As George notes in the comments below, the Thames Path between Whitchurch and Goring has some short steep sections and can be muddy after heavy rain. Cautious riders, or those with skinny tyres, may choose to walk the steeper sections or to take a diversion by turning right onto the B471 towards Whitchurch Hill then turning left onto the lane marked Chiltern Way on the map.
Also, following discussion in the comments below regarding Sulham Hill, I am suggesting that readers consider avoiding this as it’s quite steep with no verge or footway and can be busy with impatient motorists and comes towards the end of the ride when legs are at their tiredest. To avoid Sulham Hill, turn left at the 33km mark (about 1.5km before of Tidmarsh) and follow the Bere Court Road into Pangbourne where you either cross the Thames and retrace the route back to Reading from earlier in the ride (the safe option), or stay on the south side of the Thames and follow the Thames path back to Reading, which involves a little wiggling around Purley-on-Thames and riding on what is, legally speaking, a footpath. I’d be grateful to anyone who does follow this alternative to report back in the comments on how it worked out for them. Thanks!!
Map (zoom in for more detail)
Download file for GPSDirections and GPX
Route directions PDF (right click to download)
GPX file (right click to download)
Did this this today – it was a damp but enjoyable ride. I think a warning about the Thames Path between Whitchurch and Goring is in order. It really is not suitable for road bikes. It rises well above the river and has some sections that are so steep and slippery when wet that it’s impossible to stop on them. It has some rough sections that would be a bit precarious on road tyres even in dry weather. I’d recommend using the road alternative marked ‘Chiltern Way’. Even some earlier sections of Thames Path between Reading and Whitchurch are slow and rough going on a road bike with 27mm wide tyres.
I didn’t do the Ridgeway path but used the B4009 from Goring to Aldworth as suggested. There is a challenging hill immediately after crossing the river, but it is very low-traffic for a B road.
I forgot to mention: The Bell at Aldworth is indeed a candidate for ‘the best pub in England’. Don’t miss it!
Hi George, I’ll add a note about that stretch of path between Whitchurch and Goring. I’ve ridden it with friends on road bikes (25mm tyres, including one on a fixed wheel) and it was fine and dry in high summer. It really is a lovely stretch through mature beech woods, dappled sunlight and plenty of secluded spots for a dip in the river (or an overnight camp).
However, I am sure it can get muddy after heavy rain or in the winter/spring.
There are some short steep sections but I would say that this is the moment for the ‘two foot gear’ (walking).
Jack,
Good comment.
Here is the GPS trace of my ride: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=vwiaodxcmtjxhrez
Note that gives my total climb as 447m. That’s as calculated by gpsies.com from satellite contour data.
George
Hi there, I’ve downloaded the GPX file for this route, but it’s only a track and not a route. Does anyone have the route GPX file so that we can follow this route using Viewfinder? Thanks! Felix
Hi, is this route likely to be a no go area due to flooding? We had been thinking of doing it next weekend!
Hello. I did this route today with my son, our first from the “Lost Lanes” book. Tougher than I thought it would be but a great ride. The return leg is much faster than the outward one and the views at the end of the climbs were very much worth the effort. I downloaded the GPX file and used the Co-Rider App on my Iphone4 for the navigation which worked pretty well. Finding long term free parking in Reading is nigh on impossible (same as any town or city) so we parked up about a a mile and a half away and cycled to the start point. Oh…and there’s an Alpacca farm to look out for on the route.
I did the ride this morning and should have checked some of the warnings above first! Although it was a fine morning, the recent rain turned sections of the outward journey into a quagmire (especially the Whitchurch to Goring section mentioned above), despite being on a hybrid bike with 38mm tyres. The return journey, which is mainly on roads and lanes until the final Thames Path section, was considerably easier going.
I did manage to find parking in the public car park on Thames Side Promenade, just to the SW of Caversham Bridge. However, even though I arrived early on a Sunday morning I was lucky to find a space, probably due to the proximity of both the boat house and hotel.
I think I will return in the summer, use the train this time and give myself more time to enjoy a stop at The Bell en route!
I did this ride on Tuesday 23rd June. It was an absolutely superb route on a glorious day. Found a fabulous swimming spot between Mapledurham and Goring. There were a couple of bits of the Thames path where I had to get off and walk, but it was definitely worth it for the lovely path through the beech woods above the Thames.
One comment – the last bit of road before you turn off towards Purley on Thames was a really tough climb (I don’t mind hills) and I actually had to get off and push, which was a bit terrifying as its a pretty narrow national speed limit road with a couple of blind bends. I happened to be there at school run time, so maybe traffic was worse than normal, but it was very busy too, and there’s no verge to walk along. Looking at the map when I got back I wondered whether an alternative would be to take the A340 into Pangbourne and rejoin the Thames from there, and take that all the way back to the station.
Otherwise a really super trip!
Hi Sarah,
Glad you enjoyed the ride. Sulham Hill, yes it’s not especially nice, even outside the school run. Two alternatives present themselves. The first is to head north from Sulham along Sulham Lane, then down the footpath to the Thames, and turn right onto the Thames Path. But the Thames Path at this point is a footpath, not a bridleway. So strictly speaking, it’s not permitted to cycle on it. Plenty do however, though there may be the occasional style or gate to negotiate. But it certainly makes for a very scenic and entirely flat return into Reading.
The other option, and this is one that I’d really like to recce myself as it looks as though it might be spectacular, is to head south on the tiny lane from Sulham church towards Theale. Then it’s over the M4 on a footbridge, through Theale to pick up the Kennet and Avon Canal towpath (national cycle route 4), heading east all the way back into the centre of Reading. This will add quite a bit of time and distance to the ride but it looks a really interesting. Perhaps another reader will be able to add some local knowledge as to whether either of these would be a good option.
Jack
Just did this route yesterday (glouriously sunny May bank holiday). It is the second time I have attempted it, after giving it a go a couple of years ago on my Road bke with 25mm tyres. That was nigh on impossible.There had been rain recently and I struggle to make any progress on the off-road section and I didn’t manage to make it to the Ridgeway (I took an alternate route cutting short the route). This time I was on my Croix-de-fer and it was a blast. Just one section that you’d even struggle on a mountain bike (very steep down then up), that I walked the bike. Even in dry weather, I personally would not be comfortable doing this ride on 25mm road tyres.
Rode this yesterday on a glorious Oct Sunday afternoon.
I’d previously done the Thames Meander ride which I’d really enjoyed so thought I’d come back for more.
This for me was a ride of two halves.
The outward leg, along the Ridgeway and Thames path was great, climb up to Goring a bit of a grind but views down to the Thames, lovely.
The return along high hedged country lanes was slightly less interesting but much faster being on tarmac.
I have to concur with Sarah regarding Sulham hill though, short sharp ascent with blind corners and no verges, not great when you have to get off and push as I did.
This was my fourth ride from the book and they’ve all been well worth doing.
Just a note about parking in Reading. I drove from London and exited the M4 at the Reading east turn off, came into the town centre along the London road which becomes one way after the Wokingham road junction. I parked in Redlands road that runs up the side of the Royal Berkshire hospital, its free parking in the designated sections on Sundays at least(forgot to check if it was all weekend). It’s then a short ride down towards the Thames and Reading station where the rides begin, hope this helps.
Hi Simon
Thanks for your comment. I am concerned about Sulham Hill, and am keen to sort out a way to avoid it.
There are three options, it seems to me. The first is to ride the existing route in reverse, which would make it a descent rather than a climb. Or head south to the canal towpath, as I suggested earlier in my earlier reply to Sarah.
A third option, and perhaps the one with the most potential, is to fork left just before Tidmarsh onto Bere Court Road and follow this into Pangbourne and thence onto the Thames river path. The only potential issue here is that – strictly speaking – the river path is a footpath at this point, and so it’s not lawful to cycle on it, and there may be stiles and other barriers to cycles. I am pretty sure I did recce this option back in 2012 but I can’t recall exactly why I didn’t put it in, whether it was because of the legal issues or the physical ones. It would be great if someone were willing to recce this alternative (hint hint, I whisper).
What do you think?
Jack
Thanks for reply Jack.
My personal preference would be the lane into Theale then east along the canal towpath back into Reading.
I think riding the route in reverse would make for some tough climbing, obviously the Bere Court road into Pangbourne option is the most obvious……but who wants obvious?
I’d suggest changing the route to the Bere court road option immediately as Sulham hill is a stinker.
Thanks for what you do.
Simon
Hi Simon
Thanks for your reply. I’m hesitant to send people onto the Thames path without knowing for sure that there are no stiles or kissing gates to negotiate, or enormous patches of mud as are sometimes found on the Thames path.
Until I have an answer to that, and realistically I’m not going to be able to check out the river path any time soon, what I propose to do is add a note at the top of the page so that readers are forewarned and have a couple of options to consider.
Jack
Hi Jack
I investigated the Thames path between Purley on Thames and Pangbourne yesterday. The route is accessible with a wide radius circular kissing gate at each end, but surprisingly all intermediary gates are bridleway design. This may be because the route used to be a bridleway or possibly for a rowing coach to cycle along. Neither seems likely as the route is all grass fields, very bumpy and thus slow. I would only use this route if my chain had broken and was looking for a pleasant (in summer) walk back to Tilehurst train station.
I rode the bridleway between Sulham and Teale at the end of October. This is a good farm track and very pleasant, successfully circumnavigating Sulham Hill and perhaps more importantly escaping the rat run. Not sure what it is like when wet, as it was dry as a bone still.
From Theale there is shared use footpath (NCR 422) alongside the A4, back to Reading station.
This adds 2km to the Sulham Hill route.
Thanks Jon. Really helpful information! Jack
I did this ride on 24/05/2021. The wettest May for several years. Luckily, I was on my MTB as the Thames Path was wet, muddy and slippery. Lovely ride though, and the GPX course worked well on my Garmin Explore. Planning on doing it again later on in the summer, when hopefully, it will be drier !!!
We did this ride on 10th July 2021 and we were on touring bikes. We avoided Sulham Hill and came back along the Thames Path. It was pretty dry so it was fine going along the grass fields. We did find when we had left Pangbourne and rode in to Tilehurst, for us to get on to the Thames Path we had to cross the railway and go down quite a few steps with the bikes. Apart from that it was a stunning ride and would definitely recommend!! We also enjoyed fish and chips in Goring!
My first adventure from Lost Lanes Southern, I completed this route today (17/08/2021) and found it a great cycle. I rode my gravel bike with 650x47c tyres and found they coped really well with all the surfaces. I would not recommend riding this route on road tyres at all, it was very bumpy terrain with plenty of flint.
Having read previous comments from Jon and others, I avoided Sulham Hill. Just past Sulham Lane on the left, I turned right at St Nicholas Church and went down Nunhide Lane towards Theale, joining the canal path (NCR 4,) towards Reading. At this time of year it was a little over grown in places but it was a pleasant ride in the late afternoon sun. I turned off at Southcote Lock and went over the footbridge (no ramp, you’ll have to lug the bike up the steps) and back to the station through Reading West.
Excellent ride, lots of time on lanes and only 10 minutes on suburban roads. Girlfriend gives this 8 or 9/10, but only because the people responsible for maintaining the pathwways – didn’t.
Also, no-one mentioned that dirty great hill right at the end, tricksters!
Did a modified version today. First ‘lost lanes’ ride- I got the book as a retirement gift. Took the road up to Whitchurch Hill and Chiltern way footpath. Many stiles to lift bike over- it’s a footpath. Ridgeway is ok, but fat tyres advisable. Great pub at Aldworth, and nice ride to Pangbourne. Returned to Reading via Thames path.
Did this in May 2023 and it was fantastic. On road bikes, the gravel track around Goring was indeed a challenge so had to walk a bit. Took on the hill after Tidmarsh, and made it half way before electing to walk. The gradient ramps up very quickly there.
The Bell and The Greyhound are indeed fantastic pubs.
Rode today and had a lovely ride.
The south side of the Thames to avoid the hill is 95% cyclable and lots of locals do. A few awkward turnstile things to get your bike through by holding the bike vertical.
Only have to walk the bike about 200m through the boat lock’s
Just completed this route in April 2025. Some really gorgeous views and runs, but overall I would not recommend this if you have road bike tyres (we did this route on 23mm). We had to get off and walk at least 30% of the route, as the paths were steep, bumpy, and laid with loose rocks that are major risks for snakebite punctures! I’ve done loads of Lost Lanes routes before, and have chosen them based off the description, and never had an issue with terrain. But somehow I didn’t quite realise from this description that it would be as off-road as it was! Highly recommend if you have thicker off-road tyres (ie 30mm and above), as the views, villages and the Bell were all great!
WARNING to anyone on a road bike: the north half of this is almost entirely dirt tracks & narrow footpaths, covered in sharp rocks bigger than a standard road bike tyre. Aside from making a horrible racket, it was really stressful – spent most of my time praying against a puncture and trying not to get thrown off. Not the “quiet lanes” advertised in the book 😔
My wife and I rode this route Oct 25 starting in Goring and really enjoyed it. We added on the Theale Avon Kennet canal route thus avoiding Sulham Hill. I would thoroughly recommend this.
We took gravel bikes and would definitely not recommend road bikes. Link to our route below – note that it does have a couple of very short detours, but these can easily be avoided (but don’t miss Mapledurham, it’s lovely).
https://www.komoot.com/tour/2628695007?ref=aso