Back-to-back walking holidays in Britain
Carys
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Carys
At the end of the West Highland Way in Fort William, a bronze walker sits on a bench resting his feet. It’s a good spot to sit down and think back over the miles from Milngavie. Come morning, you can lace your boots again, pick up the Great Glen Way in town and walk on to Inverness.
If you’re coming a long way to walk in Britain, putting two trails together can be a lovely way to spend the extra time. In England you can leave the Lakeland fells to follow a Roman frontier across Northumberland. In Wales you can spend much of your holiday looking out over the same sea, from the harbour wall at New Quay to the cliffs beyond Fishguard.
The table gives rounded mileages for the itineraries below, in walking order. Allow extra time for travel and rest days.
| Trails | How they connect | Miles by trail | Walking days |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Highland Way and Great Glen Way | On foot in Fort William | 96 and 73–74 | 11 to 17 |
| Cumbria Way and Hadrian’s Wall Path | Transfer from Carlisle to Bowness-on-Solway | 76–79 and 85–90 | 10 to 21 |
| Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire Coast Paths | On foot from Cardigan to St Dogmaels | 72 and 178–182 | 19 to 24 |
The season for all six trails is generally March to October. We’ll confirm the available start dates for your chosen pairing. May to September is a good time for a longer holiday, especially June and July if you’d like long evenings by a loch or harbour.
The rocky eastern shore of Loch Lomond can make for slow going on the West Highland Way. Beyond it, the views open out across Rannoch Moor. You climb the Devil’s Staircase and, beyond Kinlochleven, follow an old military road through the hills to Fort William.
After the West Highland Way, the early miles of the Great Glen Way often feel gentler underfoot. At Banavie you can stand on the towpath and watch boats rise through the locks of Neptune’s Staircase, with Ben Nevis behind you. Further along the glen, the trail climbs through woodland above Loch Ness before following the River Ness into Inverness.
With six walking days on the West Highland Way and five on the Great Glen Way, you’ll average about 15 miles a day. Take nine days on the first trail and eight on the second and the average drops to about ten. Fort William is a natural place for a rest day between the two.
Getting there and home. Take the train from Glasgow Queen Street to Milngavie. From Inverness, direct trains run to Edinburgh Waverley.
From Ulverston, the Cumbria Way follows the shore of Coniston Water and heads into Great Langdale. From the top of Stake Pass there’s a steep descent into Borrowdale, and you may be glad of a shorter afternoon. When guest writer Elmar Teegelbeckers walked the Cumbria Way, he broke the stage at Rosthwaite. That left a shorter walk into Keswick the following day and time for a burger in town.
The Cumbria Way ends in Carlisle. The western end of Hadrian’s Wall Path is at Bowness-on-Solway, on the coast. We arrange a transfer there so you can walk the opening stretch beside the Solway Firth, back through Carlisle and on towards Wallsend. Around Housesteads you can see the Wall climbing the crags ahead of you. It’s worth allowing time here to walk round the Roman fort.
If you have a fortnight for the walking itself, you could spend six days on the Cumbria Way and eight on Hadrian’s Wall Path. The ten-day option pairs 75½ miles on the Cumbria Way with 84½ along the Wall. That’s 16 miles a day on average, a demanding pace that suits experienced walkers. Nine days in the Lakes and twelve along the Wall bring the average closer to eight miles a day.
Getting there and home. Take the Furness line from Lancaster to Ulverston. At the finish, take the Metro from Wallsend towards St James. Change at Monument for Central Station and onward trains from Newcastle.
Our southbound Ceredigion Coast Path holiday covers 72 miles from Machynlleth to Cardigan, including the inland start in the Dyfi valley. By Aberystwyth you’re walking beside Cardigan Bay. South of New Quay, the old coastguard lookout at Birds Rock is worth a pause. From here you can watch the seabirds below and, with luck, spot a dolphin out in the bay.
At Cardigan you cross the River Teifi and walk on to St Dogmaels, where the Pembrokeshire Coast Path begins. The stretch towards Newport gives you a fair idea of the walking ahead. A headland that looks close across the water can be a long walk away once the path has dipped to a cove and climbed out again. If you’d prefer a shorter walk, you can finish at St Davids.
The National Park gives the Coast Path as 186 miles. Our Pembrokeshire stages total 178 to 182 miles. If you take the high-tide diversion at Dale, add 2.9 miles to that total.
From Machynlleth to Amroth, the 19-day walk averages about 13 miles a day and the 24-day walk about 10½.
Getting there and home. Take the Cambrian line from Birmingham New Street via Shrewsbury to Machynlleth. Our full itineraries include a transfer from Amroth to Tenby for your last night, with onward trains towards Carmarthen. If you’re travelling independently, check the 351 bus timetable from Amroth. The timetable changes by season.
Think back to the last holiday when you walked several days in a row. How did you feel the morning after your longest day? That’s a useful starting point when choosing stages for a second trail. You might want shorter days on the Pembrokeshire cliffs, or a full day in Keswick and your usual daily distance elsewhere.
If you have a longer walk in mind for 2027, tell us which trails appeal and how long you have. We’ll work out the stages and rest days with you and arrange your accommodation with breakfast. Your main bag moves ahead to the next stop, so you walk the day with only what you choose to carry.