Lesser-known places to stay on your cycle tour

I’ve overnighted in some rum places while touring. Empty ferries, former jails, military barracks, monasteries, tractor sheds, even a rare-breed tropical spider house in the Amazon – although it wasn’t called that. It was called a ‘holiday lodge’.

But those were abroad. Britain’s non-mainstream opportunities are more thinly spread. When hiking author Alfred Wainwright visited the Lakes in the 1930s, he simply asked farmers in the pub each evening for a barn to sleep in.

Now those barns are upscale holiday lets. And it seems apex-predator websites control the accommodation market. Everything’s on booking.com or Airbnb. Otherwise it’s your tent: 30 quid for a field or else wild camping with the midges.

Actually, it’s not quite as bad as that. You can find one-off indoor overnights for your British bike tour beyond the scope of the internet giants. They include historic churches, caving club dorms, homes of fellow cyclists, bothies and more.

The usual suspects

Happy camper? Scotland lets you wild camp. Some areas, such as the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park honeypots, require a day permit. Not so in England, where it’s campsites only, often expensive.

However, Cycle Camping UK is a curated list and map of bike-friendly campsites for £18 or less – and with a toilet. Other options – free apart from the membership fee – include people’s back gardens in Welcome to my Garden, though there’s only a few dozen in Britain.

Tent averse? Staying indoors has a strong appeal when it’s cold or rainy. Most accommodation is indeed on booking.com, from posh hotels down to hostels and huts. Check the websites of the individual establishments to see if the rate is cheaper there, or if there’s a bonus such as free breakfast.

Airbnb.com overlaps but does list alternatives. While it’s more boutique guesthouses than spare bedrooms nowadays, you can find the odd bargain.

Some hotel chains aren’t on either of those – Premier Inn and Travelodge, for instance. While a room tomorrow in York might be £120, an off-season or Sunday night in Milton Keynes or Bradford a few weeks in advance could be £35. Both chains welcome bikes in rooms (handy for e-bike charging) and offer reliable comfort.

History is bunk

Hostel options include, of course, those of the YHA – where they survive. Numbers haven’t decreased that much since the 1970s, when cars and alcohol were banned, you got kicked out during the day and had to do a task before leaving.

There were about 180 hostels then and around 150 now. But many are now groups only. Just 93 offer private rooms, and a mere 69 do dorm beds. Many rural ones have shut in favour of gap-year-friendly city hostels.

That said, YHA hostels can still be great choices for cyclists as bases for a cut-price tour. They’re less 1930s-boarding-school now, supplying bedding, café bars and restaurants, wi-fi, drying rooms, social spaces, bike sheds, kitchens, the lot. And there are astonishing offers through the year.

I’ve stayed for £10-£15 a night in Whitby on the Yorkshire Coast; at Hartington in the Peak District; and at Hawkshead and Coniston in the Lakes. You don’t need to be a member but Cycling UK members can claim 50% off membership, which gives you a 10% discount on accommodation and pre-booked meals.

Like the YHA, independent bunkhouses and hostels have been clobbered by Covid, energy prices, staffing issues and more. Many have disappeared, but some new places are springing up.

In the Yorkshire Dales, Reeth’s Black Bull Inn opened a bunkhouse room last August. For landlord Dave it was a good way to utilise a non-ensuitable room which, nevertheless, has commanding views over the village green and surrounding fells. Single travellers are welcome at £30, including breakfast.

Nests for the night

Finding such niche places isn’t straightforward. Listings websites are never comprehensive and often out of date. I find it best to Google ‘bunkhouse’ or ‘hostel’ plus place or area name. It’s hit-and-miss, but can yield places otherwise unlisted. You might have to email or phone for availability and prices.

Unfortunately, again, many are groups only. And you might need a sleeping bag; check before you arrive.

Nevertheless, I’ve found cracking and agreeably priced rural places by such sleuthing: birdwatching hostels in Rutland Water and on Spurn Head in East Yorkshire (both welcomed non-spotters); a super bunkhouse (Broadrake) by the Ribblehead Viaduct in the Dales; and a very basic but sub-£10 farm shack outside Leek, with sweeping Peak District views and visiting hens...

A recent phenomenon is peer-to-peer hospitality, through apps or websites. Warmshowers.org ($30 joining fee for new members) is a favourite of many: you stay for free in a fellow cyclist’s house on the understanding you’ll return the favour for someone else later on.

Nothing’s guaranteed, however. Of a dozen potential hosts, six might be away touring, five don’t reply to you in time, and the one that does already has a guest. Still, I’ve had many lovely encounters, swapping travellers’ tales over dinner or a glass of wine. It’s usually two way: both guest and host get something positive out of the experience.

A similar scheme is the Dutch Vrienden op de Fiets (‘Cycling Friends’), though this one charges a flat rate of €25 for B&B. Annual membership is €10. I’ve had some terrific overnights with fellow cycle tourers, in everywhere from tiny back bedrooms to grand annexes to houseboats. Most hosts are in the Netherlands but there are a few dozen in Britain, too.

Caveman chic

No joy so far? Keep Googling. Try pub rooms; some aren’t on listings sites. Out of term time, some universities let out student rooms for a night.

More rurally, there are caving clubs: many have basic bunkhouses intended for troglodytes but which welcome cycle tourers; for instance, Northern Pennine Club, £10 per night. Naturally, they’ll be in remote, limestone areas. You might just find some one-offs as well: Fife and Kinross CTC has a cyclists’ hut by the side of Loch Earn in Fife, at just £3 a night.

Alternatively, your bike tour might be a good reason to look up an old friend who lives nearby – and who might put you up. On a (genuine) pilgrimage? The British Pilgrimage Trust’s Sanctuary Network can help put you up in churches or monasteries, and also advise on routes.

Some Buddhist monasteries allow overnight stays to travellers, such as Samye Ling on the River Esk in Scotland – although they may not be impressed if you watch TikTok videos or wield a corkscrew. Rather wonderfully, if not cheaply, church fans can choose from 50−odd historic examples to stay at through the Churches Conservation Trust (see ‘Champing at the bit’, left).

Hut trick

Free but very basic are bothies: former (real) shepherd’s huts in remote country, left unlocked as travellers’ shelter. No booking, no fee, just turn up. No facilities either: the ‘bed’ is a bare wooden platform, water is from a stream, it’s BYO wood for the fire, and your ‘toilet’ is a shovel. Plus you might well be sharing with others.

There’s no definitive list but try the Mountain Bothies Association or join the association’s Facebook group. Most are in Scotland; great ones for off-road cyclists are Kervaig on the way to Cape Wrath, and Melgarve on the An Turas Mor route.

Finally, here’s an accommodation trick of York Rouleurs. Once a year the club rides to Hull for a special-offer mini-cruise on the overnight ferry to Rotterdam. There they leave luggage in their cabin, ride round Holland for day, then sail back overnight. For the cycle tourer, there’s often an inventive way round the accommodation challenge!