Printed Spokes maps
Obviously if you want to know about cycling in Edinburgh, the Lothians, or Glasgow, you can’t do better than the excellent Spokes Cycle Maps. Between them they have sold over 150,000 copies, and the customer can’t be wrong!! Here’s what people say about them, including why they are an excellent option even if you also use online mapping.
Online mapping
We can’t possibly list all or most map sources, but here are some we especially like…
OpenStreetMap (OSM) – “OpenStreetMap is built by a community of mappers that contribute and maintain data about roads, trails, cafés, railway stations, and much more, all over the world … it provides map data for thousands of websites, mobile apps, and hardware devices.” The ‘layers’ icon allows you to choose different sets of information, including a cycle facilities map and a public transport map.
To add or correct info on OSM, click the speech bubble on the right. A marker on the map, and a comment box, will appear. Move the marker to the place where you wish to comment, then enter your comment in the box, then click Add Note.
Cyclestreets – plan your journey, cross-town or cross-country. If you’re in Edinburgh, start here. Choice of fastest, quietest or intermediate route. CycleStreets uses OSM (above).
Edinburgh Council online atlas – Incredibly useful! The layers icon allows you to see not just transport and cycle facilities, but council wards, schools, health sites and many other facilities. You can also combine these – for example, by ticking the appropriate boxes, you can find which cycleroutes are near ancient woodlands, which public bike parking is near public CCTV, which council wards are in which Holyrood constituences, and so on and on ….
To suggest changes to the cycle facilities section, email activetravel@edinburgh.gov.uk.
Sustrans – Check out the National Cycle Network online near your postcode or anywhere in Britain or buy maps and guidebooks. Routes are as traffic-free as possible.
GPS Cycle and Walking Routes – Largely recreational routes throughout Britain. Here’s the Scotland page.
Finding Bike Parking – Use the Council online atlas or OSM. More info on our public bike parking page.