How many days for St Cuthbert's Way?

[JennieL]

Hi everybody

I'm looking for a new walk for 2011 but have only five days to spare (including travel from Edinburgh).  Can anybody tell me how long to allow for St Cuthbert's Way?

Thanks, Jennie

[Jacquetta]

Sounds like a great NY resolution, and St Cuthbert may well fit the bill, but it isn't a simple matter of computing the daily distance.  At first glance, 62 miles in 5 days sounds easy, but you need to consider the tides on your actual dates as well as your overnight stays.

The grand finale of the whole walk is the crossing to Lindisfarne, and not only is there is a limited tidal window but also it would be a shame not to have time to enjoy the Holy Island and get back to Edinburgh.  If you want to walk the Pilgrims Path barefoot on the sand and mud, the safe window is even shorter than using the causeway (which is passable to cars).  Our guidebook gives full details of how to work all this out.

In case it helps (quoting from Table 1 on page 7) if you give it only 5 days your daily walking mileages could be 16, 15, 13, 12 and 6 so you'd need some careful travel planning to get to Melrose and still walk 16 miles (or else you'd need to shift some miles from Day 1 to Day 2), and a lot of luck with the tides to visit, let alone enjoy Lindisfarne on Day 5.

Overall, if you can find an extra day, it would make for a much more relaxed walking holiday!  Good luck anyway.
Jacquetta

[bsmyth]

If you find the St Cuthbert's Way is not appropriate have a look at the Borders Abbeys Way. Both walks share some common countryside. It is a nice 5-day circular walk, with ample B&B availability in the Borders' towns.

[JennieL]

Thanks so much: because of public transport at either end, it turns out that St Cuthbert's would be a real challenge and I hate walking under time pressure, so would rather keep that for when I've a free week (or at least six clear days).

However, it looks like Borders Abbeys Way (mouthful ) would be easier to complete.  Even though it's longer (68 miles cf 62), there are no tidal restrictions () and the fact it's a loop means I can drive down and park at a friendly B&B.  Thanks also for the link to the online guidebook!
Jennie

[bsmyth]

If you decide on the Borders Abbey Way here are the B&Bs we stayed at. There is no one I would say don't go to but there may have been a change of owner since. Some were better than others, as is always the case.
Melrose - Old Bank House, 27 Buccleuch Street
Kelso - Ingleston House, Abbey Row
Jedburgh - Allerton House, Oxnam Road
Hawick - Oakwood House, Buccleuch Road
Selkirk - The Glen Hotel, Yarrow Terrace

We walked in that order. We left our car in the Health Centre car park in Melrose which at the time was free of charge and was permissible. Out of courtesy we phoned them beforehand to check this was OK and at the end of the walk made a small donation to their funds for the benefit of patients. The car park is not far from the Old Bank House in Melrose. One advantage of this walk is you can start and finish at any of these towns.

If you do it I am sure you will enjoy it.
Good luck.