Coast to Coast Guided Walking Holiday

Wainwright's classic route across England, from the Irish Sea to the North Sea.

Length: 192 miles

Duration: Three 5 day sections

Difficulty: Hard

From £975 per person for each five day section. Three sections make up the full route.

Experienced guides, including qualified Mountain Leaders

Local B&Bs and inns booked for you

Daily luggage transfers

Walk one section, two, or the whole route

The walk

Devised by Alfred Wainwright in 1973 and now a National Trail, the Coast to Coast crosses the width of northern England through three National Parks: the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. Tradition says you dip your boots in the Irish Sea at St Bees, carry a pebble from the beach all the way across the country, and throw it into the North Sea at Robin Hood's Bay.

It is one of the great long-distance walks in the world: high fells, remote moorland, limestone valleys and heather moors, linked by villages and inns where walkers have been welcomed for generations.

Walk it your way

Most people do not have two weeks to spare, so we split the route into three sections of around five days each. Walk one this year and the next one next year, or put two or all three together for the full crossing.

Section one, the Lake District: St Bees to Shap.

Section two, the Yorkshire Dales: Shap to Richmond.

Section three, the North York Moors: Richmond to Robin Hood's Bay.

How it works

Tell us when you would like to walk, which sections, and how many of you there are, and we build the trip around you.

We book your accommodation in comfortable local B&Bs and inns along the route, supporting the small businesses that make the walk what it is. Your luggage is moved between each night's stop, so you only carry what you need for the day. Breakfast is included at most places, and packed lunches can be arranged.

A Hike Yorkshire guide walks with you every day, handling the navigation, which matters on the high fells and open moorland, and sharing the history, folklore and wildlife of the route. If you would rather walk on your own, we can set you up self-guided, with our team meeting you at checkpoints along the way to resupply.

We can also arrange transfers to the start of each section and from the finish.

The route

The Lake District: St Bees to Shap. From the red sandstone cliffs of St Bees Head, the route heads inland over Dent Fell to Ennerdale Water, then climbs past Haystacks, where Wainwright's ashes were scattered, into Borrowdale and on to Grasmere. Strong walkers can take the optional route over Helvellyn before Patterdale and Ullswater. The section crosses Kidsty Pike, the highest point on the main route, before descending past Haweswater to Shap.

The Yorkshire Dales: Shap to Richmond. Out of the Lakes across gentler limestone country to Orton and Kirkby Stephen, then up to the mysterious stone cairns of Nine Standards Rigg on the Pennine watershed. From there the route drops into Swaledale, perhaps the most beautiful valley on the walk, through Keld, Gunnerside and Reeth to the Georgian market town of Richmond and its Norman castle.

The North York Moors: Richmond to Robin Hood's Bay. Across the Vale of Mowbray to the Cleveland Hills, then a switchback along the northern escarpment of the North York Moors. The route crosses the high heather moorland past the Lion Inn on Blakey Ridge, follows the Esk valley through Glaisdale and Grosmont, passes the waterfall at Falling Foss, and finally drops down the steep cobbled street of Robin Hood's Bay to the sea.

Fitness and terrain

The Coast to Coast is a hard walk, best suited to regular hill walkers comfortable with long days on consecutive days. The Lake District section is the most demanding, with steep climbs, rough ground and high, exposed fells. The Dales and Moors sections are less steep but include long stretches of remote moorland where weather and navigation can be challenging. Daily stages are typically between 12 and 16 miles.

Getting there and home

St Bees has a station on the Cumbrian Coast line. Shap is close to Penrith station on the West Coast Main Line, and Richmond is a short bus ride from Darlington station. Robin Hood's Bay is a short journey from the stations at Whitby and Scarborough. We are happy to arrange transfers at the start and end of each section.

Pricing

Prices start from £975 per person for each five day section. Every trip is tailored, so the final price depends on your group size, how many sections you walk, whether you walk guided or self-guided, your food requirements and any transfers you need. Tell us what you have in mind and we will come back with a quote.