Wikiloc | Banbury - Oxford via Oxford Canal Trail

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Photo ofBanbury - Oxford via Oxford Canal

Author

jalfer

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Trail stats

Distance: 27.57 mi
Elevation gain: 52 ft
Technical difficulty: Easy
Elevation loss: 167 ft
Max elevation: 393 ft
TrailRank: 33
Min elevation: 393 ft
Trail type: One Way

Time: 4 hours 53 minutes
Coordinates: 1513
Uploaded: November 19, 2019
Recorded: November 2019

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near Banbury, England (United Kingdom)

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Trail photos

Itinerary description

Route from Banbury to Oxford following the Oxford Canal. Info here

It starts and ends in a train station, making it very easy to go back to the starting point in a direct 20 min journey.

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 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.

The towpath is mostly unpaved, ranging from packed gravel to grass or dirt. It can be fairly bumpy at times and in wet weather it can easily become a mud-fest so I'd advice a mountain bike with treaded tyres but should be rideable with a city bike in the summer. Particularly, when I did it in autumn, I could feel the copious amounts of mud and fallen leaves stuck on my tyres and chain dragging against the frame and slowing me down considerably, to the point I had to stop a couple of times to remove it with a stick... You've been warned!

The rougher bit might be between King's Sutton and Kidlington, at least when wet.

Waypoints

Twyford Wharf

King's Sutton sighted

St. Peter & St. Paul Church in the horizon in King's Sutton

Past King's Sutton

Easy to go the wrong way!

Before getting to this bridge, one gets on the B4100 (Aynho road) momentarily coming from the towpath with the canal on the right hand side. There, go on the road and over the bridge and return to the towpath but on the other shore of the canal. I did the mistake to continue on the same side and through a gate and ended up in a dead end.

Canal by Clifton

All bridges are numbered. I reckon the numbering is around 180 in Banbury and goes all the way to around 230 by the time you reach Oxford. You'll see plenty of these...