Route

Reading to Birmingham

Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire and the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire. Didcot is south of Oxford, eas ...

Abingdon-on-Thames Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England, on the River Thames. Historically the county town of Berkshire, since 1974 Abingdon has been ad ...

Radley Radley is a village and civil parish about northeast of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfor ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshir ...

, Stratford upon Avon , Bromsgrove ,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

Route 5, as signposted between Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham, runs via Bromsgrove and at the latter stages through Birmingham's south-western suburbs, primarily off-road.

Birmingham to Chester

Stoke on Trent UK National Cycle Route 5 at the Wales England border

The route has a junction with

National Cycle Route 56 National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 56 is a Sustrans National Route that runs from Chester to Liverpool. The route utilises country lanes, a former railway trackbed, a coastal path and a seaside promenade. Route Chester to Hooton The route begi ...

north of

Chester Zoo Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at . The zoo has a total land holding of approximately . Chester Zoo is ope ...

Chester to Holyhead

Chester ,

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on ...

, Bangor ,

Menai Bridge Menai Bridge ( cy, Porthaethwy; usually referred to colloquially as Y Borth) is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thom ...

, Holyhead The track leaves Chester (and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) on the Northern bank of the River Dee. Crossing into Wales, the high quality track crosses the Dee at the side of

Hawarden Bridge Hawarden Bridge (; cy, Pont Penarlâg) is a railway bridge over the River Dee, near Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. It was built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (which later became the Great Central Railway), as part of t ...

and then enters the town of Shotton. At this stage the National Cycle Route heads inland and follows a series of quiet roads. Unfortunately the road surfaces are sometimes poor and gradients steep. There are plans to create a better quality route following the coast. At

Talacre Talacre is a village in Flintshire on the north coast of Wales in the community of Llanasa and the electoral ward of Ffynnongroyw, and is the northernmost mainland settlement in Wales. The village itself has a population of 347 as of the 2011 cen ...

the coastal route improves again. It passes through a large caravan site and golf course en route to

Prestatyn Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085, History Prehistory There is evidence that ...

. From Prestatyn westwards the route hugs the coast and in many places one is just a few metres from the sea. The path continues through

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the historic boundaries of Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at the mouth of the River Clwyd ( Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd''). To the we ...

where it crosses the River Clwyd and then to

Kinmel Bay Kinmel Bay ( cy, Bae Cinmel) is a seaside village in Conwy County Borough, north-east Wales. It is also an electoral ward to the county council and town council. The resort town of Rhyl lies just across the River Clwyd in the neighbouring coun ...

Pensarn Pensarn is a suburb of Abergele in Conwy County Borough, Wales, the name Pensarn means 'end of the causeway' in English. The crossing of Morfa Rhuddlan was facilitated by a causeway near the sea, located at this point. This causeway was later de ...

Llanddulas Llanddulas is a village in Conwy county borough, Wales, midway between Old Colwyn and Abergele and next to the North Wales Expressway in the community of Llanddulas and Rhyd-y-Foel. The village lies beneath the limestone hill of Cefn-yr-Og ...

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

and Llandudno. The Llandudno promenade, although not on the official route, is a much better route than the official line which was created before the promenade was opened to cyclists after a long campaign. The path was much improved West of

in September 2012 by the creation of a traffic free cycle path which now bypasses a particularly dangerous stretch of the A55. Heading further west, the path is highly engineered around the

Penmaenmawr Penmaenmawr (, ) is a town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, which was formerly in the parish of Dwygyfylchi and the traditional county of Caernarfonshire. It is on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan and was a ...

area before following quiet lanes into Bangor. Cycle route 5 - geograph

Since 2012,

Wales Coast Path The Wales Coast Path ( cy, Llwybr Arfordir Cymru) is a designated long-distance trail which follows, or runs close to, the coastline of Wales. Launched in 2012, the footpath is long and was heralded as the first dedicated coast path in the wor ...

in North Wales follows part of the Reading to Holyhead National Cycle Route 5. It crosses (with road traffic) the

Menai Suspension Bridge The Menai Suspension Bridge ( cy, Pont y Borth, Pont Grog y Borth) is a suspension bridge spanning the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. Designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826, it was the world's f ...

and terminates in Holyhead. Much of the road across

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

follows country lanes rather than dedicated bike tracks.

References

External links

Sustrans Route 5
National Cycle Routes Transport in Oxfordshire Transport in Warwickshire Transport in Worcestershire Transport in Staffordshire Transport in Cheshire {{UK-road-stub