The Pennine Way: Stages, Distances and Where to Stay
Two hundred and sixty-eight miles from the Peak District to the Scottish Borders, opened in 1965 as Britain’s first National Trail and still the one with the worst reputation for weather, bog and attrition. We list 22 sites within ten miles of it.
Published 18 August 2026
The Pennine Way runs from Edale in the Peak District to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders, following the high ground the whole way. It was proposed by Tom Stephenson in 1935, took thirty years of campaigning to deliver, and opened in April 1965 as the first National Trail in Britain. Much of the access it established was won by the same movement that produced the Kinder Scout trespass and, eventually, the national parks themselves.
It has a reputation for being a slog, and the reputation is partly earned and partly out of date. The peat sections that made it notorious, Kinder, Bleaklow, Black Hill, have been extensively flagged with reclaimed stone slabs, which has transformed the going and let the vegetation recover. It is still 268 miles with 11,000 metres of ascent, and it still rains.
The stages
| Section | Roughly | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Edale to Hebden Bridge | 45 miles | Kinder, Bleaklow, Black Hill; the gritstone moors and the flagged peat |
| Hebden Bridge to Malham | 35 miles | Brontë country, Ponden, then into limestone at Gargrave |
| Malham to Horton | 25 miles | Malham Cove, Fountains Fell and Pen-y-ghent, the best day on the trail |
| Horton to Keld via Hawes | 30 miles | Great Shunner Fell, Swaledale; crosses the Coast to Coast at Keld |
| Keld to Dufton via Middleton | 35 miles | Tan Hill, High Force, Low Force and the Tees |
| Dufton to Alston | 30 miles | Cross Fell, the highest point in England outside the Lakes, at 893 m |
| Alston to Bellingham via Hadrian’s Wall | 40 miles | The Roman wall section, and the best-known miles of the route |
| Bellingham to Kirk Yetholm | 45 miles | Kielder Forest and the Cheviots; the last day is enormous |
The hard parts
- Cross Fell: the highest ground on the trail and home of the Helm Wind, the only named wind in Britain. Exposed, with a long approach from Dufton.
- The Cheviots: the final stretch is around 27 miles with two mountain refuge huts and no easy escape. Most people split it; the purists do it in one.
- Peat, still: the flagging has fixed the worst of it, but wet ground between the slabs is a permanent feature.
How long, and which way
Sixteen to nineteen days is the normal range, at 14–17 miles a day. South to north is the standard direction: it puts the prevailing south-westerly behind you, which over 268 miles is not a small consideration, and it saves the Cheviots for the end.
Completion rates are notoriously mixed. The attrition happens in the first week, in the Peak and the South Pennines, where the walking is at its least scenic and the weather is at its most demoralising. Get past Malham and most people finish.
Highlights that justify it
Malham Cove and the limestone pavement above it; Pen-y-ghent; High Force and Low Force on the Tees, covered in High Force and the North Pennine waterfalls; High Cup Nick, a perfect glacial valley that appears without warning; and the Hadrian’s Wall section, where the trail runs along the crags above the Roman fortifications.
Where to stay
Accommodation on the Pennine Way is genuinely sparse in places. Tan Hill Inn is famous partly because there is nothing else for miles. We list 22 sites within ten miles of the route, which is most useful for section walkers and anyone with a support driver.
Sites near the Pennine Way
Within ten miles of the trail between Edale and the Cheviots.
See all 22 sites (16 more not shown here).
By region: the Peak District for the start, North Yorkshire and the Yorkshire Dales for the middle, and Northumberland for the Hadrian’s Wall and Cheviot sections.
Common questions
- How long is the Pennine Way?
- 268 miles from Edale in the Peak District to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders, with roughly 11,000 metres of ascent.
- How many days does the Pennine Way take?
- Sixteen to nineteen days for most walkers, at 14 to 17 miles a day.
- Was the Pennine Way the first National Trail?
- Yes. It opened in April 1965 after a thirty-year campaign begun by Tom Stephenson in 1935.
- Which direction should you walk the Pennine Way?
- South to north, from Edale. That keeps the prevailing south-westerly wind behind you and leaves the Cheviots as the finish.
Keep reading
- Long-distance trailsThe Coast to Coast Walk: Stages and Where to StayWainwright’s Coast to Coast, now a National Trail, around 190 miles from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay through three national parks, broken into stages, with stays near the route.
- Peak DistrictThe Best Walks in the Peak DistrictThe best Peak District walks sorted by effort, from the flat Monsal and Tissington trails to Mam Tor, Kinder Scout and Stanage Edge, with where to stay near each.
- 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.