Cycling in the New Forest – chasing heather and horses

I never need much of an excuse for a weekend escape. Therefore a long weekend and a splendid weather forecast were more than sufficient for me to pack my bag. The plan? Cycling in the New Forest National Park in the South of England. My husband found a great last-minute deal at Carey’s Manor spa hotel. I booked us a couple of rental bikes and off we went. It wasn’t our first time visiting the New Forest, so we knew the drill. We set the alarm for 0630, had breakfast on the train and a managed a little nap during the two hours journey to Brockenhurst.

Practical tips

If you are thinking of going cycling in the New Forest, in my mind, here is what you should do:

• Get accommodation in Brockenhurst (options vary from spa resorts to campsites). There are a few other larger villages where you can stay, but Brockenhurst is nice and central. I can also easily be reached by train from London and the North of England;
• If you at all have a car, leave it at home. The main roads in the park get congested with campers and other vehicles and the off-road walking and cycling paths are beautiful. Rent a bike (or bring your own) to enable you to cover some good distance;
• Be prepared for a pick-nick lunch. Villages are scarce and some of the names you see on the map will turn out to be merely hamlets with a handful of houses and a tiny convenience store. We took a rug and some cutlery and stocked up for the day in the local grocery store before setting off in the morning;
• Check out my life saving tips for dealing with aggressive dogs on the trail! I’ve needed these mostly in Southern Europe, but better safe than sorry.

Back to our arrival in Brockenhurst station. We dropped of our bags at the beautiful Carey’s Manor hotel, picked up the bikes and off we went. The local cycle hire offered a nice choice of cycling routes. We picked some of the longer ones to fill our three days.

Day 1: Burley and the Borlderwood Deer Sanctuary

Day 1 was a nice and easy 45km day around the village of Burley and Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary. The route all off-road (including an old railway track) or on small secondary roads. Late August turned out to be the perfect time of the year for this trip. The landscape filled with purple heather looked amazing. Given the sunny weather, we ended the day with a stop at an ice cream van before the last turnoff to Brockenhurst.

We made it back in good time and were able to enjoy the spa facilities at our hotel. Just the way to end an active day! Since Carey’s Manor Hotel is located about a kilometre outside the village and we didn’t feel like walking, we opted for dinner in one of their onsite restaurants.

Day 2: Hurst Castle, Lymington and East Boldre

Day 2 was quite a bit more intense. We cycled all the way to Hurst Castle and Lymington and clocked off at 60km by the end of the day. Taking the ferry to the Isle of Wight turned out to be slightly too ambitious (that’s fine, it gives us a reason to return). If you want to take in the Isle of Wight, I’d suggest taking the train to Lymington Spa to save time catch an early ferry. We circled back via the hamlet of East Boldre and made an ice cream stop at its only store.

Ponies roam all over the New Forest, but somehow it felt like East Boldre is a hotspot. We watched horses easing into the petrol station and seeking shelter at the bus stop. Despite a late arrival at the hotel, we squeezed in a quick dip in the pool and a sauna session before heading to the onsite French brasserie for dinner.

Day 3: Buckler’s Hard and Beaulieu

Day 3 was quite light on cycling (35km), but very varied. Our first stop was Buckler’s Hard, a former shipbuilding site. We got a nice discount on the entry fee for having come by bike (just throwing that in in case you were not yet convinced to ditch the car). We spent a good couple of hours wandering around the workers’ houses and former docks and having our pick-nick on the lawn. Before hitting the riverside cycle path to Beaulieu, we paused for the biggest ice cream yet.

Our time was too short to take in Exbury gardens, so we returned to Brockenhurst via Hatchet Pond. We were just in time to drop off the bikes before closing time and jumped on the train back to London. Successful weekend escape – check.