Route Numbering system
The National Cycle Network is signed using the system modelled on the Danish Cycle Network and adopted by the Department for Transport, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Executive. The same system is now being adopted by a number of other European countries. The signs shows the number of the route that is being followed. National Route numbers are shown against a red patch and Regional Route numbers are shown against a blue patch.
National Routes
The National Route numbering system is similar to the original A-road numbering system introduced in the 1920's, with primary routes radiating clockwise from London, and their branches adding digits to the primary number. National Cycle Network routes beginning with numbers 1-6 are generally in England, those beginning with 7 start in the far north of England and Scotland. Those beginning with 8 are generally in Wales and 9 in Northern Ireland.
National Route 1 goes all the way from Dover to London and then up the east coast of the country to Edinburgh and on to John o'Groats, the Orkneys and the Shetlands. It has branches, generally in the East of England, numbered between 11 & 19.
National Route 2 will run along the south coast of England, from Dover to St. Austell or Bodmin with branches numbered in the twenties.
National Route 3 goes from Bristol to Land's End in Cornwall, includes the West Country Way & the Cornish Way and has branches numbered in the thirties.
National Route 4 runs from London to Fishguard on the west coast of Wales, with branches numbered in the forties, many of which are in South Wales.
National Route 5 will run from Reading up through Birmingham to Chester and then along the North Wales coast to Holyhead. It has branches numbered in the fifties, generally in central England.
National Route 6 will connect London to the Lake District, and has branches numbered in the sixties. The longest of these is the Pennine Cycleway from Derby to Berwick-on-Tweed, signed as National Route 68.
National Route 7 goes from Sunderland to Inverness, with branches in the seventies, in North England and Scotland. All routes in Scotland are in the seventies apart from National Route 1.
National Route 8 is called Lôn Las Cymru and goes from Cardiff to Holyhead through the heart of Wales. It has branches in the eighties, predominantly in Wales.
National Route 9 is planned to run from Belfast to Dublin and all other routes in Northern Ireland are in the nineties.
Regional Routes
Regional routes are an integral part of the National Cycle Network, serving to link most remaining towns to the Network, and share the same characteristics as National routes.
They include a number of established county cycle routes, such as the Avon Cycleway, which will be brought up to a common standard. For the purposes of numbering Regional Routes, the UK has been divided into ten regions, with Regional Routes numbered 10-99 within each region, number allocation being generally based on the larger counties. The signing convention will be the same as for the National Routes except for using a blue, rather than red, number patch (as pictured above). Over the next five years Regional Routes will be re-numbered using three digit National Route numbers.
Download a Regional Routes Information sheet (pdf).