"Wainwrights Classic Walk across England"

The Coast to Coast is, without doubt, the brainchild of one man – Alfred Wainwright who, having failed to enjoy walking The Pennine Way, decided to come up with his own long distance walk.
He realised that by drawing a line across England from St Bees on the west coast to Robin Hoods Bay (the same latitude on the east coast) you immediately had a 190 mile (300km) classic walk which would include the three largest national parks in the UK: The Lake District, The Yorkshire Dales and The North York Moors.

England's north country is renowned for its wild and beautiful countryside which presents more varied scenery than most whole countries. Indeed the Yorkshire Dales have been dubbed England's last wilderness. We take 20 days to complete this great walk with a day off at Wordsworth's Grasmere, beloved by artists and poets, and at historical Richmond famous for the song “Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill”.
From St Bees on the Irish Sea we ramble through the Cumbrian Lake District passing villages and scenery made famous by Wordsworth’s poetry. Cross the Pennine Uplands and descend into the Yorkshire Dales made popular (to many Australian TV viewers) by James Herriot's ‘All Creatures Great and Small’. We follow the River Swale as we walk the length of Swaledale. Then across the Vale of Mowbray before climbing through the Cleveland Hills to reach our final National Park - The North Yorkshire Moors (Heathcliff country!) and descend onto the cliffs above our goal at Robin Hood's Bay on the North Sea.

As we follow Alfred Wainwright's legendary walk we pass through historical market towns and some of the most picturesque and attractive stone villages in England.

The Coast to Coast Tour is covered in two sections, (1) The Lakes, and (2) The Dales & Moors. Thus walkers have the option of completing the walk in one go, or for convenience separating the two sections, walking one section one year and coming back to complete their Coast to Coast at a future date.