Where to live in the UK (with trails in easy reach)?

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DylanJM

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If you had to recommend a city (ideally) or a place to live in the UK with easy reach to good/great riding where would you recommend? I am currently thinking about relocating to the UK sometime in 2026 and need some suggestions. The kicker is I will most likely not have a car/van (at least initially) so ideally somewhere I can ride to the trails from my place or grab a train with the bike. I guess I could car share once I get to know some locals also.

Currently Manchester and Sheffield seem to tick the boxes. Cardiff and Edinburgh are also on the list. I prefer gravity focused Enduro or DH type riding.
 
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Moab is opening up to E-bikes. Come to the colonies!

I think I'd look in the Edinburgh area. Apparently, there are areas that are in relative "rain shadows".

Are there areas near Edinburgh that are relatively dry in rain shadows?​

Yes, there are areas near Edinburgh that experience relatively dry conditions due to the rain shadow effect. The western Highlands of Scotland, including the Pentland Hills, act as a rain shadow, providing drier weather to the eastern side of Scotland, which includes Edinburgh. This phenomenon occurs because the wind blows over the mountains, causing the air to rise and cool, which leads to the formation of rain clouds. The eastern side of Scotland, including Edinburgh, receives less precipitation and more sunshine compared to the western side. This makes Edinburgh's climate more stable and less prone to prolonged rainstorms compared to the Highlands.
 
Montana St Alum said:
Moab is opening up to E-bikes. Come to the colonies!

I think I'd look in the Edinburgh area. Apparently, there are areas that are in relative "rain shadows".

Are there areas near Edinburgh that are relatively dry in rain shadows?​

Yes, there are areas near Edinburgh that experience relatively dry conditions due to the rain shadow effect. The western Highlands of Scotland, including the Pentland Hills, act as a rain shadow, providing drier weather to the eastern side of Scotland, which includes Edinburgh. This phenomenon occurs because the wind blows over the mountains, causing the air to rise and cool, which leads to the formation of rain clouds. The eastern side of Scotland, including Edinburgh, receives less precipitation and more sunshine compared to the western side. This makes Edinburgh's climate more stable and less prone to prolonged rainstorms compared to the Highlands.
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Yeah but how does it compare to the rest of the UK... being less wet than west Scotland isn't hard :D
 
One of the bike magazines did a "best place to live in the UK if you are inot MTB". They took into account house prices, schools, entertainment, all the usual stuff. But also ease of access to trail centres and natural riding. I seem to remember that Sheffield and Bristol were well rated. I'm sure a Google search will find it. I think the magazine was MBR - Mountain Bike Rider. You wouldn't think London would be in there, but the train and motorway network must have been a key factor. Today's house prices would surely rule it out these days.

Just done a quick search. It was indeed MBR and the survey was 14 years ago. The print edition stopped a few years ago.

From that survey, here are the top ten places to live if you are a mountain biker. Bristol was voted the best. But it was 14 years ago and no doubt hordes of mountain bikers have since moved to Bristol and depressed all the property prices! :eek:

10 - Exeter
9 - Manchester
8 - London
7 - Cardiff
6 - Brighton/Hove
5 - Leeds
4 - Glasgow
3 - Sheffield
2 - Edinburgh
1 - Bristol
 
Weeksy said:
Yeah but how does it compare to the rest of the UK... being less wet than west Scotland isn't hard :D
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Beats me, but if the OP is considering that area, he might as well take advantage of the topography. The rain shadow effect in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. can be profound. Looking at steve_sordy's post, if Edinburgh is #2 on the list of places to live if you mountain bike, I'd consider it. Plus Edinburgh is pretty cool!
 
Nottingham?… pretty central.. In the Peaks within an hour.. or if you opt to live in North Notts.. can ride to the Peaks inside an hour..
An Hour away.. Cannock Chase..
Sherwood Pines( if ya fancy fast flat fun)… couple of hours you are in Wales…
 
Whaley Bridgw S/E of Stockport or Todmorden would be quite handy for trails.

Either that, or anywhere south along the North Pennines, trails on your doorstep and Lake District within easy reach as well. Steamer from Pooley Bridge up to Glenridding is to be recommended as a starting place.

The North Pennines are a sight cheaper than the Lakes or anywhere down south as well, and Penrith is within easy reach without a car for shopping etc.
 
visited a few bike parks in the uk in the wales and scotland. they were fine but the weather terrible ;) would much prefer to live in the south (remember there was a nice bike park in blandford) plus a few without uplift in the area. if you work remotely - why not the alps / dolomites? ;)
 
Just to state, money is very much an object so I can't just live in everyone's dream destination :)

I currently live in Copenhagen and I am looking at the UK because it's close to my home country (Ireland), is culturally and socially a bit closer to what I know and because it has a great mtb history and great trails.
 
Petersfield. I'd choose Petersfield. You can ride to Rogate bike park, Queen Elizabeth country park & the south downs, three lots of decent riding on your doorstep, no car required & you get to avoid the frozen wastes of the north.
 
Tone461 said:
South Wales?
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Be very careful which part of South Wales. I went with my daughter's family to Solva, close to St David's. It is pretty much the most western part of South Wales. My grandson and I struggled to find any rides worth having an mtb! All the coastal areas banned bikes. Yes, all sorts of good stuff is available if you put your bike in the car and ride an hour or more to it (which doesn't get you very far, this is Wales we are talking about!), but nothing out of the door.

So my advice would be that wherever you choose to live, before you make the final decision, ask for local advice. :)
 
steve_sordy said:
Be very careful which part of South Wales. I went with my daughter's family to Solva, close to St David's. It is pretty much the most western part of South Wales. My grandson and I struggled to find any rides worth having an mtb! All the coastal areas banned bikes. Yes, all sorts of good stuff is available if you put your bike in the car and ride an hour or more to it (which doesn't get you very far, this is Wales we are talking about!), but nothing out of the door.

So my advice would be that wherever you choose to live, before you make the final decision, ask for local advice. :)
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I assume people suggesting South Wales mean the area around Cardiff/Newport which has Bike Park Wales, Afan and Cwncarn all with easy reach.
 
steve_sordy said:
Be very careful which part of South Wales. I went with my daughter's family to Solva, close to St David's. It is pretty much the most western part of South Wales. My grandson and I struggled to find any rides worth having an mtb! All the coastal areas banned bikes. Yes, all sorts of good stuff is available if you put your bike in the car and ride an hour or more to it (which doesn't get you very far, this is Wales we are talking about!), but nothing out of the door.

So my advice would be that wherever you choose to live, before you make the final decision, ask for local advice. :)
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Solva is definitely not South Wales!
 
You've all thinking along the wrong lines, you don't need trail parks if you have an EBike. What you need is to be able to ride from your back door into good, not necessarily fantastic trails where for 2-3 hours you can have a load of fun, then wash your bike off and sit down with your partner or family and everyone is happy.

If you want fantastic days you drive to that area, but those days in a year are few and far between and your partner is only glad to get you out of the house for the day on occassion.

In the UK my criteria would be local rides, local community ( some of the smaller towns can be a pretty lonely place to live ) communication ( not all parts of the UK has fibre ), weather, connection to transport, cost of housing and finally what else is there that I can do other than cycling such as golf, sailing, archery, anything other than cycling as a change.

I live in the Chiltern Hills, prices of houses can be near London prices in the larger and rail commuter towns but go out more towards Birmingham on the edge of the hills and you would be surprised how much prices drop. From my doorstep I have probably in excess of 300 miles of lanes and paths to play on, in 2 hours of riding you can do 800m + of altitude and I have every other sport, communities and great connections with train and airports all within 30 minutes.
 
steve_sordy said:
Be very careful which part of South Wales. I went with my daughter's family to Solva, close to St David's. It is pretty much the most western part of South Wales. My grandson and I struggled to find any rides worth having an mtb! All the coastal areas banned bikes. Yes, all sorts of good stuff is available if you put your bike in the car and ride an hour or more to it (which doesn't get you very far, this is Wales we are talking about!), but nothing out of the door.

So my advice would be that wherever you choose to live, before you make the final decision, ask for local advice. :)
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Noo. Way too far over. Some nice beaches though.
 
Rockhopper70 said:
As I said, number 4.

www.redbull.com

8 of the best natural riding routes in the UK

Ditch the trail centre, grab your map and take on a real mountain biking adventure.
www.redbull.com www.redbull.com
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It seems as though there was a "sea change" in riding priorities. I'm in Utah and we have well over 400 miles of singletrack, which we've been riding for over 30 years on non-motorized mountain bikes and the availability of lift served really only took off a decade ago. I have a season pass to the local resort for skiing (Deer Valley) which includes summer lift served. I may get in one or two days there, mountain biking, per year. I have embraced E-biking mainly due to age (in our area, E-bikes are okay for over 65 and mobility impaired, but that will change), but it's in the context of just going out and hitting trails and exploring. It's good to see that there are areas where you can just go out and explore in the UK and elsewhere! And E-bikes really open up terrain in which to do so.
 
Anywhere in the East Lancs/ West Yorkshire/ Calderdale area. Amazing local natural riding, an hour to the Dark Peak, hour and a half to North Wales and a couple of hours to the Lakes. Blessed.
 
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