Exe Valley trail

The Exe Valley Trail makes a circuit of the Exe estuary. A good cycle route has been provided on both sides of the river, comprised primarily of NCN2 South of the A379 bridge, and NCN34 to the North linking to Exeter. We used the Starcross-Exmouth ferry to close the loop: check carefully the sailing times on the day: we had no problems, but sometimes sailings are cancelled due to low tide. Also they say they only take a maximum of twelve bikes. Here's a map of our ride.

We parked at Exton on the East side of the river. We used the small station car park which, amazingly, seems open to the public free of charge (do check carefully if you try it that they haven't introduced charges). From here, we cycled north on NCN2 to the A379 bridge, stopping quite soon at the Route 2 cafe in Topsham for a coffee (you can hire bikes here). We then used the local shared use cycle route to stay East of the river, following the old canal and entering Exeter along the attractive quayside, where we had lunch at a riverside cafe.

The railway beside the river at Exton station

NCN2 has a good surface and is popular with walkers as well as cyclists

Some serious infrastructure has been provided, here a dedicated bridge over the River Clyst

A Hide of Birdwatchers at the Clyst RSPB reserve

Topsham Quay, a pleasant spot to stop

Countess Wear paper mill (rems of), on the way in to Exeter.

Weir at Exeter

Exeter Quayside

Riverside Cafe where we stopped for lunch

Customs House on the Quay

Exeter Cathedral

Having made an excursion to view the cathedral, we cycled down the West side of the river on the NCN34 back to the A379 bridge, then NCN2 to Starcross. This is has been made into an excellent surfaced cycleway most of the way (there is a short stretch on a quiet road into Starcross).

Foot/cycle bridge over the Exe

NCN34 heading out of Exeter

Another very well surfaced path: you could almost be in the Netherlands

Pub at the Double Locks

Riverside cycling

NCN2 under the M5

Topsham passenger ferry landing (provides an escape route for a shorter ride)

Turf Lock

At Turf Lock, the estuary opens out

NCN2 follows a path at the bottom of the embankment

Proper 1-in-20 cycling bridge over the railway nearing Starcross

We caught the ferry from Starcross across the river to Exmouth, from where we returned to our start along the NCN2: again this has an excellent surface. We started our ride at about 11am, and finished at 6.30pm. It was only about 23 miles easy cycling; we could have done it much quicker, but we had taken plenty of time to stop on the way to admire the scenery, explore Exeter, and eat and drink and be merry.