Scotland to Santiago

[ScottishPilgrim]

I would like to walk all the way from the Highlands of Scotland - down the West Highland Way to Glasgow - and then down to Dover, through the whole of France to meet the Camino del Norte. Has anyone done this before? Looking for route tips and advice.

 

[Tincatinker]

Hmm, not a bad ambition. The Pennine Way will get you from the Cheviots deep into Edale. You'll struggle for a way-marked route after that, unless you fancy hacking down the A1, until you hit the Pilgrims Way from Southwark to Canterbury but the route then to Dover is a doddle. Once you're in France there are several routes that will take you to Tours & after that you're on a designated Chemin de St Jaques.

The Romans were pretty good at getting from place to place and though I would not recommend trying to follow on foot those routes that are now motorways the general lines of travel are always worth considering.

Roman roads in Britain - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

simple.wikipedia.org

Happy planning

 

[gns]

Covid lockdown has had me exploring the possibilities a bit further south.

If you want avoid Central London there is this option:

London LOOP

The London Outer Orbital Path, or LOOP, almost completely encircles Greater London. Nearly 150 miles are split into 24 sections between Erith station and Purfleet.

tfl.gov.uk

Using this you could pick up a route called the Vanguard way from Croydon to Newhaven (an option is to stay in Lewes then get the morning ferry) where you can take the crossing to Dieppe and hook up with the GR network through Rouen down to Chartres where it joins the Via Turonensis to the Pyrenees via Poitiers and Bordeaux

The Vanguard Way - 66 miles from the suburbs to the sea

GR655 - Via Turonensis

GR655 - Via Turonensis, 827 km, 513 miles, about 33 days. From Saint-Quentin to Ostabat. Traildino grading: EW, Easy walk, nature trail. Find walking maps and guidebooks, self guided walking holidays and hiking tours. This trail is also known as GR655, Voie de Tours, GR 655, Chemin de Paris, Via...

traildino.com

I think accommodation would need careful planning including potentially camping in France and is likely to be costlier than Spain.

 

[domigee]

Covid lockdown has had me exploring the possibilities a bit further south.

If you want avoid Central London there is this option:

London LOOP

The London Outer Orbital Path, or LOOP, almost completely encircles Greater London. Nearly 150 miles are split into 24 sections between Erith station and Purfleet.

tfl.gov.uk

Using this you could pick up a route called the Vanguard way from Croydon to Newhaven (an option is to stay in Lewes then get the morning ferry) where you can take the crossing to Dieppe and hook up with the GR network through Rouen down to Chartres where it joins the Via Turonensis to the Pyrenees via Poitiers and Bordeaux

The Vanguard Way - 66 miles from the suburbs to the sea

GR655 - Via Turonensis

GR655 - Via Turonensis, 827 km, 513 miles, about 33 days. From Saint-Quentin to Ostabat. Traildino grading: EW, Easy walk, nature trail. Find walking maps and guidebooks, self guided walking holidays and hiking tours. This trail is also known as GR655, Voie de Tours, GR 655, Chemin de Paris, Via...

traildino.com

I think accommodation would need careful planning including potentially camping in France and is likely to be costlier than Spain.

You’d have to check first the ferries are accepting foot passengers...

 

[gns]

You’d have to check first the ferries are accepting foot passengers...

According to their website they are.

 

[Tincatinker]

The Newhaven- Dieppe ferry will take anyone not exhibiting buboles. But it’s not easy pathfinding from there to Tours though a determined Pilgrim could head for Le Man, Les Landes and Biarritz.

 

[gns]

The Newhaven- Dieppe ferry will take anyone not exhibiting buboles. But it’s not easy pathfinding from there to Tours though a determined Pilgrim could head for Le Man, Les Landes and Biarritz.

I found this resource. Rouen to Vernon looks a bit challenging but that is part of the adventure.

https://www.mongr.fr/trouver-prochaine-randonnee/carte

 

[OZAJ]

How interesting. I am hoping to walk Iona to Santiago via Paris, Vezelay, Le Puy and the Aragones. I haven't decided on a route yet. Indeed with the virus and advancing years I may not get to do it at all.

 

[Deleted member 61803]

You may find this man's walk interesting to you, he walked from Dover to Cape Wrath. Dover to top of Scotland
Be easy to find an entry point close to you for the reverse journey. If you do start out, please keep us up to date.

 

[Anne&Pat]

We have walked the Great Glen Way and the West Highland Way, so you could start in Inverness, walk to Fort William then to Milngavie. If you could get over to Melrose you could then pick up St Cuthbert's Way, which we have also walked and part of St Oswald's Way. The Pennine Way starts/ends in Kirk Yetholm which is also on St Cuthbert's Way, so you could continue on the Pennine Way south.
The website mentioned in the last post looks as if it would be an excellent resource for you.
All the best with your planning and walking, please keep us informed of your progress.

 

[Deleted member 76633]

There is someone called Stuart Nelson who has walked from the border to Rome (and further). His route is here

His Caminos are here

The Man in the Blue Blazer

The blog of a man trying to grow old gracefully - but failing...

themanintheblueblazer.com

If you check his travels, he is someone with a serious amount of spare time and energy.

 

[Richard of York]

This may help:

https://britishpilgrimage.org/routes/

You can certainly get from Glasgow as far as York sticking to these. Beyond there it might be worth trying to link up to other pilgrimage routes, for example via Lincoln, Peterborough, Ely or Cambridge to London. The via the Canterbury Tales route to Canterbury and then to Dover.

From York southwards the old (Roman/medieval) summer route to London was via Ermine Street / the A15 - see how the straight line continues north over the Humber.

Bing.com/maps has an Ordnance Survey overlay (top right if you have zoomed in far enough) so you can find all the public footpaths in England.

Good luck!

 

[Richard of York]

Here's a good find:
https://ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/search_by_path.php

I put in criteria 'passes through', 'Northern England', then looked at the South to see what ended up there.
There are several long-distance routes. I found St. Bernard's Way which goes all the way from Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire to pick up the via Francigena as far as Dijon.
http://www.abbeywalks.co.uk/walks/stbernardsway#:~:text=St.%20Bernard's%20Way%20is%20a,south%20of%20Dijon%20in%20France.

Also there's the E2 long distance footpath from Galway to Nice, passing through Stranraer and Dover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E2_European_long_distance_path
via the Pennine Way. Useful links at the bottom of that Wikipedia page, e.g. https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/#?map=8!50.7401!2.0245

 

[Dougie1982valley]

Such a great idea. I’m researching the same idea but from Manchester via the port of Poole in Dorset and down the western side of France to Bordeaux and beyond to Santiago. Happy planning and as others have said.....keep us informed if your progress! BC

 

[Deleted member 61803]

Planning to walk alongside canals both in the UK and France may allow you to stride on a bit faster due to the lack of hills.
I once read a book about Harry Enfield dad's journey to the South of France following canals as much as possible.

 

[david46]

How about down the Pennine Way to the border, turn left along the Hardian's Wall Path to North Shields, ferry to Holland, then head south to France and Spain?

 

[AlwynWellington]

I would like to walk all the way from the Highlands of Scotland - down the West Highland Way to Glasgow - and then down to Dover, through the whole of France to meet the Camino del Norte.

I use WayMarkedTrails.org/hiking for possible route ideas.

The European Route E2 would be a great fit to your concept. See it here.

From Glasgow there is no apparent marked route, so, if you are not offended there are several trains to Sanquhar most days.

From my research the E routes often incorporate already published routes. So, from Melrose the E2 covers the same ground as the S Cuthbert Way to Kirk Yetholm and then picks up the Pennine Way.

Including parts of the Pennine Way in passes between Coventry and Birmingham, drops down to Oxford to include part of Thames Path, near Weybridge it drops down to Guildford to then follow North Downs Way to Dover. Having only traversed the North Downs Way from Otford I cannot vouch for the quality and quantity of signage: as I understand it, signage is for the local national body to arrange, and they may farm that obligation out to local authorities.

I have no observations to make on any possible routes in France. However you may care to review what Fédération Française des Randonnee have to say. If you have walked from Saint-Jean-pied-de-port, you may recall see a white bar over a red bar forming a square and possibly the number 65. That is an FFR route marker. FFR GR65 is the route that starts at Geneva and passes through Le Puy-en-Velay and Saint-Jean on the way to Santiago-de-Compostela. Here is a starting link.

I wish you well.

Hope you might tell us, in general terms, what you decide.

Kia kaha, kia māia, kia mana'wa'nui (be strong, patient and confident)

 

[AlwynWellington]

Planning to walk alongside canals both in the UK and France may allow you to stride on a bit faster due to the lack of hills.

An excellent idea. In the UK, from Birmingham to London, there is the Grand Union Canal with terminals with the Thames River near Brentwood (west of Hammersmith) and Limehouse (where you can follow the Thames Path - northern bank to the base of the Isle of Dogs and then take the foot tunnel to Greenwich)

 

[tpmchugh]

I would like to walk all the way from the Highlands of Scotland - down the West Highland Way to Glasgow - and then down to Dover, through the whole of France to meet the Camino del Norte. Has anyone done this before? Looking for route tips and advice.

Good luck with that, hope you get it sorted. Only advice is get lots of midge repellent for the west highland way. Those things eat humans for breakfast.

 

[rozmcg]

I would like to walk all the way from the Highlands of Scotland - down the West Highland Way to Glasgow - and then down to Dover, through the whole of France to meet the Camino del Norte. Has anyone done this before? Looking for route tips and advice.

Great Idea.
I personally enjoy walking northwards but 'hike your own hike' as they say.
I did my own Scottish National Trail from Mull of Galloway (southwesterly tip) to John O'Groats (north easterly tip) in a section hike in '21 using the Mull of Galloway Trail, Ayrshire Coastal Path, Ayr River Way, I went rogue from here up through East Kilbride to reach the Clyde Walkway, which, with the Kelvin Walkway took me to Miligavie. From there is the West Highland Way, onto the Great Glen Way, and the John O'Groats Trail at Inverness.
The other alternative way is taking the Cape Wrath Trail, but I'm a bit scared of that That would get you from the top of Scotland down to Fort William for the WHW, I'm not sure if I'd recommend the John O'Groats Trail as the trail was not existent in places (certainly not of WHW standards) but it'd be hella easier than Cape Wrath. The Great Glen Way up the lochs was stunning and great wild camping en route.
I'd always thoroughly recommend walkhighlands.co.uk for trails and routes. They have a whole section on long-distance trails which makes planning so much easier.
Good luck Buddy, Happy Hiking

 

[Kirkie]

The Op was last seen 3rd April 2021. There are great suggestions for those so minded. Another source, though from an armchair, is a book by Raynor Winn: Landlines.