Independent Trails: Fact File.CCWW3

Lake District ~ Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk: West - St Bees to Kirkby Stephen

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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: 9 nights, 8 days
Minimum/maximum daily distances: 8.5 miles (13.5km)/14.5 miles (23km)
Season: April to October
Starting point of holiday: St. Bees
End of holiday: Kirkby Stephen
Code: CCWW3

Itinerary

Day 1: Travel to St. Bees, where your first nights accommodation has been booked

Day 2: St Bees to Cleator Moor. 8.5 miles (13.5km)

Day 3: Cleator Moor to Ennerdale Bridge. 5.5 miles (9km)

Day 4: Ennerdale Bridge to Rosthwaite. 14.5 miles (23km)

Day 5: Rosthwaite to Grasmere. 9 miles (14.5km)

Day 6: Grasmere to Patterdale. 8.5 miles (13.5km)

Day 7: Patterdale to Burnbanks 11 miles (17.5km)

Day 8: Burnbanks to Orton. 13 miles (21km)

Day 9: Orton to Kirkby Stephen. 13 miles (21km)

Day 10: 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?

• 9 nights accommodation in en-suite rooms with private bathrooms (where available) in selected hotels, inns and guesthouses.
• Full English breakfast.
• Door to door luggage transfer along the trail.
• A set of maps with the route marked on and a guidebook describing the trail.
• An information pack containing an itinerary, detailed instructions on how to find your accommodation each night, town plans, information about facilities and places of interest along the trail and a kit list.
• Detailed travel instructions on how to get to the start of your holiday and back from the end of it.
• Emergency assistance

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.

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