🚲 It's so easy to cycle from Waterloo to the Tate Modern by hire bike
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2024
- You can cycle from Waterloo in south central London to the Tate Modern entirely on quiet streets and protected cycle lanes.
The route is 2.1km long (1.3 miles) and makes use of Cycleway 6 and LTNs on Upper Ground and Great Suffolk Street.
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Absolutely loved this, if nothing more than to realise how pleasant and cyclable parts of London are now. It's an astute move to aim this at tourists, as you've managed to show the 'soft and welcoming side' of London, and how they could choose to make hire-biking a part of their stay.
That was incredibly relaxing...
Thanks so much!
The hire bikes are great. I’ll add that a day pass costs only £3 - this gets you unlimited 30-minute rides over a period of 24 hours which is exceptional value for money.
They’re great value, i wish they’d cover more of the city
[this gets you unlimited 30-minute rides ] Mmmm...that sounds like a fare complication, as per 'You have to check them into a rack within thirty minutes each leg of your ride'....which truly complicates things. You'd spend as much time finding the nearest rack as actually making time towards your destination.
I've just checked a number of online references to this, and it appears my fears are correct:
"If you stray beyond the 30 minute window on any given hire, you'll be charged an additional £1.65." - Londonist. Same article alludes to Santander use dropping precipitously, and this is an attempt to reboost usage (article is 6 mos ago). That "30 minute window" is an absolute non-starter for me, and I'm sure many others.
I wish they had a phone mount for navigation on those bikes, such a simple thing which would make them way more appealing like me don’t know their way around the city perfectly
@@donegan50 that's interesting, I hadn't considered that!
It used to be £2 per day and has been for the longest time. It only went up to £3 few months ago!
Great idea to have a route that links up cycle hire ranks!
Useful feedback cheers!
Agreed
I use Upper Ground regularly - and as you say, the road surface is appalling
I don't understand why London is so bad a brick road surfaces - they always seem to fall into disrepair fairly quickly - looking at you Exhibition Road !
The Dutch seem to do red brick road surfaces very well - and they're great at slowing down the traffic
Also half of this one is missing because utility companies dig it up and just slap down some asphalt instead of replacing the paving properly
4:53 10/10 commentary 😂
haha someone had to say it
Love your videos! Please continue!
thank you for the encouragement!
Excellent 👍
Thank you!
3:55 - (to your right) the beautiful Hoxton hotel is a great place for drinks etc.
I think this one has a trendy rooftop bar (please double check!).
I did know about this will have to check it out!
Could have gone the other way on the shared path at Waterloo station, up towards the cycle parking. Dismounted to get past the storage area, back on for the contra lane (usually only used by taxis going out the way they came in), left on to Spur Rd, then left for the cycle filter to line up for The Cut.
Yeah I was just thinking another similar way I could have gone was Leake Street (possibly with a dismount) to get to Lower Marsh and then into the Cut… probably would have been better as well!
@@Londoncycleroutes Maybe do that route too?
@@stephenlee5929 I think I will do it yeah! I'll probably wait a little so people dont get bored of the same places haha
Quite crowded is an understatement, else it’s oblivious tourists or aggressive black cabs - I go from Waterloo via The Cut, it’s back streets, tourist-free and avoids all these major routes.
I suppose you could use the docking station on Lower marsh for a hire bike from Waterloo
@@Londoncycleroutes Exactly this and go via Roupell Street which is far more interesting and less crowded.
Big audio editing glitch at 5:32. Not sure how easy that is to fix after upload, but thought I'd mention it.
oh annoying, thanks for pointing out. sadly I don't think it can be fixed! I did listen through but clearly missed that bit
Good video, I ride part of the route every morning, concert hall appr, belvedere... the surface is terrible as you say, its gradually shaking my bike to bits. A more direct route to Tate Mod while still picking up a Santander bike from near the station front entrance is to double back along Mepham St, cross Waterloo Rd and go down either Alaska or Sandell St, Wootton, Greet, The Cut, left up A201 and right onto Nicholson. But either way works and Belvedere is nice and quiet
Yes I think I’m going to redo this route eventually, there are a few better options as you point out!
3:37 What was the reason for not turning left onto Southwark Street? Was it to continue on the protected cycle lanes? I personally would have used Southwark Street for a shorter distance. Still a very pleasant ride/video!
Just a bit too busy a lot of the time I think! Obviously a lot of people can manage it but wanted to give an option for those who aren’t confident
@@Londoncycleroutes Good point! That left turn onto Southwark Street can be quite tricky for those not used to the area without a separate left turn signal for cycles.
On a Brompton its easy enough - the main road from Waterloo to Brussels has a segregated bike path right up to the Fort Jaco area of Uccle on the outskirts of Brussels - and then you simply ride Chausée de Waterloo north until gare du midi to hop on the Eurostar... Cycling from St Pancreas to Tate Modern, it's best to go down through Farringdon and cross the Thames on Blackfriars bridge and then your virtually there... ;-)
Haha very good
Great video as always. This is part of my commute and I cycle the first part of this ride regularly. At busy pedestrian times, rather than riding through Sutton Walk, I turn right and go up to the roundabout towards Waterloo Bridge. There is then a slip-road on the left just before you start crossing the bridge which takes you down to Upper Ground where you can re-join your route. Agree with you re the poor road surface on Upper Ground. Hopefully when the building work is finished it will be re-surfaced. Keep up the great work on your channel - videos and commentary are fab.
that's an interesting idea to turn slightly up the main road - I guess when the lights are green to cross and the traffic is stopped you can go on the main road with very little trouble! and yeah it probably makes sense not to resurface until those building projects are done given all the HGVs that'll be using the street in the meantime... I imagine it'll be a few years annoyingly as there are so many big ones!
Thanks for this; it could come in useful, as I do use the hire bikes when visiting London. Any tips for riding between Kings Cross and Liverpool Street Station would be handy. If in a hurry, I use Pentonville/City Road. When using quieter streets to the north, I often seem to get funnelled onto a one way street in Islington, ending up too far to the north. In any case, i like to leave the bike at the docking station on the corner of Cloudesley Rd/Tolpuddle St for a bit, to visit the delightful Culpepper Community Garden.
normally I'd go via cycleway 6 down Blackfriars and then cut up through Smithfield and under Barbican on Beech Street... Beech Street was briefly filtered and hopefully will be again soon (expecting some new plans from the City soon), and Smithfield is unfortunately a building site at the moment so it's not ideal... but that's the way I'm going to make a video when it's all sorted out!
For a change I actually know some of the route. 🙂
This is quite a central one!
The hardest thing I find about riding a bike in London......................is the ground.
Certainly on concert hall approach!
How about a route connecting Tate Modern to Tate Britain? It would probably have to go via Vauxhall bridge, along C5 to C14
A good idea! Definitely doable
I’m from Manchester, I don’t cycle, and I rarely go to London
But these videos are therapeutic? Idk how to explain it but it’s kinda just relaxing watching this haha
thanks for the kind comment, glad you enjoy it!
Love your work. But isn't Concert Hall Approach a one-way street (when it's not being dug up)? I went down it the other day, and I'm sure I was going against one-way traffic, which wasn't ideal.
It’s definitely one way at the entry from the main road but weirdly there is a blue LCN cycle network sign pointing up in the opposite direction near the bike rank - not ideal but I think it’s probably ok
I think having the odd ride focused on cycle hire between destinations for visitors to the city is a good idea. Might encourage a country mouse like me to try it if and when I next go to the big scary city!
@@Londoncycleroutes CHA is definitely two-way for cycles unless they're introducing changes while work is going on. Been a while since I've been down that way, so great to see Lambeth Council is delivering on some of its masterplan for the SBSR. Removing vehicles from CHA except emergency (and timed service vehicles) will be a huge improvement.
Page 34 to see the proposed changes to CHA and the other streets around there www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-06/South_Bank_Spine_Route_Masterplan_Report.pdf
@@GreenJimll I think you're absolutely right, albeit I couldn't use a UK hire bike as the brake levers are reversed to right hand running. That being said, for a lot of those who would ride a hire bike, there's definitely a niche for Londoncycleroutes to cater to.
If reader response is high enough, I suggest a dedicated channel for exactly that.
I've actually just double checked and it is actually two way to cycling - there's a contraflow sign on a pole to the left of the mouth of the road at the festival hall end. so no need to worry - but it really should have an 'except cycles' sign on the no entry sign at the other end as well
Thanks for dojng this for the Santander bikes - can someone enlighten me please -
The lime bikes seem much more convenient, but even with the passes seem extortionate expensive am I doing it wrong?
I’ve only used them ad hoc and they’re super expensive like that… people say the passes are better but as you say, they’re still not cheap! I do actually prefer the TfL ones as well honestly, they’re less likely to be broken when you make it to one though maybe that situation has improved a bit for the lime bikes
So, I'm not from London (not even from the UK) and I'm not to sure about this. I have heard some people referring to these hire bikes as 'Boris bikes'. Does that have something to do with former mayor of London Boris Johnson?
Yep, they were introduced under him. I normally call them Boris bikes myself but sometimes online people shout at you if you do because they don’t like the politician. (I didn’t deliberately avoid using the term in the video but seems I may have subconsciously!)
Yes. He was mayor when the scheme was originally launched, hence the occasional moniker.
Yes, they were introduced under Boris's Mayoralship but he doesn't come with the bike or jump out at you shouting BOO when riding one.
@@RubbishGimpy if you're lucky anyway
Why not The Cut, Union Street and left to the Great Suffolk Street? It is not car free, but still pretty quiet and goes thru decent places, and route is trivial.
I mention this in the commentary a couple of times but I think you could make it work by using a different bike rank
to be honest I'm starting to think starting from the bike rank on Lower Marsh near the service entrance to Waterloo is a better option! the route you outline is just so easy. I might do a future video...
@@Londoncycleroutes I actually retraced your route from the vid the other day out of curiosity. It makes a lot of sense if you leave Waterloo station by IMAX. I ride my own bike, so the Cut would be my immediate choice here. But if I were a tourist leaving Waterloo station and trying to get to the Tate, your choice might be the best in fact depending on which exit from the station I happen to take.
@@wiadroman yeah I guess it depends where your train comes in! I think I will still film the Cut route in the future though
Could just walk
Yep you can walk anywhere!
It would be a nice walk, but it's also a nice bike jaunt.