Travellers’ tales: A Lidl adventure by bike
Where: Within the M25
Who: Catriona Virden
When: March 2025
How many Lidls are there in London? How long would it take to cycle to all of them? I set out on my bike after work one sunny afternoon to find out.
It turns out that there are currently 194 Lidls in the capital, if you count London as being anything within the M25 circle. Some are on busy, bustling streets; others are in out-of-town shopping complexes, only accessible via A roads.
Ask me about any one of them, and I can rate it for you and tell you exactly how to get there and whether it has any secure bike storage out front. It took me six days and I covered just over 550km. I rode on Fridays after work and two entire weekends.
I’ve lived in many areas of London before, so I was never too far from familiar roads, but it was such a joy to explore the contrasting roads across the city. Some parts felt like true countryside, compared to the more fiddly inner city bike lanes. The Woolwich Ferry crossing was a delight.
The best part about this challenge was the constant availability of snacks and toilets, something every ride needs.
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