Can anyone tell me what is the avsilabilty of accommodation prior to starting the C to C please? What's the best way to get to the start by public transport?
Thanks
If you are talking St. Bees to Robin Hood's Bay, then train to St. Bees via either Carlisle or Barrow. 50 yards from St. Bees station is an excellent B and B, Stone House Farm. There are other good B and B's and several pubs in the village, all well used to catering for coast to coasters. Have fun, John.
Thanks. I presume(looking at the map) there might have to be a taxi ride.
Also I've just looked at transport costs(to start/from end)This alone comes to as much, if not more, than getting to Chamonix. Add in accommodation and it might be chealer to go and finish my TMB!
> Thanks it might be chealer to go and finish my TMB!
I thought you had done it? How much more o go?
> Thanks. I presume(looking at the map) there might have to be a taxi ride.
Walks across the country. Takes a taxi to get to the station.... ????
If you haven't already, book accommodation on the line of the route as far ahead as possible or be prepared to walk a fair way off route - unless you're carrying it all on your back of course. Popular guest houses book up a year(s) ahead - it's a big hit with overseas walkers particularly.
I did it in September last year. Managed to get a train to Sr bees from nottm for about £25. I camped and stayed in the odd hostel, non of which were per booked but I was prepared to camp on the hill if necessary. I used the national express to get home as trains were expensive.
Pretty average walk TBH. Lakes bit is good the rest is a bit whatever - glorious on a fine day but utterley forgetable if hosing down (plenty of days like this). Also when I did it a decade ago the accomadation was mostly awful & expensive. Youth Hostels were the most enjoyable ( fortunately there are plenty) and other than that camping and bunk barns where fine. B & B's and pubs were like stepping back twenty years.
YMMV.
Personally I wouldnt do it again when there is plenty to go at in Europe with better mountains, better weather and better food for less money.
D
I thought it was a brilliant walk. Every day bar one was excellent, and I had appalling weather.
> ... and pubs were like stepping back twenty years.
Sounds like a plus to me, when country pubs were pubs and not restaurants for middle class 'country' folk.
I've led the walk three times with tour groups. Best bet is start midweek, as the three groups I led all started on the Sunday and took up 18 beds/rooms in St Bees - and there's not too many places to stay. Accomodation is as someone else said, fully booked at least a year ahead - but perhaps if you start midweek you might find it less so. Fair Ladies Barn in St Bees, is probably the cheapest place to stay in St Bees if you arrive late. There's one small grocery store, a couple of pubs with food, 1 X fish 'n chip shop and thats it.
You can get a single from London to St Bees for £35 if you get an advanced ticket. Where are you travelling from?
North Wales. Circa £60 according to Trainline
Interesting I meet a few Coast to Coast walkers when out on the fells. A lot of Americans and Europeans who have done it before think it outdoes anything in the US or Europe in terms of accessibility, changing scenery and the 'exotic' villages and pubs, (although not the grandeur of the Alps or Yosemite).
It's easy to be dismissive of the familiar
St Bees is Cumbria not North Wales. Look at the advance prices for London - Preston and then Preston - St Bees. Look at mid week May or June.
Don't understand. Why would I want to travel from London to get to St Bees? You asked where I would be travelling from.
If you get to St Bees by say 12.00 noon then there is no need for accommodation there. It's a steady 6-7 hour walk to Ennerdale. Just a thought.
We also enjoyed it, but we camped so no dramas about booking anything
> North Wales. Circa £60 according to Trainline
Have a play around with times and stations. If I got the train tickets from my local station it was over £100 but by getting it from Nottingham it was £25. It was exactly the same train and it went through and stopped at my local station 7 minutes after leaving Nottingham. I ended up still getting on at my local one. Also try adding in splits to the journey.
Ah thought you were giving a price for getting to North Wales, which would not make sense as St Bees is not there.
Bangor to St Bees with a couple of changes is £31 mid week. You need to wait till advance tickets are available for the dates you want.
I remember hitching to St Bees on the back of a coal truck !
> Pretty average walk TBH.
I did it with a friend back in 1988, camping every night, and enjoyed it a lot. The Lake District was spectacular, but so were the Dales (esp. Swaledale) and the North York Moors. The only disappointing section was the road walking around Danby Wiske, but even that wasn't too bad.
I'm sure some aspects of the walk have changed a lot since then, particularly now that there are more people doing it, commercial guided groups and baggage transfer services, but the hills are still the same. I have fond memories of walking up to Boredale Hause in the semi-dark to camp Angle Tarn. Camping in the back-garden of some kind people in Bampton, and on the village green at Orton and drinking with the local mole catcher in the pub afterwards. There was more of a feeling of walking over the land than any trip I've done since.
I have to say that the CtoC was the least enjoyable of the three official LDPs I've done (others were Offas Dike and the Pennine Way). I enjoyed the Pennine Way far more as it seemed to be a far more consistent challenge.
CtoC basically lumps all of the really challenging stuff into the first couple of days, then gets gradually less interesting from then on with the totally tedious route march across the vale of York near the end.
> Can anyone tell me what is the avsilabilty of accommodation prior to starting the C to C please? What's the best way to get to the start by public transport?
> Thanks
Hi mypyrex
I did the Coast to Coast a few years ago with my better half, albeit over 2 seperate weeks in the summer due to lack of holiday, and we both thought it was a fantastic walk although we were very blessed with warm, sunny weather (a heatwave one week so very early starts) for most days! We stayed in B&B's, Youth Hostel or bunkhouses but these required booking months in advance (I booked all ours by the end of January) as there are a few areas where overnight accommodation is very limited. We found Sherpa Van holidays very useful for their minivan shuttle service only (i.e not using the baggage service!) in getting back to our car, though they could easily drop you at many locations en route to get you to whatever public transport you may use:
https://www.sherpavan.com/trails/coast-to-coast.asp
Hope this helps and good luck on the walk and with the weather...
Dave
> I have to say that the CtoC was the least enjoyable of the three official LDPs I've done (others were Offas Dike and the Pennine Way). I enjoyed the Pennine Way far more as it seemed to be a far more consistent challenge.
> CtoC basically lumps all of the really challenging stuff into the first couple of days, then gets gradually less interesting from then on with the totally tedious route march across the vale of York near the end.
Hi Graham I've done those 3 and whilst I would agree with the Pennine Way being the best LDP, I thought the C2C was not far behind with some excellent walking after the Lake District with the Swaledale section being particularly memorable, Nine Standards Rigg, some great moorlands and the Cleveland Hills off the top of my head. I enjoyed Offa's Dyke and whilst the Southern Half is excellent, I thought the Northern half was a bit dull at times with lots of boggy field tramping! However the persistent precipitation may have had something to do with this...
Cheers
Dave
For consistent mountains and challenge, I agree that the C2C is not a great choice. I think its more about experiencing a variety of landscapes - and for that it's hard to think of anything comparable, and also of the same length, in the UK.
> I presume(looking at the map) there might have to be a taxi ride.
Just get the train to St. Bees. The station is at the village, so no need for a taxi (and I very much doubt if you'd find one anyway - nearest would probably be Whitehaven). There are no trains on the Cumbria coastal line on Sundays.
From Robin Hood's Bay your nearest train station is Scarborough. If you have time, maybe just walk the Cleveland Way path to get there.
And there is a regular bus service from Robin Hoods Bay to both Middlesborough and Scarborough