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Backpacking in the UK ?

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    • Backpacking in the UK ?

      Anybody have any experience backpacking in the UK?
      Kathy tells me she'd like to do that but doesn't have anyplace particular in mind and doesn't ever do any research on it.
      I'd like to make this dream of her's come true but how do I pick a place, the right place. It seems like another one of those no win situations for a husband. Can anyone recommend a hike that involves beautiful countryside and historic villages or other historic sites that might be very different from what we have here on the east coast of the USA?

    • Backpacking in the UK ?

      Haven't done it but on the bucket list so have researched a bit.
      Firstly hiking in the UK is usually more a walk from bed and breakfast to bed and breakfast.
      There are wilderness walks but the two I am looking at are the Coast to Coast walk and the Hadrians Wall walk. They both go east-west across England up in the northern part near to Scotland and I am intending to do one in one direction and then switch to the other and go back.
      Both walks can be googled and you should get good info on them (try Trailjournals.com for starters).
      The youth hostels in the UK (YHA's) are not just for youth and are excellent.
      I have stayed at several of them and thoroughly recommend them.
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.

    • Backpacking in the UK ?

      My brother-in-law is from Cardiff. They go back all the time. My sister knowing I still do this, always tells me that they have a park in Wales that is very pretty and lots of people backpack and camp in it.....I can't remember the name....I will get in touch with her.....but I know the highest 'hill' is in it.
      Cheesecake> Ramen :thumbsup:

    • Backpacking in the UK ?

      CoachLou wrote:

      OzJacko wrote:

      That would be Mt Snowdon Coach.
      :cheer:
      Thanks Jack.....how's it hangin'?

      I'm good.
      Going to bed now but I'm intending to do some posts in here someday soon - tent critiques, etc.
      I'm on Facebook a lot - reading and sometimes posting.
      At a bit of a crossroads but I'll keep you up to date when I have news (nothing bad).
      Now I'll stop hijacking the thread.
      :blush:
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.

    • Backpacking in the UK ?

      CoachLou wrote:

      My brother-in-law is from Cardiff. They go back all the time. My sister knowing I still do this, always tells me that they have a park in Wales that is very pretty and lots of people backpack and camp in it.....I can't remember the name....I will get in touch with her.....but I know the highest 'hill' is in it.


      Wales is awesome place. I could see there being some awesome hiking there. We really enjoyed it, although I do not think the B&B we stayed at appreciated it the last day when my 3 year old was trying to feed fertilizer to the chickens. Really was an honest mistake, come on like I said he was only 3.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Backpacking in the UK ?

      Thanks for the info folks, keep it coming.
      OzJacko, that sounds like a good plan, going both directions using 2 different trails.
      Ultemately Kathy's going to have to be involved with the planning so it turns out to be the trip she always wanted to take. Me on the otherhand have a route to Ohio I'd like to walk. Starts at the Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge and would end at my son's home in Ohio mostly using hiking trails.

    • Backpacking in the UK ?

      LIhikers wrote:

      Thanks for the info folks, keep it coming.
      OzJacko, that sounds like a good plan, going both directions using 2 different trails.
      Ultemately Kathy's going to have to be involved with the planning so it turns out to be the trip she always wanted to take. Me on the otherhand have a route to Ohio I'd like to walk. Starts at the Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge and would end at my son's home in Ohio mostly using hiking trails.

      I formed the idea of that hike before I got into hiking.
      My wife and I travelled in the UK in 1998 with kids (then 15,14 and IM was 11) and while we used a car we stayed at YHA's.
      At Whitby (where YHA is in an 11th century barn!) we met a lot of people who had done the coast to coast walk ending at Robin Hoods Bay a bit south of Whitby. I am very interested in Roman history so had already a desire to do the Hadrian's Wall walk so my wife and I pencilled in the double for one day without children. I suspect that day will probably come in about 2016. If you want to look at Wales look up the Offa's Dyke walk. Another pretty cool walk. Most walks in the UK are less than a week.
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.

    • Backpacking in the UK ?

      LIhikers wrote:

      Anybody have any experience backpacking in the UK?
      Kathy tells me she'd like to do that but doesn't have anyplace particular in mind and doesn't ever do any research on it.
      I'd like to make this dream of her's come true but how do I pick a place, the right place. It seems like another one of those no win situations for a husband. Can anyone recommend a hike that involves beautiful countryside and historic villages or other historic sites that might be very different from what we have here on the east coast of the USA?
      "Mrs. Baggins" on whiteblaze has hiked extensively in the UK, I'd shoot her a PM, nice lady to talk to. I was asking her about hiking Scotland once.

    • Backpacking in the UK ?

      Oz, when living in Germany we spent nearly two weeks in the UK and took our children to Hadrian's wall also. They were 1,3,5, and 7, so naturally the older ones got more out of it.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Backpacking in the UK ?

      Think smaller like back of rental car stealth camping... almost all the hikes in Scotland, England, Wales, and places are very much rucksack hiking. Snowdon is an old volcano in the lake district - trail runners complete it in a day. Tourists take a train to the top. Think Hostels, Bed & Breakfast, plop down at night and gone by morning... Actual hiking would be Hadrians Wall across England. I did most of this at age 15 in just a few weeks. Except Scotland and Hadrian's my dad and I did a ton of castles, hikes, Wales, Isle of Man, Stonehenge, Woodhenge, visited relatives, finished in London for three days.
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup: