England's Coast to Coast walk?

[DuneElliot]

Staying in B&Bs gets very expensive, as does the pubbing for food.

I lived for a wonderful year on Exmoor in North Somerset, teaching up on the moors and along the trails. (Never saw a camping hiker …) So when the thought of doing a good hiking trip was put by my wife into my head, I researched the South West Coast Path that Rafe refers too. … It was going to be $6–8G to get there and do the hike … Yikes!

I'd still love to do the SWCP … But … £££!!!

Geez. Where did you get that price from?

I'm heading to the UK this year from a two bit town in WY and the flights are only $1600 total, round-trip. Trains in the UK are the best way to get around and are inexpensive. Where was the other $4-6K going? I know England isn't cheap but it isn't THAT expensive either.

[Ender]

I would love to do some hiking over there. The trail that interested me was the Southern Upland Way, a coast to coast trail in Scotland. Looked outstanding.

[Traillium]

Geez. Where did you get that price from?

I'm heading to the UK this year from a two bit town in WY and the flights are only $1600 total, round-trip. Trains in the UK are the best way to get around and are inexpensive. Where was the other $4-6K going? I know England isn't cheap but it isn't THAT expensive either.

That cost included flight + minimal gear (new goretex rainsuit, since my 25-year-old rainsuit is now only suitable for straining spaghetti …, as well as boots and 40L pack), + £35/night B&B (taken from SWCP guidebook + £20/bar food over 45 days. All of this was translated into Canadian dollars.

That estimate is undoubtedly high — but also too realistic …

My wife and I have been back to England three times in the last decade or so, and are quite familiar with traveling there. Still love with it! I'd still love to hike the SWCPath …

In contrast, fully outfitting myself from scratch for 45 days thruhiking the Bruce Trail here in Ontario, including the inevitable learning and fumbling as I moved into lighter weight gear, and including pre-organizing all my food, was under Cdn$2500. On a fixed (retiree) income, local was possible at half the price. And I got to deeply experience my own 'backyard' in a constant way that teaching outdoors in it for 35+ years didn't.

I also met and had a wonderful experience hiking with WhiteBlaze member Kookork.

http://brucetraillium.wordpress.com

[Uriah]

Geez. Where did you get that price from? I'm heading to the UK this year from a two bit town in WY and the flights are only $1600 total, round-trip. Trains in the UK are the best way to get around and are inexpensive. Where was the other $4-6K going? I know England isn't cheap but it isn't THAT expensive either.

I know it's a matter of perspective, but trains in the UK aren't inexpensive. You need to buy your tickets in advance and the cost then is at least bearable, since there are no cheaper options (save for trekking or cycling!). But yes, Trallium's estimates are needlessly high.

I do EVERYTHING on the cheap, or I wouldn't (and couldn't) do it. But yet I've taken a half dozen trips to the UK and another dozen or so to mainland Europe. I'm going again later this year. If a person is willing to make (or accept) some sacrifices (and tweak the rules a little), travel there doesn't have to be expensive (e.g., going in the off-season, camping, linking up footpaths or bridle paths, thumbing rides, carrying many of your own edibles, avoiding pub$, etc). Sure, it's not as cheap as Asia or Africa, and trips there simply can't last as long as trips to those continents, but the rewards are just as tangible. I now have a number of close friends there, who not only help make my travel more affordable, but more enjoyable. I met each of them while walking, and not at pubs.

Coming from Morocco, as the OP is, can be a bit of a shock, in terms of expenditure. But his budget need not be extravagant.

Conversely, he could skip the UK and stick to somewhere cheaper (Turkey is a great example, as are the Atlas Mountains, which I find beyond beautiful). Or he could save some dough and go hike, God forbid, the Camino for an even longer period of time, with all the other American tourists. (The Way certainly helped to destroy it, just as Wild is doing to the PCT experience, but that's just one man's feelings; we all pick places to visit on preconceived notions, and our experiences don't always match.) But, no question, the UK ain't the cheapest place to visit.

To the OP: budget as your comfort requires.

[Lady Grey]

I'm in conversation with a friend about hiking the C2C in early September this year. I hiked the AT in 2013 and then hiked the Tour du Mont Blanc in 2014. It was such a treat to "luxury" hike on the Tour du Mont Blanc, staying in mountain huts, that the thought of more decadent hiking on the C2C is quite appealing. I've researched different companies that will set up accommodations along the way and here's the list: Macs Adventures, Contours Walking Holidays, Sherpa Expeditions, and Coast to Coast Packhorse. My daughter and I used Macs Adventures for help with our Tour du Mont Blanc hike and they were great... anyone had experience with any of these outfits for setting up a C2C expedition? I compared prices and they all seem pretty similar. Also, how long would you recommend to hike this? We're trying to decide how many nights to book. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[rafe]

Check out HF Holidays. Good people. https://www.hfholidays.co.uk/

[Dogwood]

I know it's a matter of perspective, but trains in the UK aren't inexpensive. You need to buy your tickets in advance and the cost then is at least bearable, since there are no cheaper options (save for trekking or cycling!). But yes, Trallium's estimates are needlessly high.

I do EVERYTHING on the cheap, or I wouldn't (and couldn't) do it. But yet I've taken a half dozen trips to the UK and another dozen or so to mainland Europe. I'm going again later this year. If a person is willing to make (or accept) some sacrifices (and tweak the rules a little), travel there doesn't have to be expensive (e.g., going in the off-season, camping, linking up footpaths or bridle paths, thumbing rides, carrying many of your own edibles, avoiding pub$, etc). Sure, it's not as cheap as Asia or Africa, and trips there simply can't last as long as trips to those continents, but the rewards are just as tangible. I now have a number of close friends there, who not only help make my travel more affordable, but more enjoyable. I met each of them while walking, and not at pubs.

Coming from Morocco, as the OP is, can be a bit of a shock, in terms of expenditure. But his budget need not be extravagant.

Conversely, he could skip the UK and stick to somewhere cheaper (Turkey is a great example, as are the Atlas Mountains, which I find beyond beautiful). Or he could save some dough and go hike, God forbid, the Camino for an even longer period of time, with all the other American tourists. (The Way certainly helped to destroy it, just as Wild is doing to the PCT experience, but that's just one man's feelings; we all pick places to visit on preconceived notions, and our experiences don't always match.) But, no question, the UK ain't the cheapest place to visit.

To the OP: budget as your comfort requires.

Agree. The High Atlas Mts is a great hiking destination. OR, if $$$ is an issue and better scenery, IMHO, is desired, I'd do the Dolomites in Italy's Alps before the Coast to Coast or Camino de Santiago(main route, at least take the Pyrenees Route as Tapon suggested if you want to do this).

[Dogwood]

If you don't plan a Coast to Coast thru for the busiest and most expensive middle of the summer months fares $500-800 can be knocked off that $1600 RT fare.

[Shutterbug]

I'm in conversation with a friend about hiking the C2C in early September this year. I hiked the AT in 2013 and then hiked the Tour du Mont Blanc in 2014. It was such a treat to "luxury" hike on the Tour du Mont Blanc, staying in mountain huts, that the thought of more decadent hiking on the C2C is quite appealing. I've researched different companies that will set up accommodations along the way and here's the list: Macs Adventures, Contours Walking Holidays, Sherpa Expeditions, and Coast to Coast Packhorse. My daughter and I used Macs Adventures for help with our Tour du Mont Blanc hike and they were great... anyone had experience with any of these outfits for setting up a C2C expedition? I compared prices and they all seem pretty similar. Also, how long would you recommend to hike this? We're trying to decide how many nights to book. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

The discussion on this thread got me interested in the Coast2Coast Trail. I decided that it would be best for my wife and I (both 73 years old) to go see what it is like before planning the thru hike. We signed up with REI Adventures. REI has a guided adventure to hike some of the best parts of the Coast2Coast trail. If we like it, we will plan to go back for the thru hike without a guide. At our stage in life, having someone else to make all of the arrangements is worth the extra cost.

[KnightErrant]

Thanks for all the responses! I will check out all these resources. The Rambling Man link is the one blog that I'd read through, which started to get me hooked on the idea!

I've done a bit of hiking in the High Atlas while I've been here in Morocco, a day hike in the Imlil Valley and an overnighter in the Ourika Valley. Both were incredible, but I'm not aware of any longer backpacking trails in the Atlas that are established and populated enough that I could do it alone without a guide. I'm already planning a guided four-day trip to summit Toubkal right before Ramadan in May, so in August I'd like to visit some new terrain.

I lived in Spain in 2014-15 and I completed the Camino Frances then. I loved it, and I'm also considering the Norte/Primitivo or the Portugues for this trip. But the C2C is at the top of my list because the U.S. dollar is stronger than usual against the pound at the moment, and I have a couple of friends in England and in Northern Ireland, so this seems like a good year to explore the U.K. for the first time, whereas I've already spent a lot of time in Spain and Portugal.

I think anywhere I go after Morocco, prices are going to be a shock. It already pains me to think of my savings from this year... it feels like I'm putting a lot away each month, but it just doesn't add up to much once you do the math to dollars. My salary is plenty to live comfortably here, but that's because my rent is about $190.

[BrianLe]

"I decided that it would be best for my wife and I (both 73 years old) to go see what it is like before planning the thru hike. We signed up with REI Adventures. REI has a guided adventure to hike some of the best parts of the Coast2Coast trail. If we like it, we will plan to go back for the thru hike without a guide. At our stage in life, having someone else to make all of the arrangements is worth the extra cost."

Shutterbug, I've never gone on an REI group trip --- they seem really expensive to me. I guess I'm somewhere between the organized group trips and the "really on the cheap" approach. I'm sure you'll have fun on an REI adventure, but an alternative is to go with a shuttle service that books your lodgings for you and shuttles most of your gear ahead each day. These are definitely available on the C2C; one that I recall people using was Sherpavan, https://www.sherpavan.com/
I've not checked, but I speculate that the sherpavan approach might be a bit cheaper.

The C2C is pretty darned "civilized", it's not wild adventure hundreds of miles from civilization, and with a warm dry place to sleep and generally a drying room to dry out wet stuff each night, not carrying much on your back ... well, it's an option anyway. My wife and I chose to just carry our stuff, so I can't personally vouch for any van service, but folks that used a van service all seemed pretty happy with it.

My point here is that with such support and a guidebook you really don't need to pay for a guide and any other "leave the details to us" support associated with travel in a "foreign" country (it's England!), nor to be tethered to a specific group. So --- an alternative to consider, anyway. Best wishes for great weather and a great time!

[Shutterbug]

Because of posts on WhiteBlaze, I became interested in the Coast2Coast Trail in England. My wife and I just completed the "Highlights of the Coast2Coast" with REI. We started in Saint Bees where we dipped our feet in the Irish Sea, then hiked 50 miles of the Coast2Coast, then dipped our feet in the North Sea. It is more appropriate to call it an "adventure" than a "hike." The adventure is designed around hiking, but a lot of other things were included. We toured the last operating slate mine in England, visited the childhood home of the poet, William Wordsworth; explored Richmond Castle; toured some very old churches. My wife and I are nondrinkers, but we still enjoyed visiting a variety of English Pubs. We stayed in high end hotels, ate more than we should and enjoyed lectures on the culture, the plant life and the animals of England. REI Adventures seem expensive, but there is no way I could have organized such an adventure for the same price. In my opinion, the REI price is a bargain. I recommend this one for anyone who enjoys adventure.

[Venchka]

British summer picnic weather. I remember it well.
Glad you had a great trip!
Wayne


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shutterbug]

British summer picnic weather. I remember it well.
Glad you had a great trip!
Wayne


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

On the day we reached the North Sea the temperature was around 55 degrees, but it felt much colder because of the wind. My wife asked the guide, "Do you ever have warm days here?" He replied, "This is a warm day."

[Shutterbug]

If anyone is interested in the Coast2Coast Walk, I have posted more than 900 pictures from our walk -- https://get.google.com/albumarchive/...rOMfo8ktpFslaf

[Leo L.]

Great pics!
How was walking in the Vibrams?

[Shutterbug]

Great pics!
How was walking in the Vibrams?

I did ok with the Vibrams, but wouldn't recommend them for everyone. I wear them because I have bone spurs. When I wear anything with a raised heel, I have foot pain. My feet were wet most of the time on the Coast2Coast walk. I protect them by coating my feet with a Bee's Wax, but it would have been better if I could have kept my feet dry.

[KnightErrant]

Thanks for posting so many lovely photos! Just reinforces the idea that I want to do this walk.

Unfortunately I don't think it's in the cards this year after all. I've still got a bum knee from a High Atlas hike 6 weeks ago, and that (among other larger factors) has prolonged my stay in Morocco. Now I'll be finishing up my work extension in Octoberish??? but I don't think I want to tackle the C2C so late in the year, even if my knee is up for it by then.

It's killing me to be so inactive but I want to take the recovery of this issue nice and slow, so that I'm not too fragile to attempt an AT thru in 2018. Inchallah, as they say here, if God wills it!

[Goingforalittlewalk]

I would love to do some hiking over there. The trail that interested me was the Southern Upland Way, a coast to coast trail in Scotland. Looked outstanding.

I've just do the SUW as part of a walk..
2 c2c and 3 costal path. .
left my car at Drymen (near loch lomond) walked to St Andrews, down the Fife coastal path to Edinburgh. Train to Dunbar.. Walked to Cockburnspath SUW to Portpatrick. .then Ayrshire coastal path then join the west Highland way back to Drymen. .. around 580 miles..

Stopped at 2 hostel and one pub the rest wildcamping and bothy/shelters. . Great