Cumbria Coastal Way

Silverdale to Gretna 240km/150 miles

A walk along the fascinating Cumbria coast from the boundary with Lancashire, around the southern Cumbrian peninsulas with their vast stretches of estuarine sands, through the Lake District National Park and the industrial heritage of the west coast, along the Solway Firth and through rough border country to the historic city of Carlisle with glimpses of Hadrian's Wall, then dipping its toe into Scotland to end at the famous border town of Gretna.

The route was established by Cumbria council in the late 1980s and is easy to walk in short stages using public transport. It will eventually form part of the lengthy North West Coastal Trail from Chester to the Scottish border.

Connects with Allerdale Ramble (see Cumbria Way), Cistercian Way, Coast to Coast Walk, Cumbria Way, Discover Barrow on foot, Eden Way, Hadrian's Wall Path, Haematite Trail, Inn Way to the English Lake District, Lancashire Coastal Way, Limestone Link

Local authorities Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway, Lancashire

Parks and countryside Arnside/Silverdale AONB, Lake District National Park, Solway Coast AONB

Tourist Information Centres in Cumbria at Grange-over-Sands, Ulverston, Barrow, Egremont, Whitehaven, Workington, Maryport, Silloth and Carlisle: click here for details. Also at Morecambe, tel 01524 592808, tourism@lancaster.gov.uk, and Gretna Green (seasonal) tel 01461 337834, gretnagreen@dgtb.visitscotland.com

Public transport. Much of the route parallels the Cumbria Coast railway line operated by First NorthWestern, and there are a number of local bus connections. For more on public transport in Cumbria, including buses to other points of the route, click here. For more on finding out about national rail and bus services, click here.

Explorer maps OL4, OL6, OL7, 303, 314, 315
Landranger maps 85, 89, 96, 97
The Way is marked on recent editions of these maps.