How can I bypass London avoiding motorways?

[Svendura]

Next spring I'll come to the UK with the ferry from Harwich and would like
to ride to Cornwall, Wales and further.

Is there a way to bypass London without having to take the big motorways?

Those 6-lane roads with heavy traffic really scare me when I'm on my
small KLX250, but I did not find any other way to cross the River Thames.

Or maybe I should take a northern route around London? I hope for
smaller roads and less traffic even if it takes much longer.

Any advice, please...?

https://www.svendura.de/pic/gruss_aus_kiel_svenja.gif
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www.svendura.de

[tatters]

You can just avoid motorways completey use A and B plus minor roads which are displayed on all road maps, though some A roads can be quite busy but with a good map and/or GPS you can avoid them completey.

The road network here is,nt much diffrent from europe, I myself have travled back from Russia on a enduro bike riding on only minor roads the whole way as the bike was,nt fast enough for main roads and motorways, of course its the best way to travel on a bike as who would want to spent the whole time crusing motorways.
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[G]

Plenty of routes north and south of the M25 using smaller roads. There will be lots of traffic when people go into and home from work anywhere within 40 miles,of the m25. Lots elsewhere too of course, but are some places it's not quite so bad. Good time to learn to filter if you don't!

[stinkwheel]

You can thread your way across using A and B roads but in all honesty, you're probably better just pinging round the M25 and getting yourself past London if you want to get across to Cornwall and Wales.

The M25 is not all that scary, it's just Londoners hyping themselves up. There's so much traffic that you'll be cracking along at the same speed as it. Motorways handle slower traffic very well and I've seen busier motorways and more dangerous motorways than the London orbital. I used the M25 several times on my tour the summer before last and I was on an Enfield bullet with a top speed of 55mph. The M25 was no problem at all.

In all honesty though, I think you've chosen a bad ferry terminal to arrive at if you don't want to go on the M25 and want access to Wales and Cornwall.

Ostend to Ramsgate will get you over to Kent, south of London and more open country but you're still going to have to slog your way across middle England which is overpopulated and boring.

If you want to see the more scenic parts of the UK and are interested in going through Wales, my suggestion would be to get the ferry to Hull. You can go cross country from Hull to North Wales in a day, there is much less traffic and much better scenery and motorcycling roads.

A quick google shows Harwich to Monmouth (on the Welsh Border in South Wales) being 214 miles (4h 48mins) avoiding motorways. The route is horriffic both in its complexity and the business of the roads. You'll be in urban/suburban roads for about 75% of the journey.

Hull to Chester (on the Welsh border in North Wales) is 143 miles and (3h 43 mins) and takes you in through the middle of the peak district national park which could have been made for a KLX250.

If you use the Motorways Hull to Chester is 136 miles (2h 21m) and Harwich to Monmouth is 215 (4h 7m).

Cornwall is just a hell of a long way from anywhere.

If you really want to see Cornwall, it might be a more pleasant journey all round to go down through France and do Le Havre-Poole or Cherbourg- Portsmouth then follow the coast. You'd soend the time sitting on the ferry, not slogging through the most populated and least scenic parts of the UK.

Seriously. If I was stood in Holland and wanted to go across to the UK on a KLX250 and really wanted to see Wales and Cornwall. I'd get the ferry to Hull, ride across to North Wales, Ride down through Wales then across to Cornwall. Then I'd come back up through wales by another road.

The UK is a funny place to navigate. As a general rule, going North- South is easy, you can usually find one road and stick with it. Going East-West is difficult, there are only a couple of main routes to do it by, all of which are busy or you have to zig-zag about.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Pete.]

Ride straight through.

Keep on the A12 right into London and plough on through the city or take a right at the North Circular and follow that around to the west.

I would pay attention to Stinkwheel's post though, taking a more northerly port and riding through the Peak District would make a much nicer journey.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[G]