Recommendations for walking holidays
WALKING WEEKS IN THE
The tourist
offices of Guernsey (G) and Jersey (J) and the Blue Badge Guides on the islands
organise programmes of walks, most days with a choice of morning to
mid-afternoon, morning, afternoon and some evenings. This year the dates were
May 5-16 (G) and 15-22 (J); also September 4-15 (G) and 11-18 (J). IT is likely
that next year will be similar. Booking in advance is necessary for some walks.
The programmes are on the internet or can be posted if requested from the
tourist offices: telephone numbers 01481 723552 (G) and 01534 448800 (J).
Most walks
start at or near bus stops. Buses run to/from the major towns of St Peter Port
(G) and St Helier (J), so without a car it is easiest
to stay in the towns. If you take your own car or hire one it may be easier to
stay out of town because of parking difficulties. Note that there are many
narrow lanes with few passing places. The island airports have been known to
close because of visibility problems; the fast sea services from
As regards
the walks, there were times when the guide stopped to talk about history etc
but they were enjoyable; the walks are obviously becoming well known as there
were rambling groups from elsewhere in the
CEREDIGION COAST PATH
The fairly
newly-created ‘Ceredigion coast path’ runs for some 60 miles north of Cardigan
to the estuary north of Borth, it forms a very good
extension to the Pembrokeshire Coast path (which is also highly recommended).
There are a number of villages and small towns as well as Cardigan and
Aberystwyth to explore. A group of 6 of us stayed at Aberaeron
and then Borth, Aberaeron
is about half way along and we found this a very good base from which to do
linear day walks. We made use of buses and also a very helpful local taxi
service; 6 can travel as cheap (if not cheaper) and much faster than by using
the bus. Note that English bus passes aren’t valid in
The dullest
section of the route is at the start, from Cardigan to Munt
and this could be left out. A landowner is disputing the Welsh coastal access
legislation which has made the route possible and these is
a boring section on roads; not busy, but uninspiring. We walked the route in
4.5 days and found it quite hard going at times, with lots of ups and downs.
The route is very varied, however, and although sections are a bit of a
switchback there are also stretches along the shore and along cliffs.
It is
possible to get there and back by rail/bus, travelling to Aberystwyth to start
with and picking the train up at Borth on the final
day. But a car is very useful for moving on day if you use more than one guest
house or B&B.