Between Steppingley and Flitwick from near John Bunyan trail Between Steppingley and Flitwick from near John Bunyan trail. Photo: ian saunders / Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Open the interactive map → Map of NCN 48 - National Byway Central

Official route · Sustrans

NCN 48 - National Byway Central

444.9 km 3216 m climbing About 5 days 5% off road Road cycling East of England

The route runs south to north through Cambridgeshire before turning west and then south-west, so the early miles out of Cambridge across to Everton and Wilden are flat and fast.

The surface is almost entirely road. From Quainton onward the ground begins to lift through the Cotswolds, with the climbing concentrated in the middle and later sections around Northleach, Greet and Prescott. West of Ledbury the route pushes into the hills toward Presteigne, where the day's legs show.

The figures

Distance444.9 km
Climbing3216 m
Off road22 km, about 5% of the route
Riding timeabout 25 hours, roughly 5 days at a moderate pace
RegionEast of England
Route fromSustrans

Worth knowing before you go

Settlements thin out noticeably between Harrold and Steppingley and again between Kiddington and Northleach, so carry food and water through those stretches. The route is about 5% off road, and that proportion is not evenly spread, so check the surface conditions ahead of the wilder sections west of Ledbury. Presteigne and Slough appear within a hundred metres of each other at the far end, which is worth confirming on the map before you arrive.

Put your own dates on this and TourTrax splits it into days at your pace, finds somewhere to sleep at the end of each one, estimates what it will cost and gets you to the start without flying.

Plan this route → Download the GPX

Other route guides

NCN 48 - National Byway Central is an official route from Sustrans (their website).