Independent Trails: Fact File.CCWW2
This tour provides the perfect introduction to the delights of the Lake District. The shortest days occur where steep ascents are encountered during the crossing of several mountain passes in the Lake District. Longer days occur where the terrain is much easier.
Trail Facts
Total distance:
82 miles (131km)
Duration: 8 nights, 7 days
Minimum/maximum daily distances: 8½ miles (13.5km)/14.5
miles (23km)
Season: April to October
Starting point of holiday: St. Bees
End of holiday: Kirkby Stephen
Code: CCWW2
Itinerary
Day 1:
Travel to St. Bees, where your first nights accommodation has been booked.
Day 2: St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge. 14 miles (22.5km).
Day 3: Ennerdale Bridge to Rosthwaite. 14.5 miles (23km).
Day 4: Rosthwaite to Grasmere. 9 miles (14.5km).
Day 5: Grasmere to Patterdale. 8½ miles (13.5km).
Day 6: Patterdale to Burnbanks. 11 miles (17.5km).
Day 7: Burnbanks to Orton. 13 miles (21km).
Day 8: Orton to Kirkby Stephen. 12 miles (19km).
Day 9: Depart from Kirkby Stephen after breakfast.
Extra nights/Rest days
An extra night gives you
a chance to explore some of the villages and old market towns along the trail,
catch up with writing postcards or just relaxing and giving those weary legs
a rest.
Rosthwaite is a good choice for a rest day. There are many lovely walks in the
hills around Borrowdale or you could catch a bus into the bustling little town
of Keswick nearby. There is plenty to see in Grasmere such as Dove Cottage,
the best-known home of William Wordsworth, the school where Wordsworth once
taught, now home to Sarah Nelson's famous Gingerbread Shop and St. Oswald's
church, the last resting place for the Wordsworth family. If you prefer somewhere
quieter take a rest day in Patterdale. A terrific walk here starts by taking
a steamer trip across Ullswater and returns along the lakeshore path. Orton
is another good choice for a rest day. It is a charming, peaceful village. There
are several short walks from the village, including one over Orton Scar, with
its lunar-like landscape of deeply fissured limestone pavements that shelter
colourful wildflowers and rare ferns. The old market town of Kirkby Stephen
is also a good place to take an extra night. Don't miss the unusual 'Bound Devil',
a figure of Satan chained and horned in the ancient church of St. Stephen.
What's included?
Travel Information
Detailed instructions on
how to get to the start of the holiday and back from the end of it are sent
to you on booking. A summary is given below.
Most convenient major city and International airport: Manchester
Airport. Approximately 4 hours to St. Bees by train.
Outward journey from London to St Bees: Train from London
Euston to Carlisle, then change trains for St. Bees (5 ½ hours) or London
Euston to St. Bees (change trains at Preston and Lancaster) 5 hours 40 minutes.
The first nights accommodation in St. Bees is a short walk from the railway
station.
Return journey to London at the end of the holiday: Taxi to
Kirkby Stephen railway station. Train to Carlisle, then change trains for London
King's Cross (about 5 hours).
Travelling by car: If you have to travel by car, we can arrange
secure car parking in St. Bees. At the end of your walk we can arrange a taxi
back to your car in St Bees. There is also a regular train service from Kirkby
Stephen to St. Bees (approximately 3 hours) via Carlisle.