Alfred Wainwright's Coast to Coast can be found in the North of England. It crosses through 3 contrasting National Parks and showcases some of the best panoramas England has to offer. Being that it starts and ends in little coastal villages, is it easy to travel to?  Well, this blog post aims to answer that very question. [caption id="attachment_26562" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Typical Coast to Coast scenery[/caption]

By Air

If you are coming from outside of the UK, you might need to know the closest airports to fly into.  The best places to arrive would be either Manchester or Newcastle airports. From each of these, travel to the stat of the trip is approximately 4 hours and is a combination of rail and bus.

Driving

If you are thinking of driving please be aware that there are very limited parking facilities. The only free public parking in St Bees is available at the railway station (only 18 spaces available) but is not intended for C2C walkers. Many B&B’s have parking available for a small fee per night. If you left your car in St Bees you would need to take a bus from Robin Hood's Bay to Scarborough and from here take a train via Manchester and Carlisle to St Bees (approx. 6 hrs). Please check the Traveline website for schedule. Leaving your car at the halfway point of Kirkby Stephen is a good idea, but parking there is very limited. There are some spaces in the Pennine View Campsite. The campsite is secure and you can leave your car there for the duration of your walk, however, a courtesy email to ask if this is possible would be a good idea. [caption id="attachment_26559" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Fellow walkers on the Coast to Coast[/caption]

Getting to St Bees

St Bees is your starting point for the Coast to Coast and is pretty straightforward to get to. St Bees has a train station, so you can get to it with connections from anywhere in the UK. Take a look at the National Rail website, and you will be able to set up your journey very easily.

Getting to Kirkby Stephen

If you are going to split the trip and walk the two halves on separate occasions, the Kirkby Stephen is where you will need to get to. Again, this is relatively easy as Kirkby Stephen has a rail station, so just check the National Rail website, and you can get yourself all booked up.

Getting back from Robin Hoods Bay

The trips finishes up in Robin Hoods Bay on the East Coast of England.  From here you need to take bus X93 to the closest or most convenient rail station. Scarborough is a 41-minute bus journey away, and the rail station here allows you to connect to anywhere in the UK. However, there may be better options depending on which part of the UK you need to get to, so it is always worth checking the Traveline Website, to find the most convenient journey for you.