Hike the Legendary Pennine Way

Winding up through the mountainous central spine of England, this is a celebrated hike from the Peak District up to - and over - the Scottish border. There are longer multi-day hikes in the UK, but few feel as accessible yet wild as this journey through some of England's most famous and rugged scenery.

The trip gets underway in Edale, right in the heart of the Peak District and easily accessed from Manchester, and it's a fittingly beautiful start point for this varied mountain journey. From Edale you'll cross the hills and moors of the Peak District and then enter the more rugged Yorkshire Dales, passing the world famous Malham Cove and climbing the legendary Pen-y-Ghent en route. Once out of the Dales you cross the North Pennines, traverse alongside Hadrian's Wall and finish with a 2 day journey across the Cheviots, some of England's most remote and untamed peaks. Some hikers argue that the Pennine Way gets better the further north you go, and while the southern section is thoroughly enjoyable, they've probably got a point.

Traversing right through a densely populated country, you'd expect the Pennine Way to be littered with villages and amenities, but much of it is amazingly remote, and there's a lot of logistical planning required to make sure that you always have somewhere to stay every night, and food to keep you going every day! The northern section is particularly remote, and the final 2 days of the trail have no facilities on them at all, meaning that you either have to link them together, split them with a wild camp, or detour off the trail to find somewhere to stay. Solving these logistical issues isn't too tricky, but it does add to the challenge of the route, and - assuming you're successful - the satisfaction of completing it.

Now all you're waiting for is 2 weeks of unbroken sunshine in northern England....!