My Route
There is no single and official route between Land’s End to John O’Groats, each person or group is free to make their own decisions about the best way to get between these two famous extremities of the British mainland.
Many, especially cyclists, sponsored groups and those wanting the shortest route stick to the roads which commonly gives a length of about 850 miles and is often completed in six to eight weeks.
John Hillaby’s route was longer, about 1,100 miles avoided most roads and took him 55 days
I’m taking a even longer, more scenic route than even Hillaby’s.
Outline of the intended route between Land’s End and John O’Groats
The route I hope to follow consists of large chunks of long distance walks linked together by sections of other trails and public footpaths. At about 1250 miles (if I don’t get lost) is about 400 miles longer than the most direct route but has two huge advantages.
Firstly it’s all on paths with no road walking, much easier on the feet.
Secondly much easier on the eye, I’ll be walking through some of the best countryside in Britain.
Breaking the route into section I’ve got:-
1) Part of the South West Coast path, from Lands End to Minehead, about 245 mile along the north coasts of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.
2) A rather circuitous route from Minehead to Chepstow, dodging around Bristol via the Mendip Hills, about 91 miles
3) The souther half of Offa’s Dyke from Chepstow north to Knighton getting on for 77 miles
4) A rather interesting bit across Shropshire via Wenlock Edge, then skirt Telford and on to Uttoxeter, where I intend to pick up the Limestone Way north through the Limestone Dales of the White Peak to Edale, a snip at 127 miles.
5) From Edale it’s a straight trog up the Pennine Way to the Cheviots just past Byrness, about 250 miles.
6) From the Pennine Way the route goes North East over the Southern Uplands to the Western side of Edinburgh then along the canals between Edinburgh and Glasgow, getting on for 161 miles.
7) From Glasgow (actually Milngarvie) I’m looking forward to a straightforward walk along the West Highland Way as far as Fort William, a snip at 94 miles.
8) After Fort William things become a great deal more flexible. I’ll have two major route options, the most exciting but hard option is to work my way North to near Ullapool then strike out Noerth Eastwards to John O’Groats. Alternatively I can take the easy route up the Great Glen to Inverness the follow the route of the A9 to the end.
Personally I’d like to take the Highland route, but I’ll just have to see how I feel when I get to Fort William. The Highlands will be a fine, albeit very rough walk whereas the Inverness and A9 alternative will be easier and faster but lack much of the aesthetic appeal of the former. It’s also much shorter, about 150 miles as opposed to about 240 across the Highlands.