Classic Wye Valley Cycling

Location: Shropshire and Wye Valley, Great Britain. Holiday type: Independent cycling, hotel-to-hotel. Managed by Headwater appointed agent. Activity level: 1 bike Duration: 6 days (5 nights) Hotels: Luxury/stylish. Meals: Breakfasts. Prices from: Please call. Departs: Selected Sundays from 25 May '12 to 23 Sep '12   JFMAMJJASOND

Highlights A popular 5-night cycling circuit taking in the quintessential British Wye Valley: Iron Age forts, the Black Mountains, the Welsh Marches and the lovely market town of Ludlow, food capital of central England!

Day-by-day itinerary

Arrive in Ludlow

Visit the castle before dining out in one of the town's many restaurants.

Ludlow to Presteigne 24km/15mi

After being kitted out with your bike, cycle west from busy Ludlow into open country along the Teme Valley, winding through protected nature reserves along the River Lugg, where otters and orchids thrive below hilltop forests of yellow gorse. Freewheel into water meadows entering the Welsh Marches to reach the gorgeous market town of Presteigne, where your half-timbered black and white Elizabethan hotel awaits with an invitingly sunny beer garden - bliss!

Presteigne to Hay on Wye 32km/20mi or 64km/40mi

Choose between an easy 20 mile ride leading across the floodplains of the River Wye, or try a challenging 40 mile route looping into Wales, leading through fairytale hidden valleys where you can stop to paddle in crystal streams. On arrival in Hay take a stroll into town to enjoy the pubs and bookshops.

Hay on Wye

Hay - a tiny market town on the Welsh English border - is world famous for its literary festival and amazing range of bookshops - some of them outdoors! Give the bike a rest and explore a local riverside walk, or spin out to visit a C9 Crannog, a Royal Celtic dwelling on an island in Llangorse Lake - a designated nature reserve full of curlew and dippers (28 miles). If you fancy a challenge, head into the Black Mountains up to Gospel Pass for incredible views over the Wye Valley, before a long freewheel back to Hay (16 miles) - we provide notes for both excursions.

Hay on Wye to Kingsland 40km/25mi

Cherry blossom in the hedgerows and poplar trees dotted with mistletoe lead you from Wales into Herefordshire where hills and valleys are replaced by cider orchards and hop fields! Admire the listed Georgian dovecote by the River Arrow in Eardisland, then on arriving in Kingsland, explore the church, the site of a mass grave from the Battle of Mortimer's Cross in 1461 - very spooky at night!

Kingsland to Ludlow 13km/8mi

An easy last day brings you back into Shropshire crossing from the valley of the River Lugg to the River Teme once again. You pass the oldest timber structure in the UK - the wooden bell tower in Yarpole dating from the C10! Visit either C14 Croft Castle for lunch in the gorgeous tea-rooms, or picnic up at Croft Ambrey - a beautifully preserved Iron Age fort dating from 390BC, and from whose ramparts you can see 14 counties!