The Mayor and the London Assembly are keen for more people to start cycling and leave their cars at home. According to their website less than 2% of trips in London are made by bike compared with European cities like Munich(12%) and Amsterdam(28%).
I’d say London isn’t the safest place to try and ride a bike, the roads are narrow, crowded and people drive fast, and at this time of year it gets dark early and the streets can be wet or damp.
What are your options if you only want to cycle part of your journey, can you use public transport for the rest? It may seem the obvious answer but jumping on a train or bus with your bike is not that straight forward.
On the London Underground you can take bikes on certain sections of the Tube network, outside of the peak times of 7.30am-9.30am and 4-7pm, Mon-Fri. Tube trains and platforms really aren’t bike friendly places and I would advise against trying to use the Tube if you’ve got one with you. Also you’re not allowed to take bikes on any moving escalator at any station.
Taking bicycles onto London Buses is down to the discretion of the driver, you might get away with it late at night but they’re really not designed to accommodate cycles.
The Docklands Light Railway will only take folding bikes that are completely enclosed in a container. Tramlink will only take the folding bikes but they don’t have to be in containers.
National Rail trains will take bikes but only at certain times, the best place to check the individual train operators policies is The Bike/Rail webpage.
As a rule I’d say trying to take bikes on public transport in London is not a great idea especially during the week. If you really want to make part of your journey without pushing the pedals, try to use a National Rail train outside peak times, it’ll give you the most space.
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Are there designated bike lanes or paths in the city? Does anyone operate bike tours? I love to bike around new cities if I have an idea of how to do it safely or if I am in a group.