Leilei

Hi everyone,
It will be awhile before I get back to Europe( I was in Paris for Christmas last year and then in Italy in May), but I am already planning.
Has anyone taken a hiking holiday in England? Did you go with a guided group or go it alone?
I am especially interested in the coast to coast walk in England.
Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has hiked that trail or any other trail in the UK.
Thanks,
L

flanneruk

I've not done a walking holiday here, but spend a significant slug of my free time on Britain's footpaths. These comments might help:

- there's no one official coast to cost footpath (we rarely use the word "trail&quot. England has about 120,000 miles of free-access rural public footpaths, and they link up to form practically any route you can think of. Practically no route you can create will take you more than a couple of miles from a pub or more than five or six miles from a hotel or B+B

- the two best sources for routes etc are www.nationaltrail.co.uk (which refers to a small number of branded routes. In spite of the public money spent branding and promoting them, these paths hardly differ from the other 110,000 miles, except that there are sometimes other people on them) and www.ramblers.org.uk

- Going alone or joining a group aren't the only two options. For the more popular long-distance routes, the third option, of getting an organisation to ship your luggage from one overnight pub to the next while you make your own way by yourself, is increasingly common. There's a list of relevant suppliers on the individual route pages of the Ramblers Assoc site

- waymarking in England can be tricky, as most paths are entirely on private land - often fields that are ploughed or used by grazing flocks - and you need to get your eye in to the subtle conventions used for guidance. If you're unfamiliar with them, start any journey with a short first couple of days and make sure you've got a compass and decent, Ordnance Survey, maps

- weather in Britain is always unpredictable, and if you're planning either the Tyneside to Cumbria, or the Hull to Liverpool, coast to coast routes, you're crossing hills where the weather is even more unpredictable and you can get bad doses of exposure (or worse) by being unprepared. Read - and follow meticulously - the safety rules, and carry a working mobile phone. The London to Bristol walk following the Thames Path is a lot more benign (and astinishingly pretty in parts).

alanRow

I would assume OP is talking about www.coast2coast.co.uk which isn't official but is extremely popular. The link I give is to a company that will organise all your accomodation & will transport your luggage between stops BUT there's nothing stopping you doing that sort of thing yourself. The Rambler's information about it is www.ramblers.org.uk/info/paths/coasttocoast.html

An easier option in the same area is www.nationaltrail.co.uk/hadrianswall

ron

I've done guided walking holidays in the UK with HF Holidays, Countrywide Walking (now part of Ramblers), Footpath Holidays ans Dragon Trails. You should be able to find their websites by searching on their name.

I've done a bit of solo walking as well -- About 70% of the Hadrian Wall path, a bit of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, the Grand Union Canal and southern portion of the Stratford-upon-Avon canal towpaths from Market Harborough to near Stratford-upon-Avon.

I've not done the c2c, but HF Holidays mentioned above offers it in their program.

You've heard from me; if you have any specific questions on any of the above, I check this forum fairly regularly.

Leilei

Thanks for the helpful info. I am anxious to start researching for the trip.
L

PatrickLondon

I enjoyed reading this:
http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=800

I did a short walk on the most scenic bit of Hadrian's Wall with one of the many companies that will book B&Bs and transport luggage for you. One of the advantages of doing this is that they will normally give you sound advice about maps and guidebooks and so on - the company I went with supplied them as well.

Personally I'd hate to go in a guided group.

janisj

Not coast to coast - but there is an absolutely wonderful trip report on here about a couple who walked the Cotswold way. Unfortunately, the search function is useless, and I can't locate the thread

flanneruk

It's at http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34885006

Leilei

Thanks for all the links- it has been fun reading about the long distance walks. I have run across a company called Cross Country International Walking Vacations. Has anyone used/heard about this company?
Thanks.

ron

I went to there website and clicked on their Coast to Coast Walk to see what it was like. The first thing I noticed that you get to walk 70 miles and they drive you, I guess, for the other 120 miles of the walk. Does not fit my definition of doing the c2c.

The second thing I noticed is that they want US$3000 per week for their walks, roughly double to triple what the companies I'd mentioned earlier charge for a week's guided walking.

So, no, I've not heard of them and I have no interest in knowing anything more about them.

Leilei

I won't have 11-13 days to walk the complete 190 miles and most of what I've read, most walkers ride part of the way. Ramblers cost about the same for their walks and they don't cover much territory by foot either!

janisj

sorry, but I REALLY don't get folks being willing to pay some company 3,000 bloody dollars for a walking hoilday. Walking is free. Now a slight exaggeration - but the point is, there are thousands upon thousands of miles of free public footpaths all over the UK.

Why not just go, find a nice village for a few days base for walks in the area, then move on to another town/base for walks in another area. You'll save thousands of dollars and have as good or better experience.

ron

Leilei, I wasn't aware that Rambler's offered this particular guided walking holiday. But I do have the HF catalogue at hand and they do offer the complete 190 mile walk in 14 days and charge GBP1355, which is less than half what Cross Country charges on a per day basis. They also offer 8 day half walks at GBP765 for the west half and GBP875 for the east half, for folks who may want to complete the walk over two years and want slightly easier walks.

Janis, to be fair, these holidays include all meals, accommodations, support services, so you are not really comparing free to $3000. But nearly $450 a day is outrageous.

janisj

that is why I said it was an exaggeration. But one can VERY easily do a walking holiday for 1/2 or less than what these "tour companies" charge. I personally don't think a relief wagon (and from my research it looks like some of the companies don't even offer that) is worth £100/£150+ extra a day

Leilei

You are both right- it would be very expensive for 2 of us to take a guided walking tour at $450 or so a day each. But for the coast to coast, I may be willing to pay for it. As much as I like walking/hiking, I don't like getting lost, getting lost in the fog on a mountain or carrying a heavy pack. I may think about a shorter/easier walk- unguided, but with a van that carries the bags from inn to inn.
Thanks again for the input and insights.
L

sheila

I'd pay (reasonably) in a heartbeat, to be able to walk without a pack.

I want to do the Uists, but no-one supports it

julia_t

You could look at

http://www.sherpavan.com/accomm_book...s.asp?trail=CC

http://www.sherpavan.com/trails/coast_to_coast.asp

While you don't have to use their accommodation service, they will book all your accommodation and carry your bags from one place to the next while you walk unencumbered.

There is masses of useful info on their site regarding the walks - and not just the c2c walk, which may be of help to you.