Morning, I am cycling from London to Paris next week and I have the route planned apart from deciding which way to get to Dover. I was either thinking the A20 or A2 I would prefer the route which is safest and with the least traffic.
Has anyone got any ideas which would be the best way to go?
Thank you
Charlie
London to Dover
Re: London to Dover
I would NOT use either! Get to Rochester then take NCR 1 out and leave that to follow the Lower Road to Sittingbourne and Faversham. Ride to Canterbury via Dunkirk and then pick up NCR 1 again. The A2/A20 roads are lethal and the footpaths in very poor condition. NCR 1 is a quiet way but takes in a great deal of tracks in places.
Re: London to Dover
Hmm.
The A20 between Swanley (the M25 junction) and Folkstone is a little busy for my taste but easy to navigate. The M20 takes the bulk of the traffic. Most of the A20 is wide single carriageway, narrowing a little after Ashford. It's not my choice but I wouldn't write it off completely. A route incorporating the Pilgrims Way just north of the A20 from Wrotham to Folkstone would be more up my street.
The A2 is a very different matter. From Bexleyheath through to Strood it is a 3/4 lane dual carriageway with hard shoulder, virtually all with a 70mph limit and fast entry/exit slip roads. You can suicidally (sorry I meant legally) cycle on it but it's a motorway by any other name. The A207/A206, A226-B2175-A226 would be preferable although still not ideal.
From the east side of Dartford a cycletrack follows the A296 and A2 all the way to Strood. This is simple to navigate and of good quality although very noisy. The stretch from the B262 at Gravesend to Strood is largely on an old lane of the former A2 carriageway. There's a number of anti motorbike barriers on that section.
Through the Medway Towns the A2 is a busy road with sporadic adjacent cycle facilities, traffic volumes keep speeds down. After Rainham it is a single carriageway road through to the M2 junction just after Faversham. Whilst the M2 takes the bulk of the traffic there is still a significant volume of traffic on the A2, speed limits vary 40 - 60 mph outside of the towns and villages it passes through. The A2 can be quite narrow through these villages.
NCN 1 runs a few miles north of the A2 from Gravesend to Faversham and provides an alternative route, much of it on road between Rainham and Faversham.
After the M2 junction the A2 once again becomes 70mph dual carriageway although only 2 lanes for most of the distance to Dover. There is an edge strip but no hard shoulder. Some of the entry/exit slips have the ridiculous little cycle lanes that make you cross the slip at right angles. Even though the bulk of motor traffic to Dover is on the M20 it would not be a pleasant ride. It'd be well worth taking the the old route of the A2 through Boughton Street and Dunkirk.
NCN1 offers a preferable route from Rochester to Faversham, then follow lanes north of the A2 to Dunkirk, Canterbury and Dover (to avoid a lengthy detour you might want to incorporate the A2 itself from Dunkirk to Upper Harbledown. This section has an edge strip and is downhill).
The A20 between Swanley (the M25 junction) and Folkstone is a little busy for my taste but easy to navigate. The M20 takes the bulk of the traffic. Most of the A20 is wide single carriageway, narrowing a little after Ashford. It's not my choice but I wouldn't write it off completely. A route incorporating the Pilgrims Way just north of the A20 from Wrotham to Folkstone would be more up my street.
The A2 is a very different matter. From Bexleyheath through to Strood it is a 3/4 lane dual carriageway with hard shoulder, virtually all with a 70mph limit and fast entry/exit slip roads. You can suicidally (sorry I meant legally) cycle on it but it's a motorway by any other name. The A207/A206, A226-B2175-A226 would be preferable although still not ideal.
From the east side of Dartford a cycletrack follows the A296 and A2 all the way to Strood. This is simple to navigate and of good quality although very noisy. The stretch from the B262 at Gravesend to Strood is largely on an old lane of the former A2 carriageway. There's a number of anti motorbike barriers on that section.
Through the Medway Towns the A2 is a busy road with sporadic adjacent cycle facilities, traffic volumes keep speeds down. After Rainham it is a single carriageway road through to the M2 junction just after Faversham. Whilst the M2 takes the bulk of the traffic there is still a significant volume of traffic on the A2, speed limits vary 40 - 60 mph outside of the towns and villages it passes through. The A2 can be quite narrow through these villages.
NCN 1 runs a few miles north of the A2 from Gravesend to Faversham and provides an alternative route, much of it on road between Rainham and Faversham.
After the M2 junction the A2 once again becomes 70mph dual carriageway although only 2 lanes for most of the distance to Dover. There is an edge strip but no hard shoulder. Some of the entry/exit slips have the ridiculous little cycle lanes that make you cross the slip at right angles. Even though the bulk of motor traffic to Dover is on the M20 it would not be a pleasant ride. It'd be well worth taking the the old route of the A2 through Boughton Street and Dunkirk.
NCN1 offers a preferable route from Rochester to Faversham, then follow lanes north of the A2 to Dunkirk, Canterbury and Dover (to avoid a lengthy detour you might want to incorporate the A2 itself from Dunkirk to Upper Harbledown. This section has an edge strip and is downhill).
High on a cocktail of flossy teacakes and marmalade
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Charlie_Charlie_81
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Re: London to Dover
Thank you for the advise