Coast to Coast Overview

29 August to 12 September 2020

St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay - 192 miles (309 km) - 15 days

Originally described by Alfred Wainwright in his 1973 book A Coast to Coast Walk, this hike covers 192 miles from Saint Bees and the Irish Sea to Robin Hood’s Bay and the North Sea. It is customary to dip your boot in the water at each end.

The walk goes through three major National Parks: the Lake District National Park, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and the North York Moors National Park. Despite being an unofficial route that has relatively few signposts, this through hike is one of the most popular in the UK.

However, in 2022, the UK government decided to make the Coast to Coast a national trail. It will take years for all the waymarking and final route to be established. But the trail is very popular and can only benefit from the adoption.

Angela and I were going stir crazy and when we saw there was an end to the first covid lockdown, we decided to do this trail. We still had to wear masks on the trains and indoors in many places, but we didn’t mind. Many shops were still shut and there were a lot of permanently closed businesses which made finding supplies a bit tougher, but nothing too demanding.

This was the first trail that got us back into hiking. We had to buy packs, tents, stoves, sleeping bags – everything, for the trail. And it led us to do many more.

Getting there

We took the train up from London to St Bees and our eldest son, Owen, took our car back to university and picked us up at the end of the trail, so we could drive home. You can also take trains from the end of the trail (Whitby or Scarborough), but both ends are at least one train ride away from the mainline UK trains. There are buses in the middle of the trail, but these are rural routes and will not run regularly. There are always private taxis that you can find.

The trail

The trail is not very well marked, this will obviously change as the government makes it a national trail. However, with phones, maps, and gps devices, it isn’t that hard to find your way. If you travel West to East, you start in the peaks of the Lake District and then get to more level terrain in the Yorkshire Dales and Moors.

There are a lot of people doing the trail. We got to know and walked with many days, four people. It is up to you if you want to walk with other people or share a meal, but you will likely see a few people going exactly your pace and stopping at your stops.

When to hike and how long

Well, you can hit rail in the UK in any month. I don’t think there are a lot of midges on the trail, so you can hike this anytime; however, the sprint to early autumn will probably be the driest and have longer hours of daylight.

As for the number of days, that’s up to your fitness and schedule. We did 15 days, but could have easily done it is fewer, perhaps 12 or 13, so it would fit in a two week holiday / vacation.

Accommodation

You can wild camp a bit in the Lake District if you stay up above the last fence. But you are not meant to anywhere else. We ended up only doing this twice on the trip. The rest of the time we camped in smaller sites along the way, with an occasional B&B thrown in. We rarely had to leave the trail by more than a mile to access these sites. All were excellent. Many had pubs or were in towns with food.

Luggage services

There were two companies that moved luggage if you want; Sherpa Van and Coast to Coast Packhorse. We ended up doing this for a few days when I hurt my foot. It made a big difference and only cost around £12 a day.

Food and amenities

Every day you will start and end in a town. You might walk through some during the day as well. It is easy to resupply as you go. No need to do long food carries. You can usually eat at a pub for dinners as well, depending on your preferences and budget.

Before or after the hike

The Lake District is an amazing part of the UK. It is full of cute villages, amazing mountains, and lakes. If you have time, you should consider spending a few days here at the start or end of the hike. We also love Yorkshire. Whitby, which is very near the end of the trail, is worth a few days visit and nearby York is amazing, you could spend another few days here easily.