The English coast to coast walk.
The coast to coast walk across the North of England was thought up by a gentleman called Alfred Wainwright who wrote a series of detailed hiking guide books. It is 190 miles (305 km) in length and passes through 3 National parks. The Lake District, the yorkshire Dale’s and the Yorkshire moors.
We decided to take 12 days. Which with an average distance of 15 miles (24 km) a day over often quite mountainous terrain was a good challenge. To lessen the challenge we booked bed and breakfast accommodation and organized for our overnight luggage to be transferred by vehicle daily.
The route begins at St Bees. On the west coast of Cumbria and after an hour or so along the cliffs heads east and into the Lake district.
The first 4 days pass through this dramatic and beautiful national park crossing numerous mountains and alongside lakes.
Often very wet we were lucky as had beautiful sunshine and clear views.
After the lake district the route then crosses another mountainous region, the pennines and into yorkshire. Here the terrain is very wet and boggy and although less mountainous quite stunningly beautiful.
Most of the overnight stops are in charming small villages with a pub and if you are lucky a small shop. However we spent one night in the small town of Richmond. The town is dominated by a 10th century castle and the town retains a wonderful “ye olde” feel. Luckily we had a few hours to spare at the end of the day to explore a bit.
The final couple of days criss cross farmlands and pass through small picturesque villages before reaching the east coast at Robbin Hood bay.
