Start with an easy cycle from the doors of Ockenden Manor at Cuckfield that combines charming villages and vineyards. Ride down winding lanes past local vineyards, where you can reward your efforts in the saddle with a sip or two of sparkling wine, before joining the Downs Link cycle route, meandering easily along the banks of the River Adur.

Stay at Ockenden Manor Hotel & Spa an elegant Elizabethan house where you can relax in the spoiling spa and enjoy views from the gardens over Cuckfield Park towards the South Downs.

Passing Bramber Castle to the coast, your route hugs the coastline to Littlehampton. From Worthing head east, and you can ride all the way to the Seven Sisters Country Park, stopping for ice creams or chips in Brighton to fuel your journey. Or take the Centurion Way to the west from Chichester to West Dean. It’s an easy 5.5 mile cycle along an old railway line, connecting with the South Coast Cycle Route, which leads to Fishbourne, with its Roman Palace.

Stay at Bailiffscourt Hotel & Spa in Climping, a series of houses and cottages in private parkland leading to the sea, where you can ease tired muscles in the spa, built in the style of a Sussex barn.

Heading north from Bailiffscourt, cycle past the impossibly picturesque Arundel Castle – now you’re warmed up and ready for a section of the South Downs Way, which follows old routes and droveways as it undulates along a chalk ridge for almost 100 miles. Drive or cycle 20 miles to Midhurst in the South Downs National Park. If you join the trail at Cocking, it’s 36 miles west to historic Winchester. Or peddle in the other direction towards the white cliffs of Eastbourne, some 62 miles away. East or west, you can be sure of a well-marked trail and some stunning views across the Channel to the Isle of Wight.

Stay at Midhurst’s Park House Hotel & Spa a charming country house property with traditional interiors, which also has two championship-standard grass tennis courts and a three-par golf course.

Head north from countryside to the capital, where along with shopping and the sites, you’ll find plenty of cycling opportunities, not least in Hyde Park. You can now ride the whole way round the park along a designated cycle route, as well as cycling along Serpentine Road and to the Old Police House. There are cycle-hire stops along the way.

Stay at The Hari in Belgravia near the park, with contemporary chic bedrooms, an Italian restaurant and garden terrace. For more cycling action, you can hit the Peloton in the gym, or borrow one of the hotel’s own fleet of bicycles.