Cycling London to Paris. Mike Wells

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      The City of London skyline has many modernistic buildings (classic route, Stage 1)

      Near the northern edge of Western Europe stand two great capital cities, London and Paris, undoubtedly two of the greatest cities in the world. Both were the capitals of worldwide empires that competed for domination around the world. This imperial past is long gone but has resulted in cosmopolitan populations with residents drawn from around the globe. Grand government buildings, important centres of worship and famous museums and galleries line world-renowned streets surrounded by popular parks and gardens. Everything one has, the other claims to match or better: Paris has the Eiffel tower, London has Tower bridge; Paris has Notre Dame cathedral, London St Pauls; Paris has the Louvre, London the National gallery; Paris has the Bois de Boulogne, London the Royal parks; the list is endless.

      But these two cities are not isolated phenomena, both being surrounded by attractive countryside with rolling chalk downland, pastoral Wealden valleys and picturesque country towns. There are even two great cathedrals in the land that lies between them: Canterbury (off-route) is the mother church of the Church of England while Amiens (classic route, Stage 7) is the largest cathedral in France. Before the last ice age, which finished about 10,000 years ago, this was one continuous landmass but as the ice melted and sea levels rose the two countries became separated by the English Channel. The opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 revolutionised travel between London and Paris. Frequent trains now make the journey in less than two and a half hours, speeding between London St Pancras and Paris Gare du Nord at up to 300kmph. Passengers have a brief glimpse of the countryside of south-east England and northern France as they rush past, but no time to explore or savour it.

      A compensating breakthrough came in 2012. To celebrate the London Olympics (the choice of venue for which had resurrected old rivalries with a tight contest between the two cities before London was awarded the games) a waymarked cycle route was inaugurated running from centre to centre. Known as the Avenue Verte (Green Avenue) this 387km route uses suburban streets, quiet country roads and cycle tracks along old railway lines to traverse Surrey and Sussex in England and Haute Normandy in France, crossing the English Channel between Newhaven and Dieppe. The route has become popular with cyclists, particularly French cyclists heading for London.