a walk by A. Wainwright
(larger image - 29 kb gif)

The Coast to Coast Walk stretches 304 km or 190 miles across the north of England from St. Bees at the Irish Sea to Robin Hood's Bay at the North Sea shore. The route passes through three National Parks: the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors and offers magnificent and varied views of Englands finest scenery. It is a matter of personal choice whether an east-west or west-east route is followed. These pages describe my personal experience of this classic walk. Done way back in 1990 walking from west to east because Robin Hood's Bay is a far better a place to end a long walk compared to St. Bees.

The main text is taken from a leavelet published by the Richmondshire District Council, and adapted my and others experiences. The pen drawings are taken from A. Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk, published by The Westmorland Gazette. This is a beautiful pocket-sized booklet (8 kb jpg) with detailed maps of the route, nice pen drawings and useful information about the area ... a must have!

I split the description of the walk into 3 main parts, each on its own page. On these pages the walk is further divided into stages. Each stage can be covered on one day by a walker of average ability and the suggested overnight stops have been chosen for availability of shops, B&B accommodation and camp sites. It is always possible to alter the stages to suit individual requirements. No information about B&B accommodation is given, contact the Tourist Information along the route. For the lazy complete arrangements including transportation of luggage can be booked. I prefer my backpack, a tent and the freedom to pitch it down anywhere I like! Enjoy the Coast to Coast.

• St Bees Head to Shap - crossing the Lake District

• Shap to Ingleby Cross - across the Pennines

• Ingleby Cross to Robin Hood’s Bay - through the North York Moors

The pages contain some large photograph’s and depending on your connection and the traffic it may take some time before they are completely loaded.

The Coast to Coast Walk is one of the most popular walks in Britain. You will therefore find a lot of pages dedicated to this remarkable walk through the northern part of England. I have gathered several links to other people Coast to Coast pages, you can find the list on the page about walks in North England.

Large stretches of the Coast to Coast walk are in mountainous terrain or through remote (highland) moors therefore before setting off get yourself acquainted with the safety and clothing aspects of long distance walking. Also, remember that the weather can change very, very quickly. Know the weather forecast! If you're not sure about your own, or your walking companion's capabilities stick to the main route, you're supposed to do this for fun. The paths you will follow are mostly on land owned by someone else and you should know how to behave, thus know the country code!