Coast to Coast

OVERVIEW

The Coast to Coast is a more recent addition to the roster of National Trails - having only been created in 2026 - and runs from coast to coast (duh!), passing through the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors along the way.

As part of it's being turned into a National Trail there have been upgrades of the footpath - but there have been some less positive modifications, such as an extension of the route to avoid crossing the busy A19 (there wasn't the budget for a footbridge apparently).

The original route of the trail was devised by Alfred Wainwright in 1973, and traditionally the route is walked from St Bees on the western coast to Robin Hood's Bay on the eastern coast.

Of all the long-distance trails this is the most popular one - and that popularity often creates the main challenge when it comes to organising a walk along this trail.

PRACTICALITIES

As noted, it is a popular route, but despite this accommodation remains fairly limited - and so trips are often booked well in advance (before praying to every Weather God available). Because of this I will focus here on the options that increase booking flexibility (there are also spots on the trial if you are lucky enough to be able to book them).

For my part, I plan to do this walk in stages - and this is something that is easily enough done - breaking up the trail however you wish to do so.

St Bees itself has a train station - although getting to St Bees is currently complicated by the closure of a tunnel along the train line down from Carlisle (with bus replacement services running for the foreseeable future between Whitehaven and Corkickle.

Once at St Bees the next point of decent public transport seems to be at Cleator - and here both the 22 and 22A pass through as they complete a loop out and back from Whitehaven - although you are best using the 22 bus to Whitehaven and 22A bus from Whitehaven. This spot is about nine and a half miles from St Bees - and so can be combined with trip out to St Bees (for those living close enough).

The next link with public transport can be found at Honiston Pass (or slightly further along at Seatoller) - and here the 77 and 77A run in alternate loops out from Keswick - either can be used to reach Keswick, but they run at similar times and the 77 is the faster option. It is about nineteen miles from Cleator to Seatoller. Keswick has plentiful accommodation, and regular and easy bus links to the train network at Penrith.

Although here at Honister Pass you also have the option of Honiston Youth Hostel, right on this spot (depending on availability).

The next public transport crossing comes at Grassmere, and whilst this is less than ten miles on from Seatoller, there are plenty of links down into Ambleside and Windermere (via the 555 and 599) buses. This pretty part of the Lake District would, however, make the best of any shorter days.

The more useful stop comes at Patterdale - about seventeen miles out from Seatoller - and here you can head down into Windermere, or up into Penrith (along the edge of Ullswater). And doing the stretch from Seatoller and Patterdale over two days, would allow for lots of additional exploration of some lovely areas.

The final option within the Lake District sits at Shap - but this is a more problematic service is it is far less frequent. The timetable does seem to change, but right now there is a 18:05 bus to Kendal, and you can return to Shap on a bus that will get you in at 10:22. Otherwise Shap itself has some accommodation - but this is one of the trickier spots to plan out (so maybe sort this first).

Next the train heads across the fairly empty country that lies in the north-west of the Yorkshire Dales - but you do eventually reach Kirkby Stephen - which is not only a lovely town, but it also lies on the Carlisle-Settle railway line. And for those not doing the trail in one, it's not a bad spot to break up the trail at (remember it is your trip and you can do it however you want).

Public transport is not as good in the Yorkshire Dales as it is in the Lake District, and so here staying on the trail is possibly your best bet.

The Little White Bus (number 30) does run between Keld and Richmond, but this is a small 16 seater bus, and so I've never had the confidence to use it (if you run a bus company, a proper regular bus service here would in my opinion be incredibly popular as it is a lovely section of countryside).

Instead I think you have to find a date when you can find somewhere to stay on route - but fortunately there are a few different locations that are possible (ideally between Keld and Reeth). And a small diversion up to the Tan Hill Inn is also feasible.

At the far end of the Yorkshire Dales you reach Richmond, which is a big town - and which also has regular bus links to numerous places (including Darlington on the East Coast Mainline).

From Richmond there is a lot of no-mans-land to be crossed - and this makes accommodation or transport links difficult - Ingleby Arncliffe is a traditional stopping point, as is Osmotherley - and from Osmotherley you also have (fairly irregular, but fairly reliable) buses to and from Northallerton train station.

Next up the traditional stopping point is Great Broughton - but it is also about a 3 mile walk from Clay Bank down to Battersby train station (but not so fun coming back as you head up the ridge).

At Glaisdale the trail passes through small village, but here you once again have the option of the railway (this time only a few paces off the route of the trail) - and this dual option persists until you reach Grosmont.

Finally you have Robin Hood's Bay, and whilst this can be a tricky place for accommodation due to it's popularity, the bus services from here to either Scarborough or Middlesbrough (via Whitby) are very good.

USEFUL LINKS

Guidebook : Coast to Coast Guidebook

LDWA Page : Coast to Coast Path National Trail - LDWA Long Distance Paths

National Trail Website : Coast to Coast Path National Trail - National Trails

STAGES

I plan to do it it in stages - generally walking west to east, but on occasion I will go the other way if that makes life a bit easier. At the moment this is at the back end of my plans, but I might move bits forward as I get gaps in my schedule.

St Bees to Cleator