Our Coast to Coast Itinerary

Our Itinerary

Several people have asked for our itinerary so here it is along with some comments and suggestions:

We did the Coast to Coast walk as a holiday to take in as much as we could of Cumbria and Yorkshire.  We had 16 days of walking with 3 extra days along the way for a total of 19 days.  Breaking up the walk with at least a couple of  ‘rest days’ does give the feet a chance to recover and can add some variation to the trip such as our day trip to Skipton.  Obviously if you want to complete the walk as quickly as possible, this itinerary would not suit.

Our extra days are highlighted in yellow.  I have also included the distances as quoted in Stedman's book, and the distance we clocked each day on our GPS going from B&B to B&B along with any route variations we made.  I have also included the total elevation gain recorded each day.

Here are some comments on our itinerary and suggestions for improving it:

1.     Rather than an extra day in Grasmere, Patterdale is a good alternative.  We took an extra day at Grasmere expecting it to be big enough to have a launderette, but it doesn’t have one.  There is one at Ambleside about 20 minutes away by public transport.  Also I wanted to do Helm Crag and the extra day in Grasmere provided an opportunity to do this if we didn’t get to do the ridge walk to Helm Crag on the walk, which we were able to do.  In Grasmere there are several other options for walks if you do decide to have an extra day here, or you could just wander around town.

Patterdale is a much smaller and quieter town so is probably a better choice for most.  An extra day here gives the option of a boat ride to Howtown and a walk back along the lake (or vice versa). Also options to do extra climbing if desired either St Sunday Crag or Helvellyn and Striding Edge if you are up for it and didn’t do one of these on the way to Patterdale..  Another advantage is that accommodation in Patterdale is  less expensive than Grasmere.

2.     We really enjoyed the extra day at Kirkby Stephen with a day trip to Skipton on the historic and restored Settle to Carlisle line.  Wander along the canal, visit Holy Trinity Church, Skipton Castle and the Castle woods as well as wander through the market on market days.  The church at Kirkby Stephen is also worth a look in the afternoon and Kirkby Stephen is the only town on the route with a launderette if required.  Note some B&Bs will offer to do washing, usually for a reasonable fee.

3.     Richmond is also a good spot for a rest day.  Opportunity to resupply as required, visit the castle ruins, Richmond Falls, and wander around the old town and down to The Station.

4.     The walk from Clay Bank to Blakey Ridge is an easy short day so you could continue to Glaisdale quite easily.  However The Lion Inn is well worth a stop over in our opinion so it is an opportunity to chill out for the afternoon.

5.     Egton Bridge is a prettier town than Grosmont and has a better pub so perhaps a nicer place to stay. Having said that, our B&B at Geall Gallery was excellent and they can often provide evening meals by arrangement.  The walk between the two is an easy flat walk so no real advantage in clocking the extra distance to Grosmont to make the last day a bit shorter.

6.     Whitby is only a short bus ride from Robin Hood’s Bay and is worth a day visit especially if you haven’t been to Whitby before, so consider spending an extra night in Robin Hood’s Bay to allow for this or even a night in Whitby after Robin Hood’s Bay.  Train services are available from Whitby to Manchester although transport options are more limited than from Scarborough.