# London to Newhaven



## db7db7 (3 May 2012)

Hi,

firstly sorry if this has been answered before but i've been trawling t'internet for weeks. Basically a friend an I are cycling from london to Paris in around 4 weeks time. We've sorted the Dieppe-Paris route through help from this guy:www.donaldhirsch.com/dieppeparis.pdf
However, all we can find on the london-newhaven leg is that it's route 21 of the national cycle network. Does anyone have a link for a detailed map of this which tells us where to go from central London and each change along the way. The only maps i've seen so far are overviews. I've even looked into buying a map like this but can't find one anywhere.

Thanks in advance for your help and apologies if i'm being a bit thick!!!
D


----------



## stephenjubb (3 May 2012)

http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/leisureandtourism/countryside/cycling/guidesandmaps/ncn/ncr21.htm


----------



## stephenjubb (3 May 2012)

best I could find

http://www.sustransshop.org.uk/products/5293-south-downs-way
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/national-cycle-network/route-numbering-system/route-21


----------



## Ticktockmy (4 May 2012)

The NCN 21 Route in places is not well signed and in Places is quite rough track, After Crawley you need Route NCN 20 which follows in the main the A23 into Brighton. Personally From London I would put the bikes on the train from London and go either to Redhill, East Grinstead or Haywards Heath and ride South from there, as some nice quite small roads heading down to Lewes and this will allow you to arrive in Newhaven in time for the evening Ferry.


----------



## ceepeebee (4 May 2012)

NCN21 is indeed a complete pig of a track for a lot of it's length - I tried to ride some of it in March or so and it takes in a few paths which would have been tricky on a mountain bike, never mind a kaffenback.

In particular the stretch between New Addington and Merstham (the ace little private road round by the posh school at Woldingham excepted) is horrible, and actually diverts you off some lovely lanes.

NCN20 has a few buggers too - some of that last year actually seemed paved in broken crockery....


You might want to look up the FNRttC from last year that went to Newhaven and see if someone posted a GPS track?


----------



## Ticktockmy (4 May 2012)

If you follow the River Ouse valley, or the A23 you will avoid some annoying Hills, but not all, because a lot of the roads heading south have to climb over the South Downs and the Wealden area does have some interesting short sharp hills.


----------



## CopperBrompton (5 May 2012)

I'm cycling this route a week on Monday. I gather there's a decent cycle path alongside the A23 for quite a lot of it - where does this begin?


----------



## Ticktockmy (5 May 2012)

In Crawley, the Junction of the NCN21 and 20 is in the part of Crawley called Furnace green, where it the NCN 20 heads across Tilgate park and Tilgate forest to Parish Lane, However that is an off road route, comprising graded gravel track across the Tilgate Park Golf course then sand and earth through Tilgate forest.

For a all tarmac route the NCN 20 is signed posted from the Southgate Ave/A23 Roundabout (the one with the big football in the middle of it) through Broadfields up to Pease pottage then then route heads into Handscross, then into Staplefield, then signposted down Staplefield lane to the A23 at the B2115/A23 Flyover it runs down into Bolney where it follows the old road.

It then stays alongside the A23 until it heads off along the B2118 into Sayers Common, it then runs alongside the A23 again into Brighton. I would say I have not ridden the section from Bolney for some years, as i found that in Parts the cycle track was covered in Litter and tree routes, much prefer to use the C road that runs to the east of the A23 from Broxmead lane(Wykehurst Park/ Broxmead Lane/ A23 Junction) to Hurstpierpoint.


----------



## CopperBrompton (5 May 2012)

Thanks for that. The route I'm defaulting to is this one, which joins the A23 at Clayton Hill:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/78233190/

Does that look sensible, do you think? I don't know the area at all.


----------



## Ticktockmy (6 May 2012)

To be honest the coast road A259 is not a good road for a cyclist, too much traffic, personally from Haywards heath or Burgess hill I would use the minor roads to head to Lewes, then use the Kingston/Rodmell road into Newhaven


----------



## CopperBrompton (6 May 2012)

Thanks - I'm guessing that's Kingston Road and Piddinghoe out of Lewes? Looks a bit shorter too.

How does it compare hill-wise? I, er, haven't done much cycling lately so will probably not be overly appreciative of the South Downs by that stage, so flatter is better. :-)


----------



## martint235 (6 May 2012)

Here's the route we used for the Friday Night Ride to the Coast to Newhaven last July. It doesn't follow cycle routes as such but is a very pleasant ride (even in the middle of the night!)


----------



## CopperBrompton (6 May 2012)

Thanks, and that answers my elevation question on the Lewes bit - that looks fine.


----------



## Rymo (6 May 2012)

Did this for the first time last month (but to Brighton). Just google map the route using the 'walk' function, easy enough all on back lanes pretty much


----------



## CopperBrompton (6 May 2012)

Must say I'm not a fan of google's walking routes as cycle routes - too many junctions, and some of the paths aren't too practical on a trike.


----------



## Rymo (6 May 2012)

Yeah sometimes the walking directions can take you down one way streets the wrong way etc. but I usually just get the general direction and a list of towns then head on my way and ask for directions if needed on route


----------



## CopperBrompton (6 May 2012)

I'm lazier than that, and hate stopping all the time, so prefer a known good route I can load into my GPS and then let that take care of the navigation while I sit back and enjoy the scenery. :-)

Of course, the French side of the ride won't be quite like that, so I'm supplementing the GPS route with PDFs on my iPad and even paper maps!


----------



## dellzeqq (6 May 2012)

if you're leaving from Hyde Park Corner...

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Hyde Park Corner&daddr=51.315271,-0.150289 to:51.2524151,-0.1959373 to:51.19831,-0.18332 to:51.152808,-0.1466269 to:51.142383,-0.0984139 to:51.0186782,-0.0761082 to:50.94689,-0.05783 to:N Way/A259&hl=en&ll=51.487155,-0.155869&spn=0.089041,0.154324&sll=50.816999,0.034504&sspn=0.090343,0.154324&geocode=FbbfEQMdnKz9_yk_c5E1JQV2SDEflY3ow3Phrw;FUcCDwMd77T9_ylvGdUpG_11SDExQKmqLa4OEw;Fb8MDgMdnwL9_ykNpOjbr-R1SDGQHdCqLa4OEw;FWY5DQMd6DP9_yl1Z0sStfp1SDGBC2Y2xoUREw;FaiHDAMdPsP9_yk3uo6SW_B1SDFR0CHRA2mvBw;Fe9eDAMdk3_-_yknknZV0fB1SDE1nzb_QOPD8g;FbZ7CgMdtNb-_ykRA9BDsfR1SDEQHM6tLa4OEw;FUpjCQMdGh7__yldSOMsxot1SDFQ6X-tLa4OEw;FbgQBwMdzMkAAA&oq=newhaven&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=8&sz=13&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7&t=m&z=13

and Dieppe to Paris

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Dieppe, France&daddr=Saint-Saëns, France to:49.59185,1.35144 to:49.43042,1.55119 to:49.1473,1.97355 to:49.11902,2.01448 to:49.0817859,2.0692337 to:49.04877,2.10175 to:49.0251401,2.1386971 to:48.9945772,2.1939412 to:48.9856442,2.2240142 to:48.9730811,2.2542151 to:48.9577556,2.3023075 to:48.94005,2.34478 to:48.8861,2.35942 to:48.8755,2.3567 to:Av. Victoria&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sll=48.891132,2.378197&sspn=0.094017,0.154324&geocode=FbDD-QId63AQACn5GQZnB6LgRzFFhUF4PQqirg;FXr09QIdL5YTACkXqyoSMsjgRzFWIfMK7bSdpA;FSq29AIdEJ8UACmNXKL7DczgRzFnwAQm0AnkWA;FZQ_8gIdVqsXACmVtgLjKSnnRzEx1xw7SBQMEw;FaTt7QIdLh0eAClj05uZUvDmRzHRDrWHw4ILEw;FSx_7QIdEL0eACnDAjrDRfHmRzEDY9vjmWyk9Q;Fbnt7AId8ZIfACkz1fe9SvTmRzFB49WHw4ILEw;FcJs7AId9hEgACn37mKUZfXmRzGv6TfsDleYsQ;FXQQ7AIdSaIgACnB33613l_mRzE4-uyAEOEecw;FRGZ6wIdFXohACkZ3uUGzGDmRzG4b5ARXVwuNg;FSx26wIdju8hACnffMo9GWfmRzFxiBhKw4ILEw;FRlF6wIdh2UiACnhZgMOTmbmRzGgehpMw4ILEw;FTsJ6wIdYyEjACl_lFcDvmjmRzF_6uffsJZy3A;FRLE6gIdTMcjACkzzn6-M2nmRzGA8WdJw4ILEw;FVTx6QIdfAAkACmTxpmhem7mRzFfECskpietqw;FezH6QId3PUjACmP9duvEm7mRzGwFhiIw4ILEw;FVqC6QIdhtMjAA&oq=paris&mra=dpe&mrsp=15&sz=13&via=2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15&t=m&z=13

although you can go straight through the centre of Marines on a bike. And good luck finding your way through the centre of Pontoise - the signage is non-existent. Lots of the D915 isn't fun, but it gets you there, and there's not much by way of alternative. We skipped the pony cycle paths beside the road because they stopped at every roundabout.

It goes without saying that the sensible thing to do is to start at midnight, catch the morning crossing and continue that afternoon, get an early night and make the rest of the distance the next day


----------



## CopperBrompton (6 May 2012)

Thanks, I'm assuming that's a FNRttC route? Gatwick for 24H food ... but probably a bit urban in the day, especially as I'm doing it on a weekday.


----------



## Crankarm (6 May 2012)

Why not just buy the OS maps and plot your own route?

I would definitely take the train from London to Croydon or Redhill then bike the rest. Or just take the train all the way to Newhaven and just cycle onto the ferry and start riding proper in France.


----------



## CopperBrompton (6 May 2012)

Because recommendations from people who've actually cycled a route are worth much more than guesses based on looking at a map.

And it wouldn't be London to Paris if I took the train part of the way!


----------



## Russell Allen (10 May 2012)

I have just cycled from Big Ben to near Newhaven and went almost exclusively on cycle paths and small roads until the last 20 miles. NCN21 is indeed very badly signed but if you have a garmin or similar I will send you the route. I downloaded this from someone else, its far from perfect but with a little interpretation and common sense it will get you out of london without going on any main roads.

Russell


----------



## CopperBrompton (10 May 2012)

Thanks, Russell, but I'm not a great fan of UK cycle paths. I've basically combined the Bikehike route with advice from here on the backroads to take from Haywards Heath.

I'm sticking with main roads until I'm out of London as you tend to be keeping pace with the flow of traffic anyway, it's only once on the open road that I like to get onto quieter roads to avoid a big speed differential.


----------



## CopperBrompton (19 May 2012)

Was a really nice route, aside from the obvious hilliness of the South Downs (when I'm world dictator, I shall have a few tunnels installed). Will post the GPX of the route when I get home.


----------



## steve rastall (28 Dec 2013)

Russell Allen said:


> I have just cycled from Big Ben to near Newhaven and went almost exclusively on cycle paths and small roads until the last 20 miles. NCN21 is indeed very badly signed but if you have a garmin or similar I will send you the route. I downloaded this from someone else, its far from perfect but with a little interpretation and common sense it will get you out of london without going on any main roads.
> 
> Russell



Hi Russell,
Myself and 8 other riders are doing the London to Paris ride for charity and I have the route on my Garmin from Dieppe to Paris but need a good route from London to Newhaven can you help me please. I would be very grateful if you could send me your Garmin map. I have tried downloading some GPX files from the Donald Hirsche site but they do not work on the Garmin.

Many thanks
Steve (Sheffield)


----------



## andym (31 Dec 2013)

steve rastall said:


> I have tried downloading some GPX files from the Donald Hirsche site but they do not work on the Garmin.



I can't see anything wrong with the files on donaldhirsch.com - you just need to remove the .txt suffix. I've used Basecamp to convert the route file to a track. I've redownloaded the track and opened it in Basecamp so you shouldn't have any problem using it on your gps - although, as the track has 1313 trackpoints, if you have an old gpx you might need to simplify it or chop it into chunks (of 500 track points or fewer).

The route itself looks sensible, but I don't know the area very well so I'll leave other people to comment on whether it's your best option.


----------



## craig malkin (25 Mar 2014)

Hi andym,

Just looking at the route you`ve done above which I`ve put on basecamp and into my garmin. Is it the route that is on the Donald Hirsch Avenue Verte site which has been done by Chris Smith?

Thanks

Craig


----------

