Designed specifically for families with young children and for those wanting to enjoy a holiday with a bit of cycling, this trip is traffic free, gentle and flat taking you deep into the gorgeous countryside of the Chilterns.
Designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty, the Chilterns are lightly populated and not so well known but home to The Carter Company. The hills are the backdrop to chalk streams, beech woods, scattered villages, more wildlife than you can dream about and small farms with a patchwork of cattle and arable fields. Dotted around are historic gems from the chateau and museum of the Rothschild family to the locks and canals of waterways and the imaginations of local author Roald Dahl. Add in local food highlights and you have plenty to enjoy each day.
The carefully chosen routes use cycle paths, bridleways and canal towpaths most of the time giving you a traffic free ride through nature and peace of mind. Distances are short giving an unhurried meander through wilderness countryside designed to refresh and inspire the whole family.
Holiday details
Price
- Classic
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from £750 per person
Based on 2 adults & 1 child sharing 1 room; £485 pp based on 2 adults & 2 children sharing 2 rooms; £565 pp based on 2 adults & 1 child in 2 rooms; £590 pp for a couple
Based on two people sharing a room
Duration
4 nights
Start & Finish
Starts daily in Aston Clinton. Nearest stations are Tring or Wendover, 50 minutes from London
Hotels
- Classic
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small village hotel
Holiday type
Self-guided so you are free to explore at your own pace. More info...
Activity level
Gentle cycling (1) More info...
Electric bikes
Maybe available
Mileage
9 -12 miles (14-19 km) per day
Terrain
Flat
What’s included?
Ensuite accommodation every night with breakfast. The services of our friendly local Hosts. Luggage transfers between hotels. Touring bikes and accessories. 24/7 phone contact number. Adventure Handbook with our local tips. GPS Routes on an App with waterproof phone holder. Guidebook or OS maps. Protection of your funds. Advice, help and guidance planning your trip.
Adult and children's bikes - parking for the duration of the tour - Roald Dahl's Children's Gallery - Waddesdon Manor grounds - transfer back to hotel on day 4 - . Read About Our Trips for further details
Traffic-free
97%
Options
- Hire a canal boat for the day
- Book chocolate bar making at Rumseys
- Add one of our gentle walks in the Chilterns
- Add one of our gentle traffic free rides along the Thames
- Go Ape in Wendover Woods
- Visit the Roald Dahl Musuem in Great Missenden
Itinerary day-by-day
Classic
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1. Day one
Arrive Aston Clinton
Arrive in the Buckinghamshire village of Aston Clinton between Tring and Aylesbury and settle into your small hotel in the heart of the village. There's a vast park and playground nearby with the wooded Chiltern hills as a marvellous backdrop. Dinner is usually available at your hotel if booked in advance with several other eating options too in the village.
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2. Day two
Circular ride to Wendover
Your host will meet you this morning after breakfast to brief you on the itinerary and fit your bikes. Then you are off through the village and shortly beyond onto a traffic free ride that is delightfully flat. Spot the wildlife and pause in blue bell beech woods as this shady route takes you through a peaceful rural scene and past the occasional hamlet before reaching the lovely Chiltern village of Wendover. The highlight for the family here is the chocolaterie at Rumseys, including ice cream, smoothies and some enticing sweets for later. For you, pop into the speciality English cheese shop, the antiques emporium or the arty shops in the courtyard. The riding home is flat and traffic free too!
9 miles (14 km)
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3. Day three
Circuclar ride to Tring
Heading in a different direction today, still on a largely traffic free and flat route, discover 3 canals, a staircase lock, reed beds and waterfowl, big vistas to the hills, tiny hump back bridges, colourful barges and fields of horses, cattle and rape - brilliant yellow if you are visiting at the right time. Enjoy a picnic perhaps before you emerge from the wilderness into characterful Tring where there is plenty to entice adults and children, not least of which is the unexpected treat of Walter Rothschild's private collection of wildlife which now forms the Natural History Museum adjacent to his former mansion. He kept a bevy of zebra to pull his horse and trap....dream on and freewheel home.
12 miles (19 km)
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4. Day four
Circular ride to Waddesdon
Another day of adventure takes you west and traffic free again through deep countryside where you feel a million miles away from civilisation. We have a safe route through the market town of Aylesbury leading you to the Roald Dahl Experience. Be Charlie, the Twits, Matilda or James but leave on 2 wheels and weave your way on cycle paths and the occasional back road to the grand French chateau of another Rothschild at Waddesdon Manor. Surrounded by lush countryside, you will probably find the grounds and their huge trees and playground a fitting end to the ride. Top off the day building a den with lashings of ginger beer and the chateau's home-made ice cream and sweet treats. No need to pedal home - we transfer you back to Aston Clinton for your final night's stay.
12 miles (19 km)
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5. Day five
Depart Aston Clinton
Unless we have persuaded you to take a few extra days in the Chilterns continuing your adventure, depart at your leisure after breakfast.