Cycling

We’re not saying that there aren’t hills to climb because there are (and you’d find out soon enough anyway).

What we are saying is that there are more than enough moments of sheer bliss to outweigh the effort of getting up the slope. Remember lifting your feet off the pedals and freewheeling when you were a kid? Everything that goes up must come down…

So, what are the options? There’s something for all levels of fitness, abilities and, let’s face it, sheer willingness to get on a bike for more than a trip to the pub. Let’s start with the big ones led by the 174-mile Hadrian’s Cycleway, which snakes through the entire World Heritage Site. It’s a cycleway that knits together existing shorter cycle routes, quiet roads and off-road tracks. Clearly signposted, the Cycleway takes you near many major Roman sites, and other attractions are just a short turn of the wheel from the main route.

The Sea to Sea (C2C) and Reivers cycle routes both run from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. They dip into Hadrian’s Wall Country and are a great way to get a flavour of northern England. The Pennine Cycleway goes along the backbone of England straight through Haltwhistle (perfect for the glorious central section of the Wall and its landscape); the charming National Byway meanders around Britain, passing through Hexham and the North Tyne valley; and there are plenty of do-in-a-day cycle routes to download.