I recently discovered the joys of cycle touring and the benefits of blogging about the journeys. I try to write these blogs on the day of the journey to capture the little things that happen and act as a place for some photographs. I expect this blog is really just a record for myself, to transport myself back occasionally! But I also hope they may provide some useful information for other travellers and maybe a good read for family & friends and certainly cheaper than sending postcards!

My first journey was in 2015 and the posts are in chronological order (newest first). This is great for regular readers but a pain to find specific journeys. The hyperlinks below will take you to the right place in the blog posts for each journey. I have also (tried) to create comprehensive tags, which should group similar posts. I’ve also added a Google Map so that you can navigate to any specific post in a geographic area – I’m quite pleased with this!

Thanks for reading, and please do drop me a line, using the message box, to get in touch or ask any questions.
Matt.

2015 – (Finland, Norway) Arctic Tour.  A four week tour (not all cycling) to Helsinki, St Petersburg, a train up to the Arctic Circle and cycling to Europe’s most northerly lighthouse – Slettnes fyr. Then taking the Hurtigruten ferry to cycle tour along the Lofoten Islands and finally by train to Trondheim. I never quite finished this blog, but I did “write” a book!

2016 – (UK) JOGLE.  A three week classic end to end from John O’Groats to Lands End (JOG-LE). Not without mishaps requiring purchasing a new bike before getting out of Scotland.

2017 – (France) Loire  A two week circular tour cycling from home via a ferry to St. Malo, to the St Nazaire submarine pens, along the Loire, Fontainebleau Forest, Paris and back to Dieppe.

2018 – (Reykjavik Overland) – A three week cycling tour from the UK, through Holland, Germany, Denmark, Faroe Islands and across Iceland. Obviously I used ferries, but some trains and buses were needed to make it work.

2019 – (UK) South Downs Way, A supposed easy three day off-road ride on my doorstep. Turned into an epic ride that took four days and three months to complete.

2020 – (Baltic) I was planning to ride through the Baltic States, but initially COVID, and then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine put paid to that plan. I did do the journey in 2022, but by ferry then buses from Helsinki. I spent a week travelling through Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius and finally Warsaw (for the re staged Speedway GP). It was a great trip but unfortunately I never blogged about it.

2021 – (UK) Coast to Coast. Staying closer to home I rode from across the UK from Lowestoft to St Davids, intercepting my niece who was riding from Lands End to John O’Groats. An very interesting ride just as we were emerging from various lock downs.

During COVID and the various “lockdowns”, I started to walk more. Maybe slower travel meant I could explore more on my own doorstep without travelling too far. So many of my subsequent trips are walks (as well as cycling). I’m not going to rename this website Matt-Walking, but I have added a Category filter if you only want to see one type of travel..

2023 – (UK) Greenwich Meridian Trail In training for a trip to Peru, I started walking the Greenwich Meridian Trail (GMT) a 450km route. The GMT notionally follows the zero longitude line through England. From near Brighton in the south, to passed Hull in the north. Initially I undertook it in daily stages using public transport to get to the route, as I got further from home I did my first multi-day walks, again using public transport and cheap accommodation.

2023 – (Peru) I took the opportunity to travel to Peru for a month. I haven’t written a blog about everything, but have captured a few of the most memorable trips, including walking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

2024 – (UK/Spain) Camino de Santiago I undertook walking the “Camino” to Santiago de Compostella in Galicia, Northern Spain. I devised my own route, walking from home across southern England and a ferry to Santander. I then used some of the lesser used pilgrim routes over the Picos de Europa to join the most popular Camino Frances at Leon and on to SdC.  I walked nearly 800km in 27 days, a real experience.

2024 – (France) D-day Beaches. I had been neglecting cycle touring and decided to head off on a short circular tour visiting all the D-Day beaches in Northern France following the recent 70th anniversary.

2025 – (UK) Coast Path. I had been thinking about a longer term project, and decided to start walking the King Charles III England Coast Path. It’s a bit of a tall order, so I am attacking it county by county, starting in Sussex where I live. It is a work in progress and will likely take many years!

2025 – (UK) Scottish Islands. It was time to get back to my routes (no pun intended, I just can’t spell!), with a long cycle tour in wet/cold conditions! I cycled the length of the Outer Hebrides, crossed the Scottish Highlands, and toured around Orkney and Shetland. It was a bit wet, but not at all cold.

Hope you enjoy reading, or maybe there is some useful information to help/inspire your travels. Please get touch using the form below, or subscribe to get notifications when I update my blog.

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