Britain's long-distance trails are well documented, and for most of them there is a Cicerone guidebook with day-by-day stages, maps and accommodation notes. The harder choice is picking the trail, and then deciding what to carry. This guide starts with the gentler trails and works up to the ones that ask for real experience, using what each book says about its own route.
Choosing a first trail
A first multi-day walk is best on a route that is well waymarked, split into short stages and close to villages. By the publishers' own descriptions, the Dales Way (about 79 miles, in six stages) is one of the gentlest. The West Highland Way takes around a week, and the South Downs Way, Cotswold Way and Hadrian's Wall Path are each described as suitable for first-timers.
Bigger commitments
Next come the longer coastal and border routes. The Pembrokeshire Coast Path and Offa's Dyke Path are each around 180 miles, and take roughly two weeks. The Coast to Coast Walk, devised by Alfred Wainwright, links three national parks across northern England. At the far end of the scale, the South West Coast Path runs to roughly 635 miles in 45 stages, and the Pennine Way and Cape Wrath Trail are written for experienced walkers.
Guide, map booklet, or both?
Several of the guidebooks include their own route mapping, but a few of the trails also have separate 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey map booklets, designed to slip into a jacket pocket. The catalogue lists them for the Pennine Way and Coast to Coast. Many of the guides are also described in both directions, which matters if the plan is to walk the route the other way round from the usual one.
Before you set off
Guidebooks go out of date faster than the paths do, because routes are diverted, accommodation closes and ferry timetables change. Check the edition date, and look for any updates the publisher posts. Allow longer than the headline mileage suggests: the stages in these books run from around seven miles to 20 or more, and the longest trails are walked in sections by many people. For reading in the evening, Wayfarer follows Britain's pilgrim paths, and The Pathless Land walks across Ireland while asking why it has so few rights of way.
Our Picks
12 books
Walking the Dales Way : Ilkley to Bowness-on-Windermere through the Yorkshire Dales
The West Highland Way : Scottish Great Trail - Milngavie (Glasgow) to Fort William
The South Downs Way : Winchester to Eastbourne, described in both directions
The Cotswold Way : NATIONAL TRAIL Two-way trail guide - Chipping Campden to Bath
Hadrian's Wall Path : National Trail: Described west-east and east-west
The Cleveland Way and the Yorkshire Wolds Way : NATIONAL TRAILS: The North York Moors, Yorkshire Wolds and Yorkshire Coast
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path : NATIONAL TRAIL - Amroth to St Dogmaels
Offa's Dyke Path : National Trail following the English-Welsh border
The Coast to Coast Walk : St Bees to Robin Hood's Bay
Walking the Pennine Way : NATIONAL TRAIL - From Edale to Kirk Yetholm
Walking the South West Coast Path : National Trail From Minehead to South Haven Point
