1. Yorkshire Dales, England:
Bank holidays and the occasional sunny weekend aside, the roads are blissfully quiet, making jaunts from dale to dale a rare joy on this crowded isle. And, while nowhere in the UK can compare with the Tour de France climbs of the Alps or Pyrenees, in Yorkshire it wouldn't be considered proper cycling for the roads to have hairpins to even out the ascent. Instead, the climbs from valley bottom to moor top are usually a succession of false flats and intensely steep pitches. What better way, though, to appreciate the scent of heather and the curlew's plaintive cry than the 20 minutes you've just spent toiling up Fleet Moss, or Park Rash, or Buttertubs Pass…
2.South Downs, England:
It's probably not the best known cycling destination in Europe, or even in the UK, but the South Downs merit inclusion in this list for providing 100 miles of almost exclusively car-free riding between Winchester and Eastbourne. The South Downs Way bridleway is off-road cycling at its most inviting. Hardcore mountain bikers can indulge themselves by plunging down the steep scarp faces while the rest of us can pootle along the ridge and admire the view. You don't even really need a mountain bike for large parts of the route – anything with slightly fatter tyres than a racing bike will do. By the time you've added in the network of little lanes that emanate from the ridge proper and the benign climate of the south-east you have a minor cycling paradise.
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