National Cycle Route 51

National Cycle Route 51 is an English long distance cycle route running broadly east-west connecting Colchester and the port of Harwich to Oxford via Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Bedford, Milton Keynes, Bicester, and Kidlington.

Links to:

Forms part of the North Sea Cycle Route.

Route

Colchester to Harwich

Colchester | Wivenhoe | Great Oakley | Harwich

This section runs from Colchester and National Cycle Route 1 to Harwich, where a seasonal foot ferry can be caught to Suffolk where the route continues.

For much of its length it is also the route of the North Sea Cycle Route, although this branches off at a park in Dovercourt to head to the Harwich International Port at Parkeston where there is access via ferry to Europe.

At Harwich the signs indicate the route is 22 miles to Colchester, 3 to the International Port and 1 to Dovercourt. The North Sea Cycle Route junction is 1 mile along the route from Harwich to Colchester. As at 31 January 2009 the signpost at this junction had been twisted so the signs aren't pointing in the correct direction; the route to Colchester should be down the slope to the promenade, the route to Harwich should be up the slope through the park and the route to the International Port should be along the level route that joins the nearby roads.