AS a tour of some of the most desirable neighbourhoods of Harrogate this route takes some beating – and as bike ride it's pretty good, too. Estate agents and cyclists alike will drool. You slip in and out of the suburbs like a fox in the night, stringing together bridleways, cycle routes, tracks and little used roads. The route is a sort of cyclists' M25 of the town but far from being a road to hell it's an orbit of discovery.

From Knaresborough, I set off in an anti-clockwise direction towards Harrogate on the cycleway dedicated to Beryl Burton, seven times world cycling champion. I made my first stop at the listed 17th century Spruisty Bridge in Knox. A plaque records how it once carried packhorse traffic between Knaresborough and Ripley. It's hard to believe that such a quaint place could exist just a mile or two from the centre of one North Yorkshire's principal towns. All that was missing from the scene was a vintage car, picnic rug and children paddling in the ford.

Kent Road in Harrogate is the ultimate in gentrified suburbia, a broad, peaceful street with barely a parked car in sight. They have garages behind electric gates for that sort of thing around here. A little further on, while exploring a lane on the western fringes of Harrogate, I came across two towers side by side, one round and the other square. As I pondered the purpose of the square tower, the owner of the house semi-detached to it came out and kindly invited me inside.

The Harlow Hill Tower Observatory, to give the tower its full name, was built in 1829 and now Grade II listed. I plodded up the 92 steps in semi-darkness since the few small windows have been sealed off at the request of neighbours. At the top, 700ft above sea level, the view extends on a clear day as far as the Humber Bridge and York Minster. Through an old pair of battleship binoculars mounted on a BBC TV tripod I could even see right into Ripley Castle. During the Second World War, the tower was used a machine gun nest set up to protect Leeds.

Council-owned, the tower is now the headquarters of the Harrogate Astronomical Society and it opens to the public on four days a year. Incidentally, the ornate
round structure next door is a water tower built precisely a century ago.

With that it was back into the country. Just after The Squinting Cat pub – an ideal stop for anyone with children – the view over the fold of the Crimple Beck valley towards the wart-like hulk of Almscliffe Crag is superb. A glorious freewheel follows. For a moment you could be deep in the Dales. The route then takes advantage of roads that became almost redundant after the construction of the Harrogate bypass. There are great views of the 31-arch Crimple Valley railway viaduct on the way to Follifoot where actor Daniel Craig is rumoured to be looking at property. The village's name is thought to derive from the Norse meaning "place of the horse fight" indicating that it was possibly used as a centre for training horses and the staging of fights, a sport made popular by the Vikings and which continued into medieval times. Horses still features prominently in Follifoot. Opposite a riding school lives a woman advertising fine animal portraits. I thought she perhaps ought to link up with the Bilton Pets Hotel (sadly, no longer called the Bilton Hilton) that I'd passed earlier. On the eastern edge of the village, I passed an enclosure for less coveted beasts: a circular animal pound dated 1688.

The village's character is summed up by some of the house names: Manor Cottages, Forge Green and the Bolthole.

At the top of the green is the grand old main entrance to Rudding Park and nearby is a pair of stocks. Although I have no reason to doubt their authenticity they're so well maintained they could be brand new.

The highlight of this circuit goes back even further in time having been mentioned in the Domesday Book. I refer to Plompton, a hamlet previously part of a manor held by the
de Plumpton family for 700 years. It was sold in 1760 to Daniel Lascelles who demolished the mansion and other buildings with the intention of building a new house. He never completed the work and moved to nearby Goldsborough Hall. All that remain are the pleasure grounds and lake named Plumpton Rocks. Thankfully, they have been maintained and now provide a magical place to explore.

Looking at the lillies on the lake, little wooden jetties and huge, bulbous rocks like those at Brimham, this place could provide the setting for a re-enactment of Swallows and Amazons. As I brushed through bracken and rhododendrons and crept around fissures in the rocks I half expected to come across Roger and Titty on a secret mission. Around one corner was a thick wooden door with a barred window that begged inspection. Through it I could see a rowing boat, one oar propped lazily on a ring, in a tunnel-like boathouse. It came as no surprise to find out that Plumpton has been the location for various TV productions, including Blake's Seven, Heartbeat and, bizarrely, The Muppet Show.

I headed back to Knaresborough on a bridleway through an attractive wood and then along Abbey Road which is almost as quiet. Right down at river level I found St Robert's Cave. With its sitting out area it's very bijou – if you're Stig of the Dump.

Reputed for his herbal cures and a friend of the poor, the saint died here a hermit. At the other end of the road the four-storey 18th century House in the Rock is just that. Previous names were Swallows Nest and Fort Montague.

The man who completed its construction, the self-knighted Sir Thomas Hill, flew a Union Flag, printed his own bank notes and fired a cannon from the battlements on public occasions. Having been open to the public in the past, the house was restored and became a private residence again a few years ago.

Choosing a property on this route would be difficult but Abbey Road is where I want to live when I'm rich.

My favourite house has fabulous looping Dutch gables, balconies outside the first-floor windows with river views, a pagoda, glorious garden, and the all-important landing stage.

After so much unintended house hunting it's hardly surprising I finish my description of the ride sounding like an estate agent.