Why a long-distance path suits a weekend

Britain's coastline has some of the finest walking anywhere, and much of it is strung together by properly waymarked long-distance routes — the South West Coast Path, the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, the Cleveland Way, the Fife Coastal Path, the Norfolk Coast Path. The trick is to stop thinking of them as three-week expeditions. Treat a route as a series of weekends instead: choose a stretch, walk it well, and return for the next section another time. You get the satisfaction of a continuous line of coast without needing a career break to finish it.

Choose a stretch that matches your legs

Guidebook mileages flatter you on cliff paths. Ten miles of Cornish or Pembrokeshire coast, with its steep pulls, stone stiles and uneven steps, can feel like fifteen miles on flatter ground. As a rough guide:

• Gentle days: 12–14 miles on flat, well-surfaced paths such as the Norfolk coast or long stretches of Fife.
• Moderate days: 9–12 miles where the path rolls but rarely plunges.
• Testing days: 7–9 miles on serious cliff terrain, with time allowed for a slow, wet afternoon.

Aim to finish each day somewhere with a bed, a pub and ideally a bus stop. Reliable short sections include Robin Hood's Bay to Whitby, St Ives to Zennor, St Davids to Solva, Cromer to Sheringham and Elie to Crail.

Sort the transport before you book anything

Linear routes stand or fall on getting back to your start point, or forward to your finish. Work this out first, because transport, not distance, usually decides how a weekend fits together.

• Coastal buses linking the villages along the path. Many run hourly in summer but drop to a handful of services in winter, and often none at all on Sundays.
• Railway stations at either end of a section — often the neatest solution when the line hugs the coast.
• Passenger ferries and foot crossings. An estuary ferry can save a long detour inland, but services stop early and are weather-dependent.
• Two cars. Park one at the finish and one at the start, then shuttle the drivers back. Simple, provided you have two drivers.

Check the last bus time and write it down. Then add the number of a local taxi firm as your insurance policy.

Book a bed within a mile of the path

The single biggest improvement to a coastal weekend is sleeping close to the route. A three-mile detour inland at the end of a long day is dispiriting, and it eats into the following morning.

• Pubs with rooms in the village where you finish, so you can walk in, drop your bag and eat without moving again.
• B&Bs and guesthouses offering an early breakfast — 7.30am makes a genuine difference to a big day.
• Hostels and bunkhouses, invaluable on popular stretches in high season when everything else is full.
• Anywhere with a drying room, and a packed lunch if you ask the night before.

If you would rather not move every night, base yourself in one village for two nights and walk out-and-back loops from it. Where you are moving on, a luggage transfer service will carry your bag between stops while you walk — worth the modest cost on a cliff path.

Walk with the tide, not against it

Several classic sections cross sand or shingle at low water, or run beneath cliffs where the sea reaches the base at high tide. Carry a tide table, or check one the evening before, and plan your day around it rather than hoping for the best. River crossings and estuary ferries belong in the same planning: a missed ferry can add hours. If the forecast turns, have a lower, shorter alternative in mind — a village-to-village leg on lanes and field paths — so the weekend still works.

Pack light, but pack for four seasons

Coastal weather changes faster than inland weather, and exposed headlands are windy even on still days. Keep your load modest but cover the basics:

• Waterproof jacket and trousers, plus a warm mid-layer you can add and remove quickly.
• Broken-in boots with decent grip, and blister plasters already in your pack.
• Two litres of water, snacks, and a flask if the day is cold.
• Paper map and compass, or a charged device with an offline map and a power bank.
• Sun cream and a hat — the coast burns more than people expect.
• Head torch, and a small first-aid kit.

Finally, build a spare hour into every day. Not because something will go wrong, but because something usually does: a ferry delayed, a pub lunch that runs long, a headland that deserves ten minutes of sitting still. Those unplanned hours are often the ones you remember.