LEJOG Costs

 Cost

The costs associated with a LEJOG trip fall into four categories:

• Accommodation

• Food

• Transport to and from

• Misc - repairs, etc.

Each of these can be increased or decreased depending upon the adjustments you are willing to make.

The overall costs are driven primarily by the length of your trip, which is driven by the number of miles you are willing to do each day and the route chosen.  There are a variety of LEJOG routes ranging from 846 using lots of A roads and the Sustrans route which is just shy of 1200.  A shorter route or higher mileage means fewer days and therefore less stays.  Some people save on accommodation costs by bringing gear and camping.  Savings can be made on lodging by staying at hostels.  Others reduce the cost of their meals by bringing a camp stove and cooking along the way.

As mentioned, LEJOG was a once in a lifetime trip for us and we’re not in our 20s any more.  Pedalling is Steve’s passion, but I’m happy to pedal along too.  We’ll both put in a full day, but want to be able to dry our gear, have a warm room, a hot shower and a good meal in the evening.  Picnics are one way we save on meals and we try to make sure breakfasts are included with the accommodation when possible.  If it’s warm enough to pedal LEJOG, it will be peak pricing season for accommodation - tough to work around.

There are a variety of LEJOG organised tours.  We found that once the ‘all-in’ costs of meals and accommodation were totaled, tours and book your own were fairly comparable in price so not a lot of savings there.

Food prices can be reduced by minimising restaurant visits.  Beyond that, reducing food costs by reducing the amount of food would be tricky (and probably risky) given the number of calories burnt each day due to the mileage.  There are many supermarkets and shops along the way where a high volume ‘hotel picnic’ can be found.  Restaurant alcohol is also pricy, but Steve cask ales and we both enjoy a glass of wine at the end of a long day.  

The third cost is transport.  We were unable to find a guaranteed spot for our tandem on a train.  The common message from the train customer service lines was you could book a place for the tandem on a train, but then it would be up to the train staff on the day as to whether you would be allowed to board or not.  Given that we could have up to 34 sequential accommodation bookings ahead of us, we really did not want to risk being told we couldn’t get on a train and to find another way to start the trip.  As we live right in the centre of the UK, about 7 hours from Lands End and 8 hours from John O’Groats, asking someone to drive us didn’t really seem fair.

Renting a commercial van proved to be the most viable and economical option, for us.  It was still  awkward, but we felt it was a more reliable option for our trip.  The awkwardness is discussed in more detail in the Transport section.  

Other costs tend to be for things like repairs or touristy things.  There may not be a lot of time for anything besides bicycle touring, but there may be something you cannot miss on the way.  Repairs - hopefully those will be few and far between.

Not a lot of room for souvenirs, so I haven’t included a category for that!