The Wales Coast Path – The Trek

In what part of the world?

It is not the Welsh Coast Path. It’s not the Welsh Coastal Route either. No, it has nothing to do with whales. It is the Welsh Coast Path. Despite what my editing software believes. Trust me on this one.

Not in vain, the Wales Coast Path follows the coast of the country of Wales, which, if you didn’t know, is part of the United Kingdom. And it turns out that the United Kingdom is not the same as England. Or Great Britain. Or the British Isles. Google it if you don’t believe me.

Wales borders England to the east. To the north, west and south it is bordered by the Irish and Celtic Seas, which are in some ways different from the Atlantic Ocean. At least they are for the Welsh, Irish and Celts. But if you sail across the Atlantic from America, you’ll reach the coast of Wales, if you don’t bump into Ireland on the way.

Well made trails

Despite some confusion over the names of oceans, seas and trails, the Welsh have discovered a thing or two about public trails. They have hundreds of them, despite having very little of what we Americans would consider public lands.

Most of Wales’ footpaths have been around for centuries, they were created when people had to walk places and landowners recognized that walking paths were best for everyone. More recently, access to public footpaths in Wales was codified to protect those interests. The trails were later marked and improved. Local governments and a National Ministry of Trails built hundreds of parking lots (also known as “parking lots”), nearly a million livestock control gates, and a few other niceties. But very few bathrooms (also known as “toilets”).

The same thing happened across the UK. The UK has a fantastic trail system.

The details

One of those fantastic trails is the Wales Coast Path. Follow the coast closely, as you may have guessed from its name. It stretches 870 miles from near the city of Chester (which is technically in England) in the north to Chepstow in the south.

And by «close» I mean right on the coast. Unlike American coasts, which appear to be overdeveloped by condominiums, resorts, gated communities and tourist-infested beaches, most of the Welsh coast is agricultural. You will see more sheep than people.

Except in the towns. But most of them are charming historic fishing villages clinging to the edges of the coast’s rugged, rocky bays. And enough to facilitate the search for tasty food. Say goodbye to your dehydrated Mountain House meals and ramen. Say hello to tea rooms, scones, fish and chips and deli sandwiches. The trail passes through some larger towns and small towns, but nothing you can’t leave behind in less than an hour.

The Wales Coast Path includes the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, which regularly features in lists of the top 20 most scenic walking routes in the world. Its other sections are, from north to south: (1) the north coast, (2) the Isle of Anglesey, (3) the Llyn Peninsula, (4) Cardigan Bay and Ceredigion, (5) Pembrokeshire, (6) Carmarthen Bay and Gower and (7) the south coast of Wales.

The Plan

On our current trip, we plan to hike the 323 miles of the first three sections.

My long-term goal is to tour the entire coast of Wales. We did the Pembrokeshire Coast Path in 2017. We hope to finish sections 4, 6 and 7 next year.

Kate, however, wants to walk the entire English Coast Path, a recently completed (March 2026) 2,800-mile route around all of England. In 2019 we did the 650 mile South West Coast Path, another Top 20 scenic walk and the 90 mile Northumbria Coast Path in 2015. So it’s barely got 2000 miles left!

What’s next?

In my next post I will tell you how we are going to walk. You will either hate it or love it. We love it.

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