establishment at Kingsdown.
The Pedaler on the Port @theindiepedaler was a brilliant spur of the moment find, delivering coffee and cake while watching holiday makers board the channel crossing ferries. Refueled, we dived inland again for the last big ascent of the trip, this time round the back of Samphire Hoe towards Folkestone. We stumbled upon the Battle of Britain memorial on the cliff above The Warren, and as we still had a couple of hours before meeting our forth team member, we wandered around the mock Spitfire and German Junkers aircraft, understanding a little more about this decisive Second World War air campaign.
Rather than cycle through Folkestone, our route stayed on the cliff behind, allowing us a brilliant view of the sprawling port town and Euro Tunnel terminal below. We'd been blessed with beautiful autumn sun the day before and it was same today as we stripped off layers before scooting down the hill to meet Paul in Peene. It was lunch time, so once again one of the multitude of cafes and restaurants on the route delivered. This time it was cans of Tango and fish finger baguettes in the Lazy Shack. Hythe. We diverted away from the busy coast road to follow the Royal Military Canal inland before heading south to pick up 7 miles of stunning coastal sea walls all the way to Dungeness for a cheeky half pint in the Pilot Inn over looking the alien landscaped bleakness.
With dusk now on us and our front lights blinking our way out of the marshes, we took a straight course for Lydd and our over night stop at The George Hotel.
The hotel restaurant was closed but the Guljar Tandoori next door wasn't. Chicken Tikka Masala and Cobra beers all round - could we have asked for a better end to the day?
Day 3 - Lydd to Wye
We stepped out of the hotel into a bright but chilly Autumn morning having already decided to buy a quick snack from the local convenience shop and then breakfast in luxury in Rye. Our route there was via NCN 2 heading towards the coast at Jury's Gap. It's was a pretty route, flat marsh land mainly, home to a number of bird species in the Walland Marsh on our right bordered by the no-go Lydd (firing) Range Danger Area on our left.
An hour and a half later we were rolling through Rye's mediaeval "Landgate" arch and into The Old Grain Café for an obligatory, and fantastic, Full English breakfast, It's definitely worth a quick spin round the town if you have the time. Away from the general one-way-system the town is mainly olde-worldy cobbled streets and mediaeval houses. Mermaid Street perhaps being slightly reminiscent of Gold Hill in Dorset that starred in the famous Hovis bread advert.
As Whitstable was the first, Rye was the last of our sea-side towns on this trip, as we now turned in land to head north towards Ashford and Wye. Our route joined the Military Road parallel to the southern part of the Royal Military Canal, an almost straight line all the way to Appledore. The road to Appledore was quite busy and a little uninspiring given our sea-view overdose over the last two days. We munched through the miles ticking off Woodchurch and Shadoxhurst, again choosing to cut out the official route that dog legs into some local woods.
Ashford was upon us, its urban sprawl requiring slightly more attention to the GPS than the last fifteen miles and after that Wye and our waiting cars. We'd been blessed with perfect Autumn weather over the entire three days, particularly for early October, and we'd just caught the tail end of the tourist season so shops, accommodation and amenities were all still just about available. This is definitely one of our top Cycle UK routes so far. It's a brilliant adventure around some of England's finest Victorian sea-side towns. The easy riding coupled with lungful's of sea air, expansive horizons, architectural grandeur and a whiff of exuberant past times just makes it a perfect adventure.
How to ride the Cantii Way
Route
The Cantii Way primarily uses a collection of National Cycle Network routes and local cycle trails to form a 140 mile (225km) circular route starting and finishing in Wye in Kent. It's more of a cycle touring route than an off-the-beaten-path bikepacking trip. and would be perfect as your first foray into multi day cycling adventures. We modified small sections of the journey to take in local landmarks and to cut out, what we felt, were needless detours into terrain more suited to a mountain bike. We felt the modifications enhanced our route - and of course CyclingUK encourage diverting away from the guidebook to suit your own adventure. We all thoroughly enjoyed the mix of coastal views, quiet back lanes, busy towns and the shear quantity of places to eat and drink on the way. It made for a brilliant adventure with plenty of opportunity to ride four abreast along many of the sea wall cycle paths. There are no public signs specifically for the route but if you take note of the NCN numbers and local cycle trail names before hand you can navigate a good percentage of the journey without being glued to your GPS.
Clicking on the map title above takes you to my Ride with GPS route used for this adventure. It was created from scratch and checked against Ordnance Survey maps for accuracy and access rights at the time. It has also been tuned for turn by turn directions as best as possible. As mentioned above, we made minor modifications to the official route following feedback from previous route users and to include local attractions plus cut out some of the off-road terrain better suited to a different bike type. Please feel free to download and modify to suit your own adventure accordingly.
Alternatively you can download the official route from CyclingUK here.
We chose to undertake the trip over three days with the first two days being slightly longer than the last. Our journey by car started from London which still fitted into the overall three day window.
Day 1 - Wye to Sandwich. 51 miles (82km), 570m ascent
Wye, Chilham (4), Canterbury (10), Whitstable (19), Herne Bay (24), Margate (36), Broadstairs (42), Ramsgate (44), Sandwich (51).
Day 2 - Sandwich to Lydd. 54 miles (87km), 55om ascent
Sandwich, Deal (6), Dover (15), Folkstone (22), Hythe (30), Dymchurch (39), Lade (44), Dungeness (47), Lydd (54)
Day 3 - Lydd to Wye. 33 miles (53km), 295m ascent
Lydd, Rye (9), Appledore (15), Woodchurch (19), Shadoxhurst (22), Ashford (27), Wye (33).
Getting to the start
Being a circular route, you can start at any point around the 150 mile circumference. We began our trip in Wye, the official start, where there was plenty of free on street parking on Churchfield Way next to the green. There's also public toilets and a small Co-op store for pre or post ride convenience. Wye train station is a few hundred meters from the start, which is an hour and a half train journey from London Charring Cross. If you were traveling in towards Kent, you could equally start in Rye, Canterbury or Ashford, all with good train links or parking.
Terrain
86% paved... 14% unpaved
If you choose to follow the Ride with GPS route above, which cuts out the short rough sections of the official route, what's left becomes classic touring bike terrain, echoing much of the National Cycle Network routes. It's best suited to a hybrid, gravel or touring bike, running something around a 35mm tyre.
When to go
Naturally, the best months are from May to September, when the weather is best and all the local attractions and facilities are open. It can of course be ridden at any time but do check the weather as much of the route is around very exposed coastal sections which would be severely impacted by strong winds or heavy rain.
Accommodation
Day 1 - Travelodge Sandwich. Spitfire Way, Discovery Park, Sandwich, Kent, CT13 9FR
Day 2 - The George Hotel Lydd. The George Hotel, 11 High Street, Lydd, Kent, TN29 9AJ
Eating
Given the amount of towns and villages the route passes through you're really spoilt for choice on where to eat. We stopped at the following places, outside of what our accommodation provided:
The Pedaler on the Port, Dover (Indiepedaler). https://www.instagram.com/theindiepedaler/
Lazy Shack, Hythe. https://www.thelazyshack.co.uk/
The Pilot Inn, Dungeness. http://www.thepilotdungeness.co.uk/
Guljar Tandoori, Lydd. https://guljartandoori.com
Convenience stuff
There are plenty of public toilets along the route. A quick Google search at any point should bring up a number within a reasonable riding distance. Check for opening times if possible as toilets do tend to get locked up overnight and for the winter as soon as the main summer season has ended. Local food shops are in abundance given the amount of towns the route passes through. We struggled with cycle shops and did in fact have a minor mechanical when Tim's cassette decided to work its way loose. Nothing that a Leatherman multitool couldn't fix but we had tried two cycle shops in the mean time, both without success.
Equipment
The route is best suited to a touring, hybrid or gravel bike but as it's not particularly demanding any bike in good working order would suffice. The firm surface lends itself to a road bias tyre. Given our group dynamic, we chose not to camp, significantly cutting down on the kit we carried, and allowing sharing of common tools and equipment. We all carried a variation on the list below; this was my personal kit:
Specialized CrossTrail "Adventure Bike", running Schwalbe Marathon Mondial 700 x 35 tyres; a 40T x 11-46t drive train and solid front forks.
Bikepacking bags (22ltrs total): Self-made rear bag system (2 x 8 ltrs), Topeak Compact Handlebar Bag (2ltr), self made frame bag (3ltr), Topeak top tube bag (0.5ltr), Specialized seat pack S, Evoc Hip Pack Pro (3ltr)
Cycling clothes: Helmet, gloves, glasses, cycling shoes, cycling shorts (bibs), overshorts, wool cycle jersey, cycle gilet, arm warmers, neck buff, windproof smock.
Spare clothes: Down jacket, light weight fleece, zip off trousers, socks, underwear, light weight trainers
Wash kit, towel and first aid items
Mobile phone, GPS, GoPro, Drone, battery(s), charger, cables
Bike tools, innertube, pump, lights, bike lock, bell
1.5 ltrs (2 x water bottles) carried on the bike, snacks
Final thoughts
The Cantii Way is definitely not a wild camping bikepacking trip, but it is one of my all time favorite routes. If you're new to bikepacking or cycle touring and looking for your first multi day trip, I'd definitely pop this one towards the top of the list. With it's almost tick-list quantity of amazing towns, villages, castles and sea views, and terrain that's not too challenging, it makes for a simple ride which feels like a propper adventure.
Happy Adventuring!
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