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Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG/JOGLE) 2024

Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG) 

lands end to john o'groats cycle

The classic challenge ride of just over 1,000 miles that takes you all the way from the tip of Cornwall, through some of the most scenic areas of the United Kingdom, to the very top of the Scottish mainland (this ride is also known as ‘LEJOG’ or when ridden in reverse, ‘JOGLE’). 

We have been organising both fully supported and independent cycling holidays from Land’s End to John O’Groats/John O’Groats to Land’s End longer than any other company – over 14 years – and have helped hundreds of people to realise their dream of cycling the length of the UK. 

The LEJOG starts at Land’s End, and from there the route takes you along the north coast of Cornwall, across Dartmoor and around Bristol. After crossing the River Severn you continue north through the rolling countryside of Herefordshire and Shropshire, around Manchester and across the wild countryside of Northern England to the Scottish border. After the hills of the Southern Uplands, you pass through the centre of Glasgow, and continue through the glorious scenery of the Scottish Highlands, passing Ben Nevis and Loch Ness on your way to John O’Groats and a celebratory meal and glass of bubbly! Or the same in reverse!

Supported or Independent?

We offer both fully supported and independent cycling holidays. In brief, a supported cycling holiday includes the provision of leader(s) and vehicular support for baggage transfers and to provide mechanical/medical support. With both supported and independent trips Bike Adventures provides full route instructions and supplies quality accommodation. Independent trips are entirely flexible – you choose the dates you wish to ride, and you guide yourselves, using our route instructions. We timetable a number of supported LEJOG/JOGLE trips each year (for dates see below), and often add more if required.

Fully Supported Tour Dates – 2024

These are our currently scheduled 2024 supported holiday dates. You can now book your 2024 trip by clicking on the relevant link in the table below. As soon as your deposit is received your place will be reserved. 

Start Date

Trip

Type

Cycling Days

Level

Code

1 July  2024 Land’s End to John O’Groats Supported 21 days Regular KE245
24 July 2024  Land’s End to John O’Groats  Supported  15 days  Challenging  KE24 
04 Sept  2024 Land’s End to John O’Groats 9 Day Challenge Supported  9 days  Strenuous KE244 
7 Sept 2024 Ultimate Land’s End to John O’Groats Supported 18 days Challenging UKE24

What’s Included in our Supported Holidays?

Despite being the most experienced company running LEJOG/JOGLE cycle tours, our prices are still among the most reasonable you will find. Here’s what those prices include: 

– A Bike Adventures cycle shirt
– Good quality hotel/B&B accommodation 
– Full English breakfasts, usually with a choice of juices, cereals, coffee, etc
– Vehicle support, with a full set of spares, first aid equipment, water etc.
– Services of a highly experienced, mature leader/mechanic including full baggage transfer services
– Route information (traditional Bike Adventures’ ‘turn by turn’ instructions and daily .gpx files for GPS users)
– Transport from Penzance to Land’s End (or vice versa) if required
– Transport from John O’Groats to Inverness (or vice versa) at end of the holiday
– End to End certificate for those that complete the trip.

Independent Tour Dates – 2024

Independent holidays (and private group trips – supported and self guided) can be organised to run at any time of the year, although the UK weather often ‘dictates’ the better months. These self-guided holidays are custom-made for independent cyclists.  Most of our fully supported routes are available for independent use and, on some routes, we can offer these with different daily mileages to suit all abilities. You choose exactly when you want to go, the length of holiday, the number of rest days and, of course, your travelling companions. The trips are ideal for couples, families or groups of friends. 

We tailor the holiday to suit your requirements and make all the arrangements for you. We book and pay for all your accommodation and provide you with a carefully researched route that mostly uses quiet, scenic roads to take you through interesting towns and villages. You are supplied with highly detailed daily route instructions so you don’t even need to carry maps. 

You can book your 2024 independent trip now by clicking on the relevant link in the tables below. As soon as your deposit is received your place will be reserved. 

Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG)

Months

Trip

Type

Cycling Days

Level

Code

April – Sept   Land’s End to John O’Groats   Independent   10 days Strenuous XK10  
April – Sept Land’s End to John O’Groats Independent 15 days Challenging   XK15  
April – Sept Land’s End to John O’Groats Independent 20 days  Regular XK20  
April – Sept Land’s End to John O’Groats Independent 26 days Regular XK26  

 

 John O’Groats to Land’s End (JOGLE)

Months

Trip

Type

Cycling Days

Level

Code

April – Sept   John O’Groats to Land’s End    Independent   10 days Strenuous XJ10  
April – Sept John O’Groats to Land’s End Independent 15 days Challenging    XJ15  
April – Sept John O’Groats to Land’s End Independent 20 days  Regular  XJ20  
April – Sept John O’Groats to Land’s End Independent 26 days Regular  XJ26  

History of the UK ‘End to End’

Ever since the invention of the bicycle, people have been inspired to ride the ‘End to End’. The first official time recorded over the distance was 65 days, 16 hours and 7 minutes, ridden on a penny farthing in 1880, and since then the route has been covered on everything from a bed to a motorised bar stool!! Today the record is held by Michael Broadwith who covered the distance in a time of 43 hours 25 minutes and 13 seconds in June 2018. The ladies record of 2 days, 4 hours, 45 minutes and 11 seconds is held by Lynne Taylor.

There is no ‘official’ End to End route and thus no official distance. There are various published guides – they all vary in the route they take, but most make the distance around 1,000 miles. Most trips start from Land’s End, the main reason being that the prevailing winds in the UK are usually from the south-west, and so if you are lucky you could have a tailwind all the way to Scotland; although this distinction is not clear-cut and there are other arguments for choosing the other direction. 

Land’s End to John O’Groats Cycle Routes

With our long experience, we believe we offer the best LEJOG routes, and the most professional leaders to guide you.

LEJOG map

Scenic Routes: follows minor roads as much as possible. The first part of the route through Cornwall and Devon is challenging with plenty of short steep hills. Around Bristol, it becomes easier with gentler climbs, but the north of England is again hilly with a few tough climbs. The route through Scotland has some long climbs although generally, these are not too steep. The route passes through plenty of small towns and villages, as well as a few larger towns which can be busy. To keep to a fairly direct route there are some unavoidable sections on main roads, most notably in Scotland, and some of these do carry moderately heavy traffic. The route through the centre of Glasgow is on local cycle paths. 

Direct Route: (9 day ‘challenge’ trips only): follows a more direct, and slightly shorter, route as much as possible, generally using ‘B’ and secondary ‘A’ roads, but also quiet lanes. You do pass through the centres of some large towns that the scenic route avoids. The route takes you through the same areas of the country as our scenic route and some of these are hilly; again most notably Devon and Cornwall. Note that the ten day trip is recommended only for very fit, experienced cyclists.  

Accommodation & Food

Both our independent and supported holidays are hotel-based cycling trips (we can also arrange camping-only trips for private groups) and accommodation will generally be graded 2* – 3* or similar, offering clean and comfortable rooms. Single people travelling alone will be booked into a twin bedded room with another person of the same sex unless the additional single supplement has been paid. We book rooms with en-suite facilities where available, but this cannot always be guaranteed. Breakfast is provided at the accommodation, most hotels also have a restaurant attached for an evening meal, or there is at least one other restaurant or pub nearby.

Testimonials

LEJOG – Robert Gillespie – UK

First, a big thank you for a great experience.   The organisation was tremendous and everything appeared to work perfectly.   I shall remember the past fortnight with great pleasure for a long time.

LEJOG – David Benninga – UK

It’s taken some time to type the simple words, thank you, and send them to you.  The tour was really wonderful and perfect in every detail.  The route was great, beautiful views and I now have a feeling that Britain is a part of me.  Andy and Phil was the best.  They set a tone from the first moment which helped the group become one. Also thank you for providing the bike box, knowing that it would be waiting for me helped.

JOGLE – Kristina Hoffburg  – UK

I had a great time on JOGLE.  Graham and Sue were faultless. Calm kind and patient. They made my success possible after a year of ill health followed by a year of recovery and low fitness. Thank you.

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