Читать книгу Cycling London to Paris. The classic Dover/Calais route and the Avenue Verte онлайн

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A compensating breakthrough came in 2012. To celebrate the London Olympics (the choice of venue for which had resurrected old rivalries with a tight contest between the two cities before London was awarded the games) a waymarked cycle route was inaugurated running from centre to centre. Known as the Avenue Verte (Green Avenue) this 387km route uses suburban streets, quiet country roads and cycle tracks along old railway lines to traverse Surrey and Sussex in England and Haute Normandy in France, crossing the English Channel between Newhaven and Dieppe. The route has become popular with cyclists, particularly French cyclists heading for London.

Avenue Verte follows an old railway line from Neufchâtel-en-Bray to Serqueux (Avenue Verte, Stage 5)

However, the Avenue Verte is not the only way of cycling from London to Paris. Traditionally the busiest route has always been via the short ferry link between Dover and Calais, indeed this is the preferred route for British cyclists riding to Paris, many of them undertaking sponsored rides to raise money for charity. This 490km ride (described here as the classic route) is not waymarked as a through journey, but can be ridden following NCN (National Cycle Network) routes through Kent to the English Channel, and then quiet country roads, canal towpaths and dis-used railways across the Pas de Calais and Picardy to reach the Île de France and Paris.