St Bees to Shap
From Sea to Fell
You start with your boots in the Irish Sea and climb almost at once into the highest, most demanding country of the whole trail.
Self-guided · Northern England
Your walk from
St Bees to
Robin Hood's Bay
You'll walk 309 kilometres across the width of northern England, coast to coast, over the high Lakeland fells, through Swaledale, and across the open moors to the North Sea. Three national parks in one line, taken at your own pace. The walk most British walkers mean to do once.
- Distance
- 309 km
- Ascent
- 6,000 m
- Stages
- 6 – 16 days
- Grade
- Moderate–Strenuous
Trail Essentials
Start
St Bees
Cumbria
End
Robin Hood's Bay
North Yorkshire
Distance
309 km
192 miles
Total Ascent
6,000 m
19,685 ft
Difficulty
Moderate–Strenuous
Hilliness
Hilly
Time to Complete
Explorer
16 days
~19 km/day
Hiker
14 days
~22 km/day
Fastpacker
11 days
~28 km/day
Trail Runner
8 days
~39 km/day
When to Walk
Best Good Avoid
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
Wainwright called this his masterpiece, and walkers still measure themselves against it. The Coast to Coast runs 192 miles across the width of northern England, from the Irish Sea at St Bees to the North Sea at Robin Hood's Bay — a line he drew in 1973, linking three national parks without ever making it official.
You climb the high Lakeland fells, cross the Pennine watershed at Nine Standards Rigg, drop through Swaledale and its lead-mining country, then take the long heather crossing of the North York Moors down to the sea. Most people give it a fortnight. It asks for fitness and a tolerance for a wet, exposed day or two, and it rewards both — sea to sea, and rarely the same walker at the end of it as at the start.
How the trail unfolds.
Your trail divides naturally into three parts — not by day, but by national park. Lakeland fells give way to the limestone and lead-mining country of the Dales, and the Dales fall away into the long heather crossing of the North York Moors and the sea.
Shap to Richmond
Into Swaledale
The fells give way to limestone, then to the wild watershed crossing that takes you from Cumbria into Yorkshire and down into Swaledale.
Richmond to Robin Hood's Bay
Moor to Sea
Flat farmland for a day, then the long, open heather crossing of the North York Moors and the first sight of the North Sea.
Build your trip
Customise your Coast to Coast.
Pick your pace, party size and dates. The itinerary, distances, nightly stops and the price all update live — no commitment until you're happy.
- Days sized to your walking speed
- Each night ends at a stop with accommodation
- Pricing reflects party size and seasonality
- Save and share the itinerary with your group
Hiker · 4.0 km/h
2 walkers
Days
13
Distance
309 km
Walking
102 hrs
Your day-by-day itinerary updates live in the Your itinerary section below.
Trip total
£3,458
£1,729 per person · 12 nights · party of 2
Build your itinerary above.
This is the itinerary you're building. Change the pace, party size or start date in the planner above and every stage, distance and date updates here.
Where you'll stay
Where you'll rest along the way.
Lakeland farmhouses and coaching inns for the first stretch, Swaledale village pubs with rooms through the Dales, and Yorkshire moors farmhouses on the run to the coast. Some nights remote, most nights proper.
- Drying rooms for the wet Lakeland fell days
- Hearty Northern breakfasts before the long moor crossings
- Yorkshire pub meals in Reeth, Richmond and beyond
- The odd remote bunkhouse — Black Sail, Skiddaw House — where nothing else exists
Every trip is planned around your dates and party, so we can't promise you a specific inn — but we can promise the kind of welcome that makes a walking holiday feel like a proper holiday.
What's included?
Self-guided, but properly supported. You turn up, you walk, you eat well, you sleep well. We handle the logistics.
A journey from the Irish Sea coastline to the Ingleby Cross
309km | 6,000m
Get your personalised itinerary
Not included
- Travel to St Bees and from Robin Hood's Bay
- Lunches and evening meals (we'll recommend the best places)
- Travel insurance
Travelling solo? You're still connected.
Walking the Coast to Coast alone doesn't mean being out of touch. We lend you a small GPS tracker for the trail, and a private map link lets the people who care about you follow along from home.
A lightweight GPS tracker
Carry it in your pack and it updates your position as you walk — no phone signal required.
A private live map
See your own progress on a secure map, with your overnight stops visible at a glance.
Share with people you trust
Send the private link to family or friends so they know you've arrived safely each day.
Book your Coast to Coast adventure.
Your Coast to Coast adventure
Configure your trip in the builder above and it will appear here.
Per Person
—
Trip Total
—
Deposit Today
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- Free cancellation to 60 days
- Confirmation within 24 hrs
- ABTOT financially protected
Not quite ready?
We'll start planning your trip right away. Not happy with anything? We'll adjust it or refund you — no questions asked.
The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT) provides financial protection under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 for Big Trail Adventures (member 5690). Protection is provided for non-flight packages. Full details in our booking conditions.
Things walkers ask us.
How fit do I need to be?
This is one of the more demanding trails we offer, so a good level of hill fitness matters. At Hiker pace you're walking around 24 km a day for roughly two weeks, with real ascent in the Lake District and some long, exposed moorland days towards the end. If that sounds like a lot, the Explorer pace spreads the same route over sixteen days with shorter, gentler stages.
When should I walk it?
June to September is the best window, with the longest days and the firmest ground underfoot. May and October still work, though you'll want to be ready for shorter days and wetter moorland. We'd steer you away from November to April: the high Lakeland passes and the North York Moors are exposed, and the bogs around Nine Standards Rigg are at their worst in winter.
Do you include luggage transfer?
Yes. Your bag is moved between accommodations on every walking day, up to 20 kg per bag, so you walk with just a daypack. The thing to know on this route is that one or two of the remote overnight stops, the Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge in particular, sit a long way from anywhere, so the odd transfer takes a little longer. It still gets there before you do.
What kind of accommodation do you book?
Family-run B&Bs, guesthouses and traditional inns, with breakfast and somewhere to dry your kit. We avoid chains. On a route this remote you can't always have an en-suite or a bed in the village you'd ideally stop in, especially on the high moorland sections, so once or twice we'll book the best option nearby and arrange the short transfer to and from the trail.
Can I walk it solo?
Yes, and plenty of people do. The Coast to Coast is one of the busiest long-distance routes in England, so you'll rarely have a whole day entirely to yourself, and it became an official National Trail in recent years, which has improved the waymarking. We book single rooms where they exist and can talk you through the navigation on the few exposed moorland stretches where it matters.
What's the realistic total cost?
Our Classic package starts at £1,729 per person for the thirteen-day Hiker pace, based on two people sharing. That covers your accommodation, breakfasts, luggage transfer and a planned door-to-door route. On top of that, budget for lunches, evening meals and the odd drink. As a rough figure, most walkers spend £25 to £40 a day on the trail itself.
Not sure what shape your trip should be?
The Coast to Coast is the one people come to when they've done a shorter trail and want the big one. I'd say give it the full fortnight if you can. The moors at the end are quieter than the Lakes, and a lot of people end up liking them more.
Notes from Big Trails
From the trail journal.
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