North Somerset / Gloucestershire / Cotswolds - nice traffic free routes? Cycling holiday ideas

MENDIP HILLS!!

Maybe I'm biased, I've always lived right by the Mendips and it's fantastic for cycling.

Wedmore, Cheddar, Cheddar Gorge, Priddy, Stockhill Woods, Burrington Combe, Churchill, Sandford, Winscombe, Cheddar, Wedmore. Fantastic route, great climb and descent and Wedmore is a lovely village for a cafe stop (it also has free parking).

There are plenty of permutations of this route too, all the roads around Shipham, Charterhouse and Yoxter have fantastic views and are great to ride

I live just south of Bath and as @Shades says, the Mendips would be a good choice. Lots of routes, Cheddar or Burrington Combe or Shipham Hill for decent climbs but otherwise pretty, lots of country pubs and quiet roads away from the A36/37.

Bike Bath happened last weekend (I missed it); the route maps for the 50 and 80 mile rides are on the website (all out of Bath W into the Chew Valley and Mendips; v picturesque).  The GPX files were probably e mailed to participants but it wouldn't be difficult to build the route from the map and load into a GPS computer.  Plenty of villages to stop at and the 80 miler went up Cheddar Gorge (nice climb); post ride feed in Bath.  The routes normally avoid busy roads.

Yepp, great area for cycing with lots of good roads to get around.  The thing to bear in mind though is that the A429 Fosse way is one road worth avoiding due to traffic.  It can be impossible to avoid it completely though, and it is OK for crossing or short connecting bits.

I would recommend a number of towns/villages and then just route between to suit as you cannot really go much wrong. 

Chedworth...great Roman villa (well worth a look off bike, btw) and there is a great cycling cafe at the farm (doorsteps of great cake at reasonable prices).  It can get busy with local cycling clubs but they are very good at absorbing crowds/serving quickly.

Bourton...very pretty and there are lots of good roads in/out of the village but watch out for camera zombies just walking out.  Good selection of cafes if you avoid peak times.

Broadway...not just the town (which is pretty) but also the Broadway tower area.  Nice cafe at the top with some stunning views.  Avoid Fish Hill at all costs due to traffic/coaches, etc., looks great on a map.  Take in Snowshill if you want a good challenge and it will then lead to some nice cycling across the lavendar fields at the top.

South Cerney way...not much to note except that this is the Cirencester lake area which is great for those days where you want flat riding and miles/hours in the bag.

Bibury...lovely little village but the delights are easy to miss whizzing through on a bike.  There is a nice cafe at the trout farm and a few decent rolling climbs out, like the excellent spin over to Northleach where there is very cycle friendly cafe in the converted jail (great outdoor area through to the back).  Service can be slow on busy days/peak times.

Upper/Lower Slaughter...incredibly quaint and good lumps into/out of but little to do once there.

Guiting Power...great little Cotswold pubs and worth spinning around.  The area has some good climbs but nothing that should get you off the bike and wishing that you didn't have that last pint of refreshing cider.

Also, don't forget the local cycle shop/cafe Cotswold Cycles at Moreton which is well worth a visit for many reasons (although dropping £5k after perusing bikes whilst waiting for cake is always a risk).

From stow you could go to bledington, kingham, cornwell, chadlington, through the wychwood forest to leafield, finstock, wilcote to witney and the wychwood brewery (recently opened a brewery tap) then to minster lovell and follow the ncn signs to burford along the valley to Farmington, north to bourton on the water, the slaughters and back to stow. Just be around 100 km. Mostly nice quiet roads and lovely views. Hope you enjoy!

Some nice roads and villages if you head north east from Stow that are worth a look, you caould take in the Hook Norton Brewery as well I guess at Bloxham

If you work out where you want to base the rides then I can give you a few tips but you need to narrow it down first.  I ride in/around Cheltenham which is a good base for flat/undulating or lumpy stuff

That's a fairly large area. Where are you planning on staying?