The Coast to Coast Walk: Stages and Where to Stay
Alfred Wainwright drew a line across northern England in 1973, refused to waymark it, and told people to make their own. Fifty-odd years later it became an official National Trail, in March 2026, with money behind the signage at last. We list 19 sites within ten miles of the route.
Published 18 August 2026
The Coast to Coast runs from St Bees on the Irish Sea to Robin Hood’s Bay on the North Sea, crossing three national parks on the way: the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. Sources give the distance as anywhere between 182 and 192 miles depending on when and how it was measured. Call it around 190 and expect your own GPS to disagree with everyone.
Wainwright’s original conceit was that it was a coast to coast walk, not the one, an invitation to improvise. That freedom is why the route has never been quite fixed, and why some sections crossed land with no public right of way for decades. The National Trail designation, confirmed by Natural England in 2022 and delivered in March 2026 with £5.5 million behind it, is what finally resolved that: proper surfacing, repaired stiles and gates, and consistent waymarking along the whole line.
The three sections
| Section | Roughly | Character |
|---|---|---|
| St Bees to Shap (Lake District) | 55 miles | The hardest third: fells, Ennerdale, Grasmere, Patterdale, high passes |
| Shap to Richmond (Dales) | 65 miles | Limestone, Nine Standards Rigg, Swaledale, the finest valley walking on the route |
| Richmond to Robin Hood’s Bay (Moors) | 70 miles | The Vale of Mowbray flat bit, then heather moor to the sea |
The Lake District third is where the walk is won or lost. It carries the most ascent, the worst weather and the roughest ground, and it comes first, which catches out people who have trained on flat miles. The middle third through Swaledale is the one walkers remember most fondly.
How long it takes
- 12–14 days is the standard, at 13–16 miles a day.
- 16–18 days is far more enjoyable, and lets you take rest days at Grasmere, Richmond and Kirkby Stephen.
- Under 12 days means long days over hard ground and very little time to look at anything.
Tradition says you dip a boot in the Irish Sea at St Bees and carry a pebble across to drop in the North Sea at Robin Hood’s Bay. Also traditional: the pebble gets heavy somewhere around Kirkby Stephen.
Nine Standards Rigg
The high point between Kirkby Stephen and Keld, and the watershed of England: everything west drains to the Irish Sea, everything east to the North Sea. The nine stone cairns on top are of unknown origin and considerable age. The ground here is deep peat and there is a seasonal route rotation to let it recover, so check which variant is in use before you set off.
Accommodation and logistics
This is a linear route through some genuinely remote country, and the accommodation is the constraint rather than the walking. Keld, Ennerdale and the moorland sections have very limited beds, and the popular stops book out months ahead for summer.
We list 19 sites within ten miles of the line, useful for the sections where you have a car or a support driver, and for anyone walking it in chunks over several years, which is how a lot of people actually do it.
Sites near the Coast to Coast route
Within ten miles of the line between St Bees and Robin Hood’s Bay.
See all 19 sites (13 more not shown here).
For the Lakeland third, glamping in Cumbria and the Lake District have far more choice than the route corridor alone; the eastern end is covered by North Yorkshire and the North York Moors.
Doing it in pieces
Walking it in week-long chunks over two or three years is increasingly common and removes the hardest problem: booking fourteen consecutive nights in the right villages. The natural break points are Shap, Kirkby Stephen and Richmond, all of which have transport connections.
Common questions
- How long is the Coast to Coast walk?
- Around 190 miles from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay, though published figures range from 182 to 192 miles depending on the measurement and the route variant.
- Is the Coast to Coast a National Trail?
- Yes. Natural England confirmed the upgrade in 2022 and it opened as an official National Trail in March 2026, with £5.5 million spent on surfacing, gates and waymarking.
- How many days does the Coast to Coast take?
- Twelve to fourteen days is standard at 13–16 miles a day. Sixteen to eighteen days is considerably more enjoyable and allows rest days.
- Which direction should you walk the Coast to Coast?
- West to east, from St Bees. That puts the prevailing wind behind you and gets the hardest ground, the Lake District, done while you are freshest.
Keep reading
- Long-distance trailsThe Pennine Way: Stages, Distances and Where to StayBritain’s first National Trail, 268 miles up the spine of England from Edale to Kirk Yetholm. The stages, the hard sections, and the sites near the route.
- Long-distance trailsThe Cleveland Way: Moors to CoastA guide to the Cleveland Way National Trail, 109 miles from Helmsley across the North York Moors and down the Yorkshire coast to Filey, with stages and stays.
- Long-distance trailsThe Cotswold Way: Walking It in SectionsA guide to the Cotswold Way National Trail, 102 miles along the escarpment from Chipping Campden to Bath, broken into stages, with sites near the route.
- Long-distance trailsThe Norfolk Coast Path: Route, Stages and StaysA guide to the Norfolk Coast Path, 83 miles from Hunstanton to Hopton-on-Sea, the salt marsh and dune sections, the seal colonies, and where to stay along it.