Walking England’s Longest National Trail
The South West Coast Path boasts some of the best coastal walking in Europe. Pretty fishing villages, rocky headlands, lively resorts, woodland estuaries and golden surf-washed beaches combine to create a picture perfect walking holiday. The Devon, Cornwall and Dorset coastline is rich with wildlife, seabirds and wildflowers, and hopefully when you’re there, the skies will be blue and seas emerald green. At 630 miles the South West Coast Path is also England’s longest waymarked long-distance footpath and National Trail, but don’t worry, we won’t be asking you to walk the entire the path in one visit. Walking anti-clockwise we’ve broken it into five sections, and these too break down into bite size chunks giving you ten incredible holidays in total to choose from. Let’s take a closer look at each of those sections. North Devon: Minehead to Westward Ho! Our North Devon holiday, actually begins life in Minehead just over the border in Somerset, and runs for almost 90 miles to the village of Westward Ho! enjoying overnight stays in popular locations such as Lynmouth, Ilfracombe and Woolacombe. On your journey you’ll pass through coastal woodland and see vast sandy beaches popular with surfers, you’ll walk over some of the highest…
Family Time on the North Devon Coast
This article was written by Katie Armitage during her time with Mickledore and reflects her first-hand experience of the route. Last August my sister Bethany and I walked from Minehead to Woolacombe on the first section of the South West Coast Path. We’d just launched our North Devon holidays and I was very excited to share my adventures with you all … let’s dive in! Day 1: Minehead to Porlock We arrived into Minehead late afternoon yesterday which meant we had just enough time for a quick paddle in the sea before dinner in the sunshine! After a delicious breakfast this morning we made our way to the official South West Coastal Path starting point. The trail started fairly flat as we left Minehead along the quiet coast path. We then reached a woodland and began the climb up North Hill. This was quite steep in sections and was rather tough going as it was 27 degrees today! From the top of North Hill we were treated to stunning views across the moorlands of Exmoor and could even see Wales across the water. We came across a group of wild Exmoor ponies grazing on the tops where the trail then…
Uncovering UK History on Walking Holidays
There is Nothing Like Being There There are some beautiful history books out there, some stunning documentaries and artwork that can evoke a sense of wonder, terror or nostalgia, but there is nothing that exhilarates the history buff quite as vividly as actually setting foot on the places where historical events actually happened. Walking is perhaps the best way to take in historical landscapes and sites because, for most of history, that is the way most people would have experienced them, up close and personal. If you want to ponder the world of Stone Age migrants; imagine what it would have been like to be a Roman soldier from the far south, posted on a cold wall at the Scottish borders; or plod the regular route of a towpath worker along the Thames, the best way to experience it is on foot. Area, or Era? There are a lot of walks based on particular areas of natural beauty, and beautiful scenery is often the main consideration for people choosing where to walk. Many routes have a variety of historical points of interest which span wide-ranging periods of time. The walks that are right for you are best chosen with a…