Our History

The Celtic Trails story begins in a small home office in Bala, North Wales. A one-man, one-dog team, Angus Cunningham and his border terrier Fergus began taking guests staying at the family's B&B out on guided ‘scrambles’ around the Snowdonia National Park.

Word-of-mouth recommendations from American visitors lead to the introduction of our first group guided tours. Our first group is made up of members of the American Embassy and explores the mountains of North Wales lead by Angus and his wife Judy. From here, Celtic Trails begins a regular programme of luxury guided walking tours exploring the best of the UK.

Celtic Trails relocates to the Wye Valley in South Wales. The decision is sparked by Angus’ hope to introduce self-guided walking holidays to the Welsh tourism market (back then, a very novel idea!). The Wye Valley location is chosen for its proximity to the Offa’s Dyke Path, the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and the Wye Valley Walk, which become our first self guided walking holidays.

Foot-and-mouth disease spreads across the UK. The outbreak is catastrophic for both the British agricultural industry and the outdoor tourism industry. All public footpaths are closed and Celtic Trails are forced to put all walks on hold for the remainder of the year.

Celtic Trails are able to re-open for business. This is a chance to restart and revamp our first self-guided walking holidays - the Offa’s Dyke Path, Pembrokeshire Coast Path and the Wye Valley Walk. The Pembrokeshire Coast Path and Offa’s Dyke Path remain our most popular self-guided walks thereafter. We also take on our first permanent employee, Lesley - who stays with us until her retirement in 2013!

Our first self-guided walks in England are launched, with the Cotswolds Way and Hadrian's Wall. Once again, they become firm favourites with our walkers for many years to come. Angus and Judy's sons, Mark and Ben, are routinely roped in for the high season to provide support and logistics for the guided trips.

Celtic Trails begins to offer self-guided walks in Scotland. As a nod to his childhood spent on the shores of Loch Lomond, Angus chooses the West Highland Way as Celtic Trails’ first Scottish walk. As the company grows, we celebrate our 1,000th walker, and launch a second base in Llangollen, which sits very suitably at the other end of the Offa’s Dyke Path. Our new base is headed by Anne, who also takes charge of our guided walking tours.

Penny joins the team and is still with us 14 years later. Our Channel Island walks are launched.

Celtic Trails moves into a new office right on the edge of the River Wye and in the shadows of the magnificent Tintern Abbey. Just foot steps away from the Offa’s Dyke Path and Wye Valley Walk it is a perfect location to engage with our walkers and we remain there until this day.

Nathan joins and becomes our second longest standing team member. Our portfolio of walks increases to over 25, including the launch of our first Irish Walk.

Another key member of the team, Kate, joins Celtic Trails.

We enjoy a very special celebration with two of our walkers - over 1,000 miles walked with Celtic Trails! Back in the office, our team are equally busy, now offering over 50 different self-guided walks.

The year begins with an exciting new chapter for the company as Angus’ son, Ben, takes over as managing director, allowing Angus more time to enjoy what he loves best, walking! Anne also retires her long standing directorship but still remains a key advisor. We launch our focused European offering with walks in Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands.

A year of celebration for Celtic Trails as we mark our 20th anniversary! We become the first operator to offer the full 870 miles of the Wales Coast Path, an epic adventure which takes 3 to 4 months to complete. When combined with the Offa’s Dyke Path, it allows our walkers the truly unique opportunity to circumnavigate an entire country.

Nathan, who leads on our Product Development, celebrates his 10th year with Celtic Trails. We help more people than ever spend time in nature with an expanding collection of 90+ day treks. We added a collection of Italian itineraries to our European offering. Sarah joins the company to look after our Offa’s Dyke Path clients.

Now busier than ever, it’s all change in the office as we invest in a major upgrade of our booking system. We also extend our European offering, adding both Croatia and Montenegro to our portfolio. Managing Director, Ben’s wife, Carys, joins the team, helping to quickly streamline each section of the business for the best possible service.

Covid 19 hits and devastates the holiday industry. Less than 10% of Celtic Trails’ bookings were able to go ahead and the challenges faced were enormous. As Penny, our Office Manager, celebrated her 15th year with us, our combination of being a family owned and operated company with a core of very experienced staff became our strength through these difficult times. This was the key to us negotiating the rapid changes and operational frustrations.

Further setbacks as the year began with Covid 19 restrictions continuing to prevent holidays running, which particularly impacted our valued overseas visitors. However, by May we were back to full capacity with many of our postponed holidays now able to run. A very busy season lay ahead.

Back to full strength, we celebrated our 25th year in business. Two new team members, Sam and Julie, join to help us administrate the highest number of bookings we have ever seen. Kate, who supports with our CRM system, celebrates 10 years with us. Our European choices grow again as we add The Lighthouse Way/Camino Dos Faros in northern Spain, as well as Madeira, to our collection.