Overview
Discover challenging and dramatic walking trails shaped by the footsteps of traders, smugglers, saints and pirates. Cornish walking trails will reveal ancient tin mines, clifftop castles, timeless fishing villages and wild moors as you travel through a landscape of huge cliffs and hidden coves that goes back to the depths of time itself. In between the coastal drama, iconic harbours such as St Ives and Padstow give walkers access to some of the UK‘s best restaurants and coastal hotels. A county encircled by the wild Atlantic ocean, there is over 330 miles of spectacular world class coast path here taking you around the farthest corners of England - put simply it feels like walking on the edge of the world.
Stretching from coast to coast across the southwest of England, Devon is a richly diverse county with rugged shores and cliffs in the north, and classic Victorian seaside resorts in the south. In between you'll find tranquil green pastures, wooded gorges and the two dramatic wild moors in the National Parks of Dartmoor and Exmoor. Choose Devon for its walking variety, and you'll find that the popular image of cream teas and thatched cottages is true - but that Devon is so much more once you explore it on two feet. Coast to coast routes like the Two Moors Way will offer a journey through it all from the wild northern shores that inspired the Romantic poets to the maritime ports of the south coast.
Free your soul and clear your mind! Walking on the wild moors of these National Parks is a wonderful antidote to modern living. England's last true wilderness, Dartmoor offers 365 square miles of virtually uninhabited freedom with high moors and twisted dramatic granite tors a land of myths, ghosts and legends. Exmoor, its smaller and more gentle neighour, is 250 Square miles of near perfect and unique beauty, with high uplands swathed in heather and steep, wooded gorges and rushing streams. See Dartmoor ponies and Exmoor stags in these wildlife rich areas, home to 30 species of mammals and over 240 types of bird. The moors offer a unique opportunity for more challenging walking where the only human sound you will hear is the rhythm of your own breath.
Avoid the crowds and discover “Secret Somerset” missed by so many rushing headlong for the far South West. The 'land of the summer people' was named in a time when this area could only be visited in the summer months as the sea receded. Today its a rich, fertile and 'for real' landscape crowned by the fine walking ridges of the Mendip and Quantock Hills both protected areas of outstanding natural beauty. Rising up over King Arthur‘s Vale of Avalon along with the magical Tor at Glastonbury, walkers will find hidden gorges, wooded combes and the best inland panoramas of the South West. Also boasting its own Jurassic Coast Path, providing a gateway into the wilds of Exmoor National Park, Somerset offers walking routes without the crowds for those who want to find..... what the rest miss.
Dorset has a comfortable old world “English” feel to it and its walking routes traverse a rather more green and agricultural land of thatched cottages, cream teas.... and fossils ! Walkers here will find the more gentle rolling farmland, pretty villages and chalk ridges beloved by Thomas Hardy that sweep down to end abruptly at the World Heritage Jurassic Coast. Here, alongside the sea, those after more challenging routes can take a walking holiday through time itself amongst the dramatic chalk stacks, cliffs and arches of the Dorsetshire fossil coast. An area that can be very busy in high season but often suits walkers looking for more gentle and less exposed walking than the far west of the region.
Wales offers some of the best walking and outdoor activities to be had anywhere in the world. The 870-mile Welsh Coast Path was only fully opened in 2012 and is the world's first walk along the entire coast of a nation. The terrain is on an equally grand scale with towering cliffs, vast stretches of unspoilt golden sands, imposing castles, offshore islands and to the north there is the backdrop of Snowdonia National Park with its stunning mountains. Wales in general offers walkers great value for money compared to more popular areas like Cornwall with walking options to suit everyone, from those who want the cosmopolitan restaurants and facilities of towns like Tenby and St Davids, through to isolated and remote forests and coastal hills that sit on the very cusp of the Snowdonian Peaks. Bursting with confidence and pride in its “Welshness”, its Celtic history, language and culture there has never been a better time for walkers to enter Wales.
The South West Coast Path is the UK's longest National Trail and one of the top ten walking routes in the world. It snakes, dips and rises continuously on its way through a staggering 1014km (630 miles) of pristine coastline, 450 miles of which is through nationally protected areas. It's a challenge too; walking the entire South West Coast Path is the equivalent to scaling Mount Everest four times! From towering cliffs to hidden coves, ghostly tin mines to lush subtropical wooded creeks. One minute a dramatic rock theatre hewn out of the cliffs, the next a prehistoric fossilized forest or a 20thC Art Deco Island Hotel. What sets The South West Coast Path apart from other trails is that around almost every corner is yet another surprise as you retrace the footsteps and histories of the tin miners, fisherman, smugglers, wreckers and the customs men who chased them.
1st March 2023 - We are now fully booked on our coast path routes until the end of May but please send quote requests in for June onwards as there is availability for the rest of the year. If you do plan to walk between now and June then our inland routes, Coleridge Way, Mendip Way, Saints Way Dartmoor Way and Two Moors Way still have availability for most dates so please get in touch.
Distance - 14 miles: Grade - Strenuous (6 miles) & Easy (8 miles) - what these grades mean
River Crossings: River Teign (Teignmouth) and River Exe (Starcross) both by regular ferries
The walking steps up several gears straight away today as you leave the English Riviera for sweeping red sandstone panoramas looking ahead towards Lyme Bay, a marked difference in scenery for those who have made it here after weeks of walking the hard granite rocks around Cornwall.
The rollercoaster trail rises and descends from the off with the walker enjoying lush wooded paths traversing the Valley of the Rocks with steep twisting steps and a precarious rocky ledge to negotiate, the aptly named Goat Path, before reaching Maidencombe a pleasant thatched cottage village and beach with the usual options for cream teas or a swimming break. A steep zigzagging trail in and out of the woods above the cliffs follows, until the path eventually breaks into open fields with inspiring views over Teignmouth, and after climbing along the sandstone cliffs you arrive at The Ness, the iconic and atmospheric wood topped Rocky Stack guarding the entrance to Teighmouth and Shaldon. An 80m tunnel cut through the rock here reveals a great swimming beach for those wanting to cool off before you catch the Ferry from Shaldon to Teignmouth across the pretty River Teign estuary. This crossing has been in place since the 13th Century though don’t be put off by the ferry boat claiming to be the oldest in the country – we are pretty sure it’s not the original one! The next section brings you to a short run of classic south Devon resorts and there is something quite engaging about flirting with these places briefly whilst passing through on the coast path, taking in the grand history of this part of the coastline and its visitors before leaving the bustle behind to head back out onto the Devon Coastal Path.
Teignmouth offers a good lunch stop with plenty of facilities and two pleasant beachy areas along the promenade and Victorian Pier. It has an unfortunate history - razed by the Danes, rebuilt, then burnt down in 14th Century, attacked by the French in the 17th C and even hit by the Germans in World War 2....The walk takes you through the heart of this fashionable 19thC Resort passing the Lifeboat Station, Museum and pier as you make your way along the sea wall.
Overnight stops at Teignmouth for those on a relaxed walking itinerary
From this point on you start to cross swords with the impressive coastal railway – the mainline from London and a hugely impressive masterpiece of engineering created by none other than Isambard Brunel. It was here he experimented with running his audacious Atmospheric railway run by nothing more than pressurised air and an internal vacuum. Whilst the project failed the line remains, one of the UK’s classic train journeys clinging to the edge of the coast and sweeping past crashing waves through a run of 5 tunnels which pierce the red cliffs and skirt the impressive red sandstone stacks that now appear as constant companions to the walker along the coastline here.
Dawlish brings its notoriety as the home of the bizarre black swans which you will spot gliding around Dawlish Water in the centre of the town. A much loved location for writers including Jane Austen and Dickens (this was his birthplace of Nicholas Nickleby), the small fishing village grew around the railway and if the tides work for you after pausing here you will be able to walk the remainder of the route to the River Exe along the dramatic sea wall vying with the precarious railine to Exmouth.
At Dawlish Warren in complete contrast to the resorts, the route enters Dawlish Warren Nature Reserve and designated Site of Special Scientific Interest with superb vistas now over a semi wilderness of grass, reed lands, sand and mud flats at the mouth of the mighty river Exe. Those with time before the ferry to Exmouth can take a circular walk to the end of the sandy spit here and enjoy its blue flag graded beaches. Wander through rare fauna and flora amongst the unprecedented levels of migrating birdlife which abound here on the mudflats and dunes all of which can be stalked from the public bird hide and visitors centre on route – this is one of the UK’s premier water based bird watching reserves with in excess of 20,000 feathered visitors coming through during migrations. You finish the walk today by catching the Starcross Passenger Ferry from the old Wooden Pier which leaves by one of Brunel’s old Atmospheric Train Pumping Stations and the weary walker enjoys an end of day cruise across this beautiful expanse of estuary to arrive at Exmouth and golden sands backed with rows of splendid Georgian Houses shrouded in Napoleonic Heritage. Once again enjoy great restaurants and ambience at your overnight stay here at a fashionable location that is the entrance to the Jurassic Coast.
Overnight stops at Exmouth on the South West Coast Path
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