North England Adventure by Suzuki DR 650
- Suzie Prevett
- Aug 25
- 4 min read
We had an amazing 10 days exploring Northern England and Galloway, some areas we'd never actually been to before. All in all the trip was about 1675 miles (ish), so not a huge mileage covered considering we spent at least six hours on the bike each day, however due to the type of roads, stops for admiring the scenery, a few photos and fuelling body and bikes, it was plenty for us! Anyone who knows us will know we're very good at slower travel, making the most of the back roads, but it just means we don't get that far that fast!
We had so much fun riding around the beautiful winding roads of England (and a few in Scotland) and eating cake! Each night I planned the route for the next day with my trusty Michelin maps (yes, I love paper maps) and Maps.Me for the Co-ordinates, and Google Maps for the very small roads, fuel stations etc. At this point I hadn't discovered Mapstogpx.com webpage, which is now my go-to, however plotting with GPS points is really good if you want to get your mind stuck in to something, or if the above website goes down.
The start of our trip actually began locally with some great traveller friends in the Holsworthy area of Devon, with great food, a big campfire (with marshmallows obviously) and great company. What better way to start a mini adventure?!!
Then we were off! The first port of call was in the Cotswolds, where we found a great little B&B tucked away in a small country village. After that, apart from some sections of the A1, we managed to completely dodge the motorways and big cities for the entire trip! We realise that's not to everyone’s liking, but for us it's key. Once we were up in Cumbria near Alston, it was literally all stunning roads….what a beautiful part of the world! If you haven’t been, we can highly recommend visiting this area of the UK.
We spent a few days exploring Northern Cumbria and Northumberland, including Kielder Water and forest (great ice cream at The Forest Bar & Kitchen), and the forest drive (easy fire road terrain), a few sightings of Hadrian’s wall and some ruins, topped off with some very tasty coffee and cake at Errington Coffee House with the friendliest staff ever!
Then it was off to Galloway and Dumfries, also riding in Ayrshire and down through the beautiful Galloway Forest. This area is absolutely spectacular! Carsphairn Tearooms on the way up was a welcome pause with great food (the scones are ginormous) plus there was a ‘Bikers Welcome’ sign hanging outside. That's enough of an excuse for us to stop!
After a good day and night in Galloway (we could've definitely spend WAY longer had we had the time), we headed down to the Lake District and spent a couple of days in the area finding lots of beautiful routes, and taking in Hard Knott Pass, Wrynose Pass, Honister Pass and another one or two I can’t remember the name of.
We also took a road over the mountains via Ulpha, which was just stunning, especially towards sun down. It had been recommended to us by some fellow bikers when we stopped at Lakes Hot Spot LTD, so we were extremely thankful of the great tip and good timing of stopping in the cafe at the same time as them.
We also really liked Wast Water, Coniston Water and Ullswater, being much quieter than Windermere, and it had some lovely places to stop for a chill.
Following that we made our way back through the smaller country roads of the Yorkshire Dales, Peak District, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Somerset and Exmoor as the highlights. Needless to say, by selecting the roads we did it took a good three long but very enjoyable days to get home, and well worth it!
The penultimate day in Somerset, after a trip via Chew Valley Lake with a humongous cinnamon roll and a good chat to some fellow bikers at Salt and Malt, we spent the night at a really lovely place called The Litton, where Kelvin spoilt me with booking a beautiful room and a scrumptious dinner for our 3rd wedding anniversary. What a great way to top off our biking holiday!
Top tip...get out there and explore what's on your doorstep. A biking adventure can be long or short (even just an hour or two). It could be just down the road, or a little further afield. It doesn't matter, just get out there, explore and enjoy!
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