Cotswold Little Explorers

We took a family bike ride on Cycle route 47, located in the Cotswold Lakes area near South Cerney, Gloucestershire. This bike ride is mostly traffic free, along an old railway line past lakes and countryside with cotswold villages to explore.

Distance: Approx 8 miles

Time taken: 3 hours with a long stop for lunch in South Cerney, and walking in to the villages (to avoid road cycling). We stopped alot for my littlest to ‘rest his legs’, too!

Traffic free? Mostly. The majority of the bike ride is along an old railway line, so no cars, but there are roads to cross at two points. If entering the village of South Cerney or town of Cricklade, you will have to ride along minor roads (or altenatively dismount and walk on the pavement for a short distance – we did this).

It is also worth adding that if you start from the visitors centre (free parking) you will have to ride along a busy road to start the trail (about 1 mile). We chose to drive to the Bridge car park (pay by ringgo) to avoid this section of road.

Parking: If you choose Gateway visitors centre to park, it is free. GL7 5TL.

We parked at Brick Arch Bridge Car Park, GL7 5TH, 1 minute up the road, to join directly on to the trail and to avoid riding on the busy B4696.

Food/ drink: Before we started the ride we went to the Gateway cafe at the visitors centre to start the day with a coffee- it was so nice inside, with great coffee, the food looked good and the tables overlooking the lake were lovely. Next time we are coming for a full english breakfast!

There are two lovely looking pubs along the riverside in South Cerney as well as a cafe and a co-op.  We didn’t venture in to Cricklade, but this town also has food and drink options avaliable.

Description:

Brick Arch Bridge – South Cerney – Cricklade – Brick Arch Bridge

Visitor’s Centre

The Cotswold Lakes area, formerly known as Cotswold Water Park, is an area of fishing lakes, villages and the Thame canal with interconnecting cycle paths, footpaths and roads. We arrived at 930am.and headed to the Gateway Cafe which was lovely – we reccommend a stop here! The coffee was great and its a lovely spot overlooking the water. We didnt try the breakfasts bit they looked good, too.

We then went to the visitors centre to see what was what – they staff were very friendly and knowlegdable, and provided us with a map of the area showing all the different footpaths and cycleways. We reccomend doing this as it was really helpful.

Starting off- Brick Arch Bridge Car Park

We decided on cycle route 47 which stretches from Cricklade to South Cerney. This is pretty much totally traffic free as it is along an old railway line. This is exactly what we wanted with the kids in tow. To avoid cycling on a main rpad, we jumped back in the car and drive a mjnute up the road from the visitors centre to Brick Arch Bridge Car Park. From here we jojned the cycle path directly, first heading to the village of South Cerney.

It only took 15 minutes to reach South Cerney, we got off our bikes and walked them in to the village centre (we found the roads are quiet if you want to road cycle in). After a stop by the river for lunch we got back on the trail and headed back on ourselves to Cricklade.

South Cerney to Cricklade

We got back on cycle route 47 and followed the path back the way we came to the Brick Arch Car Park. From hwre. We crossed a busy road and the cycle path continues directly opposite all the way to Cricklade. The path is mostly flat, with one or two small inclines over a bridge. It is stoney but perfectly manageable with a normal mountain bike or hybrid. There are lots of birds and butterflies and sounds of nature, although not many views as the hedgerows are quite high. It feels like a lovely countryside ride, though. From the map we could see options to leave the main trail and follow a lakeside cycle route but we didn’t have time this visit – maybe next time! This section took about 30 mins.

Cricklade to Brick Arch Bridge.

When we reached the outskirts of Cricklade we turned around and rode back to the car park. We didnt explore the town of Cricklade this time as my son was getting tired, but next time we would love to have a look.

Summary

All in all it was a nice and simple bike ride, that is very safe for the kids. The route is shared between runners and dog walkers etc but we didnt find it overly busy on a sunny spring Sunday. If you are comfortable with taking your kids on the road, there are more options to explore the area as there are a lot of cycle routes that go around the lakes or between villages that switch between cycle paths and road cycling. We recommend a trip to the visitors centre to see the different trails on offer.