TREASURE ISLANDS

You can leave Britain for a special cycling experience without going abroad. Island-collector Rob Ainsley picks his top 10 offshore trips

The map of Britain is spattered with islands: over a thousand big enough to play football on. How many of them are actually cyclable, though, is debatable, but the larger ones form a remarkable set of bike destinations. Many have their own distinct personality and microculture, and some are extraordinarily ‘other’. For instance, when the pandemic restricted foreign travel, many cycle tourists found, to their delight, that the Hebrides or Shetlands scratched the remote-adventures itch (and it wasn’t just the midges). And for those who don’t want to fly, Scotland’s west-coast islands are a similarly exotic delight, easily reached by the CalMac ferries that criss-cross the entire area. Some islands are impractical for a bike trip – the queasily distant Scillies, uncyclable Lundy – but there are fun small-scale options…

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Cycling Plus (Digital) - 1 Issue, December 2024

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