A number of public artworks have been commissioned for the route, including Tony Cragg's Terris Novalis at Consett, sheepfolds by Andy Goldsworthy at various points in Cumbria and Alison Wilding's Ambit in the River Wear at Sunderland.

On the Consett to Sunderland line, there are The Old Transformers by David Kemp below Pontop Pike mast near Annfield Plain and four steel cows by Sally Matthews near Beamish Museum.

[2] The route has two alternative start points in West Cumbria at Whitehaven and at Workington, before travelling through the stunning scenery of the western and northern Lake District.

There then follows an undulating ride as the C2C meanders through old lead-mining villages, such as Garrigill, Nenthead and Rookhope, and down into the Durham Dales before crossing Waskerley Moor and entering the old steel town of Consett via the Hownes Gill Viaduct.

From Consett it's an easy ride via Leadgate, Annfield Plain, Stanley, Beamish and through one of Britain's old industrial heartlands to the North Sea and Sunderland.