Recommendations for Paddington to Liverpool Street route

[Mr.Benton]

Later this week I am crossing London from Paddington Station to Liverpool Street Station by bike. I have planned a route using cycle.travel which takes me south to Hyde Park, east along Constitution Hill and through St James Park and then along Victoria Embankment to London Bridge before turning North towards Liverpool Street station.
The estimated time for the journey is 30 minutes, but I have 2 hours 30minutes between my train arriving at Paddington and my train leaving Liverpool Street.

Can anyone recommend any routes or places to cycle that can extend my journey to fill the time ?

Thanks.

[Jdsk]

Do you want to spend that time on the bike, or off it having ridden to somewhere interesting?

Thanks

Jonathan

PS: That not our route for that journey. But if you're diverting this is even less relevant than usual. : - )

[rareposter]

Can anyone recommend any routes or places to cycle that can extend my journey to fill the time ?

Instead of turning left at Westminster and following the (excellent) cycle lane around the northern bank, you could cross the river and pop down to Imperial War Museum before heading E then NE and up to London Bridge (Tate Modern / Millenium Bridge / Shard ??) that way. Over London Bridge, up through Monument and Bank then pick up the original route.

One thing to be aware of - it will be slow and congested through / around Buckingham Palace and if your ride coincides with Changing of the Guard (11am but basically any time from 10.30 - 12), it'll be inaccessible.

Could do a couple of laps of Hyde Park.

Given how long it can take to get out of Paddington and into LS, I'd be tempted to leave yourself a fair bit of leeway.

[Mr.Benton]

Thanks for the replies

I was hoping to spend time cycling and seeing the sights rather than spending time off the bike.

Thanks for the tip about the changing of the guard, my train arrives at 11:30 so I may hit the end of it.

[Bice]

I would do this:

Go to Hyde Park via the quite good cycle pathways around Paddington and enter the Park by the road that goes up to the Serpentine and the gallery. After these, while in the Park, take a left on to the cycle path (which goes beside the horse track of Rotten Row) and head for Hyde Park Corner. Go under the arch at Hyde Park Corner, which is a cycle/pedestrian route, and then down Constitution Hill to Buckingham Palace, Horse Guards, Downing St, Whitehall, Westminster etc and on to the Thames cycle super highway just beside Big Ben. Then go east along the brilliant super highway. (You can go under the small arch at Horse Guards, on foot, to get into Whitehall just by the mounted lifeguards.)

PS there is no congestion around Buckingham Palace, and there is a cycle route along the entire left side of the Mall from Hyde Park Corner to Admiralty Arch. (There is no traffic on the Mall at all on Sundays.)

After going under London Bridge take a left which will take you up a slope to the Monument pillar and then the A10 (Gracechurch Street, Bishopsgate), which will be a bit busy but has bus lanes, to Liverpool St.

45 mins to an hour.

(The suggestion of going south of the river, which is boring, is absurd.)

I think cycling along the cycle superhighway from Westminster to the Tower, which only has 3-4 traffic lights, is about the fastest way of crossing London in its entire history.

[simonhill]

Along the Embankment, if you have time, you can carry on a bit to see The Tower of London. Good views possible from outside.

[rareposter]

(The suggestion of going south of the river, which is boring, is absurd.)

As a direct route from Paddington to LS, yes it would be absurd - but the OP asked for sightseeing ideas, even ones that might not be directly on the route, and I simply suggested Imperial War Museum plus a couple of other South Bank attractions such as Tate Modern. Also crossing the river is always cool - great views of the city both up and down stream.

My warning about Buckingham Palace was more down to the pedestrians - basically tourists wandering everywhere, including in and across the cycle lanes and not caring where they're standing to get their photos and selfies. It's fine to ride it slowly but it's not the place to be if you're thinking you'll get somewhere in a hurry!

[Mr.Benton]

Thank you for the recommendations.
I made the journey yesterday and I decided to do a sightseeing lap of Hyde park including an out and back to the Royal Albert Hall. Then down Constitution Hill and The Mall to Horse Guards Parade, where there was an army parade on which I watched for 15 minutes. Then on past the Houses of Parliament, and along the embankment.
The lap of the park, the parade and the slow cycling to avoid the tourists all combined to fill my spare time between trains. Overall it was a ln enjoyable 2 hours of slow cycling across the capital.