Solent
More people have been walking and cycling in and around Southampton and Hampshire in recent years, with positive benefits for our roads and neighbourhoods, air quality and people’s health. My Journey has a range of information, advice and support to help you make these healthy habits. Visit the My Journey website to find out how they can support you to keep active.
Southampton is a great place to cycle with plenty of opportunities to get out and about on your bike. Use My Journey's Journey Planner to plan your cycling trips from A to B.
The Southampton Cycle Network (SCN) is part of Southampton City Council’s ten year strategy to transform the cycling experience across the city. The network is delivering a series of high quality, safe cycle routes to establish cycling as the norm and create a liveable, thriving city. Take a look at what’s happening on the network.Â
My Journey has also created these useful cycle route maps and videos to help you discover new routes and plan your journeys by bike.
The National Cycle Network is a series of safe, traffic-free lanes and quiet on-road routes that connect to every major city and passes within a mile of 55 per cent of UK homes. It now stretches 14,000 miles across the length and breadth of the British Isles. Sustrans coordinates the development of the National Cycle Network and you can find further information here.
The New Forest has over 100 miles (160 kilometres) of approved cycle routes throughout the forest, providing you with plenty of places to explore on your bike.
CycleStreets is a UK-wide cycle journey planner system which lets you plan routes from A to B by bike. It is designed by cyclists for cyclists and caters for the needs of both confident and less confident cyclists.
When riding on the road, it's generally recommended to favour roads with fewer cars and slower traffic speeds, such as residential streets - it may not always be the most direct, but it will be much more comfortable and may be more interesting as well! If you can't avoid riding on roads with speeds below 35 mph try to favour those with bike lanes or other dedicated infrastructure (if possible).
If you're unsure of how to navigate your city's streets and finding the most comfortable routes for riding, see if your local community has a bike-specific map or consult Google Maps'Â bicycle route feature. You can always ask a friend who rides a bike, or visit your local bike shop for guidance as well!
Find a comfortable place to ride - we like to suggest looking for one of the following:
Make sure to log your ride and earn a badge!