Tour the coastline of Northumberland and the Scottish Borders before sweeping inland to Melrose and Innerleithen on the south section of the Coast and Castles cycling holiday. Your journey begins on the promenade at Tyneside, and ends in historic Edinburgh, on the edge of the Forth Estuary.

Castle ruins loom on the headlands, part of a landscape once shaped by conflict. Busy towns and villages offer looks into all the history that has accumulated since, shored up in museums and local architecture, and there are independent teashops aplenty to use as rest stops.

It's a varied route, enjoying seaside vistas and that inland venture through the Moorfoot Hills. The ascent into Edinburgh is the perfect finale: the natural landscape refuses to be left behind as the Coast and Castles Route curves through Holyrood Park, circling the base of Arthur's Seat. This is the highest point in Edinburgh, a volcanic hill situated right in the centre, and offers views over the stone-built townhouses of Old and New Towns, themselves a World Heritage Site, and rivals Edinburgh Castle as the most impressive part of the city skyline.

Coast and Castles keeps to good surfaces throughout. Long stretches of traffic-free cyclepath feature up the coast, with quiet roads between. There are a few sections of compacted grit, but any road bicycle should do brilliantly for this route regardless.