The Wye Valley National Landscape offers infinite possibilities for exploration by bike, whether road biking, cycle touring, gravel riding or mountain biking. With stunning scenery at every turn and hundreds of miles of quiet country lanes, bridleways, woodland tracks and traffic-free greenways, there’s a great day out by bike for everyone.
On this page you can access our own route guides, information on local cycling facilities, including cycle hire, bike-friendly cafes and accommodation and onward links to clubs, guides and and bike events in the area.
The Wye Valley National Landscape is publishing a series of route guides for cycling in the area. These are aimed at moderately experienced recreational riders and are on a mixture of quiet lanes, gravel tracks and cycleways. There may be occasional short sections on busier roads when unavoidable. Each route is described in a leaflet which can be downloaded here as a PDF (or available in paper form from tourist information centres, bike shops and accommodation providers).
The routes are also available via RideWithGPS and Komoot. These are websites and free smartphone apps which provide mapping and turn-by-turn navigation.
A 35km loop from Chepstow to Tintern, taking in the Tidenham Tunnel and returning via the wooded hills on the west bank of the Wye. PLEASE NOTE that Tidenham Tunnel closes for the winter and will reopen on 1st April 2024. All facilities at the Diving Centre, including parking, are now permanently closed.
View on Ride with GPS (free app for maps and navigation)
View on Komoot (free app for maps and navigation)
Wye Valley Experience. Bike shop, repair workshop and bike hire just outside Tintern. 01291 619177. Kingstone Brewery, Meadow Farm, Tintern, NP16 7NX.
Ace Bicycles. Bike shop and repair workshop (01600 715071) Unit 3 Rockfield Rd, Monmouth NP25 5AU.
Pedalabikeaway. Bike shop, bike hire, coaching and guiding (01594 729000) Main base at Cannop Valley, near Coleford GL16 7EH.
Revolutions. Bike shop and repair workshop (01989 562639) 48 Broad Street, Ross on Wye HR9 7DY.
Tools, a public bike pump and repair spares are available at the Filling Station Cafe (07770 544592) Tintern NP16 6SF (open Friday-Monday)
Several sections of the old railway line between Chepstow and Hereford are accessible as traffic-free greenways for walking and cycling. The gentle gradients make them ideal places for children, novice riders and anyone who prefers an easy ride.
1. Wye Valley Greenway: Sedbury to Tintern via the Tidenham Tunnel. Newly opened 5-mile section using the 1000m long Tidenham Tunnel (open 1 April – 30 April: 8am-6pm; 1 May – 15 Aug: 7am-7pm; 16 Aug – 30 Sep: 8am-6pm). From 1 Oct to 31 March the tunnel is closed. There is a detour route via Boughspring. PLEASE NOTE all facilities at the Diving Centre, including parking, are now permanently closed.
2. Brockweir to Bigsweir. This is now a bridleway and open to cycling. It is often muddy and overgrown, but it is passable by adventurous mountain-bikers.
2. Whitebrook to Lower Penallt. A good gravel track runs through woodland on the western bank of the river.
3. Redbrook to Wyesham. Not officially a right of way, the unsurfaced trackbed is widely used by local cyclists, and an upgrade is part of local plans for improving cycling in the Monmouth area.
4. Peregrine Path: Monmouth to Symonds Yat East. An excellent 7.5 mile riverside cycleway through fields and woodland that’s popular with families.
There are dozens of byways, bridleways and forest tracks in the Wye Valley that are ideal for mountain biking. The area around the village of Staunton, between Redbrook in the south and Symonds Yat in the north, is particularly popular.
The Forest of Dean, which adjoins the Wye Valley to the east, is a mountain-biking mecca in its own right, with forest tracks, bridleways and the renowned Cannop trail centre which is run by the Forestry Commission. There are trails for all abilities and inclinations, from the Family Trail and the blue-rated Verderers Trail to the red-rated Freeminers Trail, many downhill trails and a pump track.
