Long-distance walking
The UK’s National Trails and Great Trails
Long-distance trails are waymarked routes you can walk end to end over several days, or a stretch at a time over months or years. Here are 21 of the best known, with how long they are and how to plan one.
In short
- National Trails in England and Wales are marked with an acorn symbol. Scotland’s long routes are called Great Trails and use a thistle.
- Most people walk 8 to 15 miles a day, so a 100-mile trail takes about a week.
- You don’t have to do it all at once. Many people walk a trail in day sections, a weekend at a time.
- Lengths below are approximate. Always check the official route pages for the current route, diversions and closures.
The trails
| Trail | Where it runs | Miles | Km | Official pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Way | North York Moors and the Yorkshire coast | 109 | 175 | National Trails |
| Coast to Coast (Wainwright’s) | St Bees, Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay, North Yorkshire | 197 | 317 | National Trails |
| Cotswold Way | Chipping Campden to Bath | 102 | 164 | National Trails |
| Glyndŵr’s Way | Mid Wales | 135 | 217 | National Trails |
| Great Glen Way | Fort William to Inverness | 79 | 127 | Scotland’s Great Trails |
| Hadrian’s Wall Path | Bowness-on-Solway to Wallsend | 84 | 135 | National Trails |
| North Downs Way | Farnham to Dover, through Surrey and Kent | 153 | 246 | National Trails |
| Offa’s Dyke Path | Along the Wales–England border | 177 | 285 | National Trails |
| Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path | Norfolk | 130 | 209 | National Trails |
| Pembrokeshire Coast Path | Pembrokeshire | 186 | 299 | National Trails |
| Pennine Bridleway | Derbyshire to Cumbria | 205 | 330 | National Trails |
| Pennine Way | Edale, Peak District to Kirk Yetholm, Scottish Borders | 268 | 431 | National Trails |
| South Downs Way | Winchester to Eastbourne | 100 | 161 | National Trails |
| South West Coast Path | Minehead, Somerset to Poole, Dorset | 630 | 1,014 | National Trails |
| Southern Upland Way | Portpatrick to Cockburnspath, coast to coast across southern Scotland | 214 | 344 | Scotland’s Great Trails |
| Speyside Way | Moray coast to the Cairngorms | 85 | 137 | Scotland’s Great Trails |
| Thames Path | Source of the Thames, Cotswolds, to the Thames Barrier, London | 185 | 298 | National Trails |
| The Ridgeway | Overton Hill, Wiltshire to Ivinghoe Beacon, Buckinghamshire | 87 | 140 | National Trails |
| Wales Coast Path | All the way round the coast of Wales | 870 | 1,400 | Wales Coast Path |
| West Highland Way | Milngavie to Fort William | 96 | 154 | Scotland’s Great Trails |
| Yorkshire Wolds Way | Hessle to Filey, East Yorkshire | 79 | 127 | National Trails |
Which trail first?
- Shortest and gentlest: the Yorkshire Wolds Way and the Ridgeway, both under 90 miles on rolling chalk and farmland.
- Most popular first long walk: the West Highland Way, with good paths, plenty of places to stay and a baggage service.
- History on every mile: Hadrian’s Wall Path, which follows the Roman wall from coast to coast.
- A lifetime project: the South West Coast Path and the Wales Coast Path, which most people walk in sections over several years.
How to plan a trail in stages
- Pick your daily distance. 8 to 12 miles suits most people on hilly trails; 12 to 15 on easier ground. Use the walking time calculator to check a day isn’t too long.
- Split the route where you can sleep or catch transport. Official trail guides and websites suggest standard stages, which is where the beds and buses are.
- Book early for summer. Popular trails such as the West Highland Way and Coast to Coast fill up months ahead.
- Think about bags. Several trails have baggage transfer companies that move your main bag to the next night’s stop.
- Check before you go. Look up current diversions, closures and tide times (on coast paths) on the official pages a few days before you set off.
Keeping track over months or years? In our walking planner, give each stretch you walk a section number. Each section counts once towards the trail, however many times you walk it, so you can see how far along you really are.