Banbury - Leamington Spa by the Canals

Route from Banbury to Leamington Spa following the Oxford Canal first and the Grand Union Canal afterwards. Info here:

• Oxford Canal
• Grand Union Canal

It starts and ends at a train station, making it very easy to go back to the starting point in a direct 20 min journey. It can easily be combined with my other route joining Banbury with Oxford via the canal, as Leamington and Oxford train stations are on the same line.

This time I departed a couple of times from the canal towpath:

• After Claydon to avoid the winding bit of the canal meanders. After doing Banbury - Oxford on the canal I know how monotonous it can get sometimes, so some variation is always welcome. The detour takes you through Priors Hardwick, where there's a pub if you feel like having a snack.


• At the Folly Inn, to go through Napton On the Hill village, where there's a Post Office selling some other stuff in case you need restocking

Afterwards the route joins the National Cycle Route 41 to Leamington.

There are a couple of pubs right next to the canal should you wish to eat something without leaving the trail.

Note that although cycling in the towpath is allowed, pedestrians have priority. It was quite lonely when I did it in November with only a few people walking the dog, especially nearby the moorings.

Technically the route pose no challenge as it is completely flat (expect through Napton on the Hill village, as it name suggests...) but at times the path can be very narrow and run less than half a meter away from the water, so you should be comfortable with that. More so if you plan to do it in wet weather when some bits become quite slippery.

I got a puncture so make sure you have that covered too. It's not unusual to find thorns on the grassy bits of the towpath.

The towpath is unpaved with either compact gravel, grass or dirt (mud when wet), but my feeling overall is that is better mantained and easier to ride than the stretch from Banbury to Oxford, easily cruising at 15 km/h even in wet weather.

The grass fields after Priors Hrdwick were very muddy and soft when I did the route in November and the field's gates were often flooded and full of mud, which was a pain to open and close them. Expect to get dirty there unless you look for an alternative route.

Once on the National Route 41, it feels like a highway in comparison and one can easily do 20 km/h.

I recommend a mountain bike for this route, definitely if wet, but I guess it's doable with a city bike or similar in the summer when the surface is more compact.