[dave atkinson]

For the road.cc Recommends show on YouTube we’re looking for your suggestions of the best cycling cafe stops in the UK. If you want to recommend your local favourite, let us know what it is in this thread, and tell us why! Please include a link to the cafe on the interwebs/facebook/etc if you can. Cheers!

Topic

[Chris Hayes]

…..There’s always the

…..There’s always the Winnie the Pooh cafe! Haven’t been to InGear since they started selling coffee. Penshurst Place is a bit ‘meh’ and it’s usually full of tourists (plus the coffee isn’t great) and the tourists eat all the cake.  Kingdom has the advantage of sounding like it might be full of Scientologists or Jehovah’s Witnesses….not so many tourists! 

[james.bowman]

Keep meaning to give this a
Keep meaning to give this a visit after moving into the area (Hartfield). Penhurst Place is supposed to be good although haven’t tried it myself yet. Heading to the south there are some good options suggested below and I really like Cadence Cycling hubs which seem to be popping up across Sussex. Tablehurst Farm and Plawhatch Farm both have good coffee shops and are very convenient if on the bike. InGear Cycling in Forest Row is always worth a trip too (good coffee and a chance to lust after all the amazing bikes they have).

[Steve K]

I should definitely go there,

I should definitely go there, given it’s my surname.

[Chris Hayes]

I’m going to save this page..

I’m going to save this page…. I like a good cafe stop.  There’s a couple on the Kent   – Sussex border:  Kingdom near Penshurst if you’re in the Kent Weald area, and if you carry on through the Ashdown Forest there’s the Duddleswell Cafe (if it survived lockdown). 

Kingdom is well worth a visit, though busy (with cyclists and others in the know) at weekends – though it’s difficult to see how they could run out of seating space.   Very stylish.  Great coffee.  Great food.  And very helpful staff.  You won’t be disappointed, though there’s a bit of a slope to get up there. 

https://www.thiskingdom.co.uk

 

[zeeridesbikes]

Kickback Coffee on the

Kickback Coffee on the brickworks climb near Pott Shrigley, Cheshire is great. It’s a roasters really with a coffee shop attached. Brew is absolutely superb. I drive up there to buy a kilo of beans at a time now. 

[quiff]

Never been as a cyclist, but

Never been as a cyclist, but it’s a favourite haunt when holidaying up there. Only been once on an audax route, but The International Welsh Rarebit Centre in Defynnog, Brecon Beacons has legendary status in my memory. Nom nom nom.  

[blackbikerider]

Caffe Vele Verde in

Caffe Velo Verde in Nottinghamshire – Screveton is my favourite stop, only a 10 mile ride away, but i make it the end of a longer loop at the weekends that sees Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland and Lincolnshire all covered, easy access to miles and miles of quiet country lanes. Whilst not having the hills of the Peaks or Yorkshire the countryside is a hidden gem and certainly once over towards Rutland and the Lincolnshire wolds is undulating and makes for a good ride.

The coffee is always consistently great, food and cakes are very very good and its a popular stop. Sometime themed rides are run with foosd and drinks at the end, guest speakers on some evenings as well.

[OnYerBike]

Not local, but I stopped in

Not local, but I stopped in at the “Yorkshire Cycle Hub” cafe whilst on holiday and was very impressed. Plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, very bike friendly (naturally); good menu from cakes to full meals; sensible prices; friendly staff. Plus there’s some cracking bike rides in the area (provided you stay away from main roads – drivers seemed particularly terrible…).

The Stove in Bourn, Cambs is another favourite – excellent scones. They’re not a cycling cafe as such, but had nothing but warm welcomes when stopping there, even dripping wet…

[Welsh boy]

Either the Red Door cafe in

Either the Red Door cafe in Milbrook Garden Centre just outside Mitchel Troy (near Monmouth) or the old Tintern Railway Station in the Wye Valley (near, believe it or not, Tintern).

[richliv]

Ginnys at the Ginger Piggery
Ginnys at the Ginger Piggery in Boyton, Wylye Valley near Warminster. Toast with their lemon marmalade and good coffee. Yeah! Just right for a good loop from Bath.

[Steve K]

Something a bit different,

Something a bit different, but a special mention from me for this place near Milton Keynes.  https://www.thrift-farm.co.uk/  

The cafe here became a regular stopping off place for me on rides from South London to various northern football grounds in 2016/17.  Very nice cakes/sandwiches etc; the chance to see the odd animal; and to support adults with learning disabilities.  

[qwerty360]

Another for velolife.

Another for velolife.

Also Manor Farm Tea Room in seale – https://www.facebook.com/Manorfarmtearoom

The Dabbling Duck in Shere (though minus for no bike racks 🙁 ) before ascending Lieth Hill… https://www.thedabblingduck.uk.com/

Or all three for a nice century with a stop every ~25 miles if riding out of West London (With an honourable mention to Box Hill cafe (to ensure the legs are totally destroyed) 😉

[HoarseMann]

Good stop on a lakes ride is

Good stop on a lakes ride is Chesters in Skelwith Bridge, but can get busy (veggie only, but cakes make up for the lack of bacon).

[kil0ran]

Hockey’s Farm in the New

Hockey’s Farm in the New Forest

https://www.hockeys-farm.co.uk/cafe

Plenty of space for outdoor dining (as well as inside). Bird aviary in a shady nook which is great if you’re riding as a family (or find birdsong as restful as I do), plus chickens, geese, pigs, donkeys, and alpacas to admire.

Currently open for takeaway only, but there is indoor seating once that’s allowed. Parking for about a dozen bikes. Clean outside toilets if you just need a loo break and feel awkward about popping in to a cafe to just use the facilities.

Cafe mostly uses local produce and has extensive cake options. There’s also a farm shop on site which is a bit more focused towards higher end products. Only downside is no fig rolls or malt loaf. Not the cheapest place to eat overall but I think the atmosphere, cycle-friendly layout, and quality more than makes up for that.

Being the forest access is via a cattle grid so take care on entry (probably better to hop off and use the pedestrian gate).

It’s really well placed on a flat section linking Fordingbridge with Ringwood. Plenty of gravel nearby if that’s your thing, and the mighty 25% Blissford Hill is just up the road. Heading south and west from there will hook you up with the Red Shoot Strava segment (https://cycle-newforest.co.uk/cycle-routes/red-shoot/) on the way to Bolderwood which is always a lovely fast rolling ride under trees – about 5 miles of the very best cycling the New Forest has to offer. Alternatively, heading north there’s a scarp to the east with plenty of sharp steep climbs if you want to get some hill reps in. Squint hard enough and you could be in Flanders…

[Kapelmuur]

A couple of stops for me as I

A couple of stops for me as I trundle around the Cheshire Cycleway, the café at Jodrell Bank – popular with cyclists and has a bike shed visible from outdoor tables and the ice cream farm at Great Budworth.  
I’m a big fan of ice cream so I’ve never noticed whether they offer coffee etc.   I don’t want anything else when ice cream is available.

[Author]

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