Pilgrimage to Rochester Cathedral GPX Route
Ride Level: Easy
Gravel/CX MTB | GPX Route | Traffic-free | Cycle paths & trails | 73 km/45 miles | 5 to 6 hours
Rochester Cathedral, an oft-overlooked Norman masterpiece with (occasionally) a mini-golf course in the nave. Part of series of my series of off-road pilgrimages to all the major Cathedrals in the South East.
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Ride Description
The first 16 or so miles of the route involves park-hopping and following tarmac cycle paths, however, the gravel sections start in earnest from Bromley. Climbing towards Poll Hill, the route crosses several combes which include some reasonable challenging climbing.
Plunging Old Poll Hill and on to Otford, the route runs through Kemsing to join the Pilgrims Way just before Wrotham, a delightful village set in aspic now that it’s no longer on the main road to London.
Pilgrims Way brings you into the lower Medway Valley and crosses the river on the spanking new bridge from Snodland to the new ever so tasteful development at St Peters.
Here we stay in the valley, following along the flood embankment and under the 3 Medway Bridges and into Rochester proper.
Start and End Points
Start: London Bridge
Finish: Rochester
Ride Details
- Distance: 73 km | 45 miles
- Climb: 880m | 2900 ft
- Percentage off-road: 55%
- Trail surface: Natural |Gravel |Tarmac
- Technical Grade: Red - Challenging in places
Places to Visit
31 miles: Wrotham Village
45 miles: Rochester Cathedral
45 miles: Rochester Castle
Places to Eat
31 miles: The Bull – Wrotham
Is this ride for me?
Ideal for riders with some off-road experience and reasonable fitness
Is my bike OK for this ride?
You can do this on a hybrid bike however it's more fun when ridden on an MTB or other Gravel/CX bike.
Reviews
Customer Reviews
Picked this up from Bromley to Rochester. Really good route, using tracks I didn’t know existed in areas I know. Very muddy when I went and the stretch along the Medway flood defences on Wouldham marshes was very slippery. Will do it again!
A very enjoyable ride. Completed in around 5.5 hours. The ride has plenty of off road / gravel sections - though even in London, you are following a lot of parks and cycle routes for much of the time. I would say to start early if you want to visit the cathedral when you arrive - it closes to visitors at 4 pm or thereabouts, so I was too late. The climbing was reasonably challenging - though the overall ascent is not horrendous and nothing was unfeasibly steep (I didn’t need to get off and push at any point). Some great scenery and very peaceful routes, riding Ona midweek in May, there were long sections where I didn’t meet anyone at all on the paths. There was one nasty main road to cross and one locked gate right near the end that I had to lift my bike over, but generally the trails were in good order, if a bit muddy / slippery here and there. If you like off road riding, give this one a go. I’m definitely doing more from this site now.
