BIKING STRATFORD AND COTSWOLD
Stratford Cycle Hire
In
the closing days of the 1600’s, young William Shakespeare future
actor-writer, literary genius and man-of-mystery would have had to walk
the four miles from his father’s house and glove making shop in
Stratford-Upon-Avon (see Shakespeare
Birthplace) to visit his grandparents
at the farmhouse of his mothers family or to court his future wife Anne
Hathaway at her family’s cottage outside of town. Today, you can
walk, drive or sit one of the many a bus tour to get to Anne Hathaway’s
Cottage or the Shakespeare Countryside Museum at Mary Arden’s House
in Wilmcote, but in Shakespeare’s day if only they had invented
the bicycle.
If
visiting the Shakespeare country of Stratford-Upon-Avon in southern
Warwickshire or the nearby
Cotswold,
why not see the surrounding sights
from the seat of a bicycle rather than the seat of a
coach. A new local company Stratford Cycle Hire offers
a service where they will deliver a bicycle for rental to your hotel,
meet you at a car
park, rail station or bus terminal, or a pre-arranged location, serving
Stratford and the Midlands, including Leamington Spa, Warwickshire and
the Cotswold. When you’re done, they pick the bikes up again.
A perfect way to explore the area if traveling by train or bus and a
great way to leave the tourist crowds behind and set off on your own.
The
region around Stratford
and along the Avon River is fairly flat and perfect for easy cycling.
There are a number of cycle routes including
two national cycling trails. The NCN5 route travels along the Stratford
Greenway, a 5 mile section of abandoned railway line converted into a
cycle/walking path. It is a straight, flat pathway with a Railway Carriage
Cafe halfway along, perfect for young families or people who would like
a few hours of leisurely biking. At the end of the route there are a
number of sign posted routes through the local villages with a number
of quaint dining pubs and country gardens like Hidcote Manor. The other
route NCN41 goes to Warwick with its popular castle (see Warwick
Castle). The bike route winds along country lanes and cycle
paths passing Charlecote Park.
Stratford
Cycle Hire is family run with a variety of bikes for hire, male and
female sizes of mountain
bikes,
hybrids and touring bikes, child
bicycles, child seats and trailers. For families with younger kids they
have “tag-along” bikes, half a child bicycle attached to
the back of an adult bike so the kids can help with the peddling but
leave the steering to mom or dad, without worrying about falling behind
when little legs get tired. The bike hire service and can also arrange
tours, provide maps and routes to tourism destinations in the area. They
also have packages for special Bike and Boat trips to ride one way then
catch a boat ride back on the Avon, whether a guided river cruise, or
a row boat for a gentle float back to the town of the Bard like Malvolio
gone-a-courting. On Sundays, for a Bike and Steam tour you can ride one
way to catch the Shakespeare Express steam train at picturesque Warwickshire
village of Henley-in-Arden and ride the romantic rails back to Stratford,
or if taking the steam locomotive rail ride from Birmingham, be met at
the station with a bike for the day. © Bargain
Travel Europe
Find the best deals in Stratford
Upon Avon
at TripAdvisor
Web
Info
Stratford
Cycle Hire
These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission.
See Also:
OXFORD
COLLEGE TOWN
UP
RIVER WITHOUT AN OAR
ROWING AND REVOLUTION AT HENLEY-ON-THAMES
LORD LEYCESTER WEDDINGS WARWICK
