Coast to Coast Guided Rambler Walk - 18 Days

Make your own way to the starting point of the Coast to Coast walk in St Bees. It's located on the edge of the Irish Sea with views across to the Isle of Man (where we offer a walk as well). You should have time to visit the Abbey church, which has features on the local history and has a display on a mummified knight that was discovered in a lead coffin from the graveyard. If you have an extra night here, you can walk the coastal path or quiet inland roads to the attractive town of Whitehaven with its marina and great museum. It is famous in the annals of the US navy as the site of an elaborate raid on the British mainland by one John Paul Jones during the American War of Independence. This evening you will meet your fellow walkers and guide for a trip briefing. Accommodation: Accommodation: A family-run bed and breakfast in a large modernised Georgian farmhouse in the centre of St Bees.

Today is our first day walking the Coast to Coast! We start with a climb from the beach taking a footpath along red sandstone coastal cliffs of St Bees Head. It has England’s only breeding colony of Black Guillemots. We then move inland over hilly ground to the edge of the Lake District National Park. Dent Hill is the first real fell that we traverse! From the slopes of Dent, it's down to Nannycatch Beck. It is a delightful stroll which brings us to the final descent to leafy Ennerdale Bridge. The day’s total ascent 780m / descent 665m. Accommodation: Overnight at a friendly, family-owned hotel. Enjoy a home cooked meal of local produce including fish and game in season. A traditional feel is retained by the hotel, with its open fire, and the fully licensed bar serves a range of beverages including locally produced ale.

Walk on a quiet and scenic footpath along the shore of Ennerdale Water, with a bit of an easy scramble under Angler’s Crag at Robin Hood’s Seat. A long walk on a forest track then continues to Black Sail Hut, which is the smallest youth hostel in England and originally a shepherd’s hut. A steep climb follows up Loft Beck before traversing some of the Lakeland fells, perhaps with views down to Buttermere. Finally you reach the ‘drum house’, which marks the descent path to the Honister Slate Mine workings and cafe, and the Borrowdale Valley. This is perhaps the most delightful valley in the Lakes with its crags and broadleaved trees. Borrowdale is a delightful ensemble of hamlets: Seatoller ( close to the wettest place in England), Longthwaite, Rosthwaite and Stonethwaite. Delightful riverside paths connect these places and their pubs together - if you have sufficient energy left for the evening. You might be interested to know that ‘thwaite’ is old Norse for paddock. The day’s total ascent 765m / descent 785m. Accommodation: Your hotel tonight is located in the Borrowdale Valley near the hamlet of Seatoller. It has striking views over the local fells.

Enjoy classic Lakeland scenery over Greenup Edge to Easedale and Grasmere. Its a stiff 500m climb up to the edge via Lining Crag where you may get great views back down into Borrowdale. The once boggy trail over the pass has been improved with the laying down of hundreds of Flagstones. After the pass the trail becomes rough and descends steeply into the flower meadows on the outskirts of Grasmere. Grasmere is one of Lakeland’s most celebrated villages and you might have time either this afternoon or tomorrow morning to visit the poet Wordsworth's home at Dove Cottage and drop into the famous Ginger bread shop! The day’s total ascent 750m / descent 760m. Accommodation: A comfortable hotel and former coaching inn in the centre of the village with an indoor swimming pool and sauna.

Today is a terrific walk over Grisedale Pass (609m/2000ft) and around the small mountain lake of Grisedale Tarn to Patterdale. In good weather and if our group is reasonably strong, we recommend that we take the detour route up St Sunday Crag. It will give some exceptional views down across Ullswater on the descent to Patterdale, possibly the most breathtaking of the trip. The day’s total ascent: 900m / descent 805m (via the optional route over St Sunday Crag, less if we avoid this). *Add 1½ hours for the detour of St Sunday Crag. Accommodation: Tonight’s accommodation is a family-run guesthouse or a local inn located in Glenridding, alongside Glenridding Beck, situated at the southern top of Ullswater - the second largest lake in the Lake District.

After completing today's walk, some would say this was the most difficult stage on the Coast to Coast walk. The day starts with a steep climb up past pretty Angle Tarn. We'll then hike up and onwards to a critical cairn where we turn off the route to High Street. It will take us up and over Kidsty Pike (780m/2560ft), the highest point on the Coast to Coast, and then descend steeply to walk along Haweswater. This is a huge body of water that was conceived in 1929 to supply Manchester with drinking water, drowning a couple of villages in the process. We then undulate through fields to Shap Abbey, the most easterly point of the Lake District National Park. This was the last abbey to be founded in England (1199) and the last to be destroyed (1540). It nevertheless is a pretty place to take a break and learn about medieval monastic life. After this, we continue into Shap, the old granite mining town with several pubs and shops. The village offers an interesting insight to the history of the area. The day’s total ascent 1174m / descent 1009m. Accommodation: The proprietors will welcome you to a guesthouse or inn in the village of Shap.

From Shap, you cross the busy road and rail routes before tranquilly passing through the high moors. There follows a hilly section across limestone scarps with limestone pavements in places strewn with ‘erratic’ granite boulders moved there by glaciers. there are also a couple of small stone circles, slightly off route. Finally, you drop into the gentler climes around Orton, a quaint picturesque village with Kennedy’s Chocolate factory to lead you into temptation, but yes, you have earned it! Accommodation: The George Hotel is a traditional pub in this small village.