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Walking 
Holiday Information

Take in the very best of Swaledale and Wensleydale!

This beautiful 80 km / 50 mile circular walk in the Yorkshire Dales threads its way around the valleys of Wensleydale and Swaledale and over the fells and moorlands between these two emerald dales. A walk designed to take in some of the countryside beloved by James Alfred Wight, the vet who wrote about his experiences in the Yorkshire Dales as James Herriot. These books became popular in the 1970s and 80s and spawned a film and a very popular television series ‘All Creatures Great and Small’. Besides walking through the Yorkshire countryside, the attractiveness and variety of the route is such that it could be easily classed the best short walk in England.

 

The Yorkshire Dales have often been coined as ‘Gods Own Country’ and with good reason, with a little bit of luck with the weather, you are treated to a beautiful landscape bursting with colour and light. The land encompasses the sleepy rivers punctuated by cascading water off of the limestone escarpments, the fields stocked with multiple sheep, the high moors, bristling with sedge, bracken and bilberry.

 

Our guided walk starts and finishes in Hawes. It comprises four days of walking and four night’s accommodation, starting on 10th – 14th June 2024.

£690.00 – The price is per person and based on twin sharing rooms.

 

Optional Extras

The below optional extras incur a supplement:

  • Secure Car Park in Kirkby Stephen and transfer to/from Hawes – free but must be booked in advance
  • Single occupancy rooms – single supplement of £45 per night

We specialise in walking tours, and that means we can deliver a deluxe experience.

 

High Quality Accommodation
You will be staying in lovely family-owned inns and quaint Bed & Breakfasts in the overnight villages (Keld, Reeth, Aysgarth Falls & Hawes). The main trip price is based on two sharing a twin room. If you would like single occupancy then a supplement will apply.

 

Expert Guide
We organise the guided walks in conjunction with Mark Reid FRGS. He runs TeamWalking and is a highly experienced and qualified Mountain Leader and Outdoor Instructor. He is also the author of ‘The Inn Way’ and other guidebooks & is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. The guides not only ensure you safely navigate the route each day but bring it all to life with detailed interpretations of the landscape, geology, fauna, flora, history and heritage along the way. You will also receive a Guidebook.

 

Daily Luggage Transfers & Store
Our drivers travel the route each day on a consistent and reliable schedule moving your bag with care and professionalism from accommodation to accommodation, always ensuring it is there by 4pm (and often much earlier depending on location along the route). If you are coming to England as part of a longer holiday and have items you do not need for the Herriot Way, we can store them safely and securely in our office for the duration of your trip and then drop off at your final accommodation.

 

Secure Car Parking & Passenger Transfers

Secure parking at Kirkby Stephen with transfers to Hawes on Monday morning and back to Kirkby Stephen on Friday morning (must be pre-booked).

 

Assistance Pre- & Post Trip
If you need assistance or advice on anything related to your trip then we will happily help and can arrange for you. For example, finding train tickets from the airport, hotels in Manchester, and taxis from the finish (these purchases are all additional expenses).

 

Support From Us
We’re available 7 days a week and not just in office hours to help you with any query or request either prior to or during your wonderful trip. We can freely give you any insights into the route, we will meet you as you pass through, we can even look outside our window to tell you exactly what the ground conditions are like and what the weather is doing.

Our packages covers all of the things you will need, with just your lunch, evening meal and travel insurance for you to choose and pay direct.

 

Evening Meals
Tasty options throughout the walk including country pubs, restaurants, bistros, and local takeaways (the places will be booked by Mark Reid but you need to pay for your own meal).

 

Lunches
Your appetite may change along the route as you adapt to the challenges and you may have special requirements, which is why we avoid choosing your lunches for you. As with evening meals, your accommodations can provide a packed lunch (which you simply order on arrival and pay for).

 

Travel Insurance
We have developed a partnership with the leading travel insurance company Citybond – part of the TIF plc group. They provide a comprehensive range of travel insurance offering high levels of cover for medical emergency, repatriation, personal baggage, cancellation and much more. This partnership grants you 10% discount on their policies when you give the unique referral code C2CP10. To see more please click here.

 

Transport to the Start & Back from Finish
You can either make your own way to Hawes for the morning of 10th June or come to Kirkby Stephen (by 8am) from where we will do a minibus transfer – needs to be pre-booked. If you are driving, we have a secure car park by our office.

 

Remember to carry personal spending money too, in case you wish to purchase any souvenirs, memorabilia or to enjoy a few pints of local ale.

Daily Luggage Transfers & Store
Our drivers travel the route each day on a consistent and reliable schedule moving your bag with care and professionalism from accommodation to accommodation, always ensuring it is there by 4pm (and often much earlier depending on location along the route). If you are coming to England as part of a longer holiday and have items you do not need for the walk, we can store them safely and securely in our office for the duration of your trip and then drop off at your final accommodation.

 

Secure Car Parking & Passenger Transfers
We have a secure (locked) car-park at our operating base in Kirkby Stephen, where you can leave your car for the whole duration of your trip. We will then transport you to the start and bring you back from Hawes.

After an exhilarating day walking across the trail, the right accommodation is essential. Welcomed into a friendly, clean, comfortable and characterful accommodation to stay is an absolute must. We are very demanding in the standards we expect for our customers.

 

Our accommodation hosts are our trusted and valued partners in ensuring you have a special trip. You will be staying in lovely family-owned inns and quaint Bed & Breakfasts in the overnight villages (Keld, Reeth, Aysgarth Falls & Hawes). The main trip price is based on two sharing a twin room. If you want single occupancy then a supplement will apply.

The below optional extras incur a supplement:

  • Secure Car Park in Kirkby Stephen and transfer to/from Hawes – free but must be booked in advance
  • Single occupancy rooms – single supplement of £45 per night

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Coast to Coast Packhorse is part of PHSV Ltd. Your booking contract will therefore be with PHSV Ltd and your payment will be made to PHSV Ltd.

Key Information

Price from: £690

Days: 4

Type: Guided

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Itinerary for your
Walking Holiday

Monday 10th June 2024:

We will meet at 9:30am on Monday 10th June 2024 at Hawes in Wensleydale. Secure parking is available at Kirkby Stephen, with a transfer to Hawes on Monday morning.

Hawes to Keld via Great Shunner Fell  Keld Possibly the hardest day on this Yorkshire Dales walking holiday. Leaving Hawes, the trail climbs up the side of Great Shunner Fell following the famous Pennine Way. At 716 metres it is the third highest mountain in Yorkshire. The dominating rock type in the area is limestone, but there are millstone grit outcrops and coal seams have also been worked on its slopes. In clear weather the summit affords spectacular views of Wensleydale to the south, Ribblesdale to the south west and Swaledale to the north, as well as views into Cumbria and County Durham beyond the A66. The once boggy walk has been much improved with the laying of flagstones along the trail in 1996. From the cross walled summit wind break there is a steep walk down into the sleepy village of Thwaite.

After the long ascent and descent from Hawes, one cannot rest on ones laurels, the path is steep and rocky, but gets you high above the deep ‘u’ shaped valley of Swaledale, one of the most picturesque sights in England. The path skirts the lower slopes of Kisdon Hill and then drops down again into the tiny settlement of Keld, sitting in a fold of Upper Swaledale and is the smallest and remotest place that we stay in during this circular walking trip.

Tuesday 11th June 2024:

After leaving Keld, the path drops steeply to cross the footbridge over the River Swale and then leaves the Pennine Way to join the Coast to Coast for the day. From the old mining house at Crackpot Hall overlooking the wide ‘u’ valley of Swaledale, the path passes the waterfalls of Swinner Gill Lead Mines, before steeply ascending to cross the Lownathwaite and Gunnerside Moors, then a steep descent through the ‘hushings’ (water scoured slopes where minerals were collected) to the ex lead mine workings at Gunnerside Gill. A steep climb up through Buntons Hush, brings you over the top of Melbecks Moor full of mining reminders with giggling grouse fluttering away from you into the heather. The track improves and you pass the Old Gang Smelting Mines, where the best preserved relics of the lead mining industry are preserved. This leads down past ‘Surrender Bridge’ where the opening sequence of the first couple of series of ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ were filmed. Finally the trail heads up into the countryside above Healaugh and then Reeth with gorgeous potential views across the ever-widening Swaledale. Finally a nice easy descent off the moors into Reeth for some well earned refreshment.

Wednesday 12th June 2024:

The longest day of this circular walking trip in Yorkshire, but the beauty doesn’t let up. Passing out of Reeth, the way crosses the Arkle Beck before crossing fields of happy sheep to the old stone Grinton Bridge and finally leaving the River Swale. The church here was the ‘Cathedral of the Dales’ and people had to carry their dead miles across the moorlands to have them buried in the consecrated ground. A steep climb out of Grinton is followed by a good bridleway trail up and over High Harker Hill (466m) offering fantastic views across Swaledale. The trail winds around grouse shooting estates and moors changing direction as you drop into remote Apedale, passing Dent’s House, a shooting estate lodge which is a particularly welcoming spot if the weather is poor. A final climb out of Apedale and then a descent back again into Wensleydale, hitting the well preserved bastions of Bolton Castle – cafe in the castle. The final section of the walk connects farm trails to the mixed woodland before finally hitting the Aysgarth Waterfalls then returning to Aysgarth.

Thursday 13th June 2024:

The last day is the easiest walk of the James Herriot Way, a jaunt down from Aysgarth passing the ‘Edwardian Rock Garden’ to join the sleepy River Ure which meanders around in its grassy dale, some little bridges and stepping stones aid progress before crossing the route of the defunct railway line and into Askrigg for lunch. This is a really pretty village which was used for some of the filming on the James Herriot series. From Askrigg the walk gets a bit hillier as you climb through the woods to examine the beautiful Mill Beck Falls, which may appear like a milk chocolate fountain due to the tannins in the peat off the moorlands. From here the walking route climbs through the fields of Helm, before gradually descending to the hamlet of Litherskew and village of Sedbusk before dropping steeply down to rejoin and cross the River Ure and past the National Park Centre and into Hawes.

As you finish on a Saturday when accommodation in Hawes stipulate an overnight stay. We operate a minibus dedicated to the guided group to return you to Kirkby Stephen the following morning.

Friday 14th June 2024:

Morning transfer back to Kirkby Stephen (if required). This must be pre-booked.

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“Oh, how can I put into words the joys of a walk over country such as this; the scenes that delight the eyes, the blessed peace of mind, the sheer exuberance which fills your soul as you tread the firm turf? This is something to be lived, not read about…” Alfred Wainwright