Multiday hike in UK with children

Question

I very much enjoy mountain hut treks, and since I've had children I've enjoyed doing them as a family. Over the past few years we've done this only in Austria, especially in the Rax region. I'm guessing at this point my children can walk up to about 10km a day for a few days (a year ago they did about 30-something km in five days).

I'm familiar with the mountain hut culture and have done trips (without children) in a few European countries, but never in the UK. Are there any recommended trips? Ideally I'd like something that's less than a week and not too far from London - up to a few hours in a train would be best, up to a few hours drive is also acceptable.

Although I'd prefer lodging in places that aren't accessible by car, similar to many Austrian mountain huts, this is not an absolute necessary. Staying in some small hotel in a village is fine too.

From my initial research I've found The Test Way and The Clarendon Way, but I'd be glad to hear from someone who's actually done something with children.

Answer 1

Yes, there are lots of multiday hikes.

However because the UK is pretty densely populated there are very few where the stops are not accessible by car. For example most hikes in the South East of the UK you will be in sight of a town most of the time, and you will cross roads and pass through villages often. If you are prepared to sacrifice this requirement then you will find many trails where you will be walking most of the time away from roads and towns, but will be stopping at a village rather than a remote hut. You can still choose to camp, or if you prefer a little 'luxury' there are hostels and B&Bs that you can use instead.

If you really want to camp out of the way of civilisation then you are probably going to need to go to either Scotland or Wales. Your first reference is the Mountain Bothies Association which maintains bothies (essentially remote mountain huts) in remote areas of the UK. Bothies are just shelters, unstaffed and with zero amenities. A better match is the Youth Hostel Association, which - despite the name - caters for families. Hostels are mostly set up on places where there is at least a road, and provide rooms (often dorms but private rooms for families) and cooking facilities, and sometimes a small shop or a meal. Looking at the locations of these will give you ideas for where to go. Scotland has the advantage that the laws of trespass are much looser than the rest of the UK - as long as you don't damage anything or invade people's privacy you can walk on much of the land. It also has some of the most spectacular and most remote scenery in the UK.

Neither Wales nor Scotland are particularly close to London. If you value "short travel from London" over "wilderness experience" Willeke has some excellent suggestions.

Answer 2

I have not hiked multi day hikes with children and only hiked part of a few of the hikes I mention solo or as day trips with adults, but I checked out some names I remember from TV nearest to London.

South Downs way, nearer the south coast. North Downs way, nearer London, this one is very close to the capital and is likely to be used as day hike area for city dwellers.

Once you enter these into your search engine you get results for companies offering tours with luggage transport (or more). Search through the offers of several of those firms to see if they offer other multiple day hikes as well.

There is no reason to use such a company if you and your children can hike with your luggage.
Being in the gentler south of England it will not be challenging terrain for people used to mountains, if challenge is what you seek you will need to be farther from London.

The Coastal path, which goes along the coast for very long stretches can be a good option but not remote.
The Pennines, the ridge going north to south through the middle of England, while not mountains, gives more challenging paths than south England, several long distance routes crossing as well as, as far as I remember, one north to south.

Farther from London again, farther than Wales I would say, the Lake District, very popular and with a good reason. Still depending on which set of measurement you use, not mountains or just reaching into the height range of mountains. Populair tracks can be overcrowded and have been paved as erosion was/is a problem.

Answer 3

One aspect of the UK which you'll have to adapt to is that almost everywhere is car-accessible. It's simply too small a space for there to be a mountain hut culture and multi-day wild expeditions. In Scotland you can manage a day or two, but that's about the limit; and the weather in Scotland (bet on it raining at least 50% of days) is not what you want with children.

There are occasional bothies, but mostly you're going to need a tent if you want to be away from civilisation.

If you're happy to use Youth Hostels or bed-and-breakfasts though, you can fairly easily plan routes anywhere. All those places are going to be in villages on roads though.

Answer 4

The UK doesn't really have mountain huts in the same way as European alpine (etc) countries.

There are in more remote places various "Bothys" available. These are buildings open to hikers, but with little to no provision beyond a roof and something to sleep on. You need to carry your food, sleeping gear, etc etc in with you.

There are however also some manned locations you can stay at that are inaccessible by car. There is generally speaking no a chain of these to allow you to multiday hike however. Examples include YHA black Sail (which is on the long distance "Coast to Coast" route) or YHA Skiddaw House

Beyond that, most long distance hiking routes will pass through a village or town every 10 miles or so, especially in England, and you can investigate accomodation options there.

Note also that many long distance routes are just routes, not trails. They are assembled from the existing patch network of local footpaths, bridelways and roads, and may not be consistently signposted. You will need access to an appropriate map (or GPS track) and ability to follow it.

Answer 5

The trekking experience nearest to London I can think of is Dartmoor in the South-West of England. From London Paddington, it is three to four hours by train to Newton Abbott, Totnes or Plymouth from which you'd have to take a bus (less than an hour further to go). If you change trains to get to Ivybridge or Okehampton, you can start hiking straight away. Dartmoor is the only place in England where wild camping is (still) officially allowed. I mention this way of trekking/backpacking as there are basically no hut-to-hut treks anywhere in England comparable to those of the Alps (as far as I know). The local hiking culture is just different.

I've done regular wild camping treks with my son from when he was just one year old (beginning in "rickshaw style") and did the first alpine one (Dachstein plateau) when he was five. We still go to the Alps once a year or so. In comparison, the Dartmoor experience is of course different, but in places you do get the feeling of being in a "wild country". My son and I have been to Dartmoor several times for a number of days, and he enjoyed it a lot. Admittedly, backpacking with children involves quite some logistics which I personally consider as part of the fun. Doing such a trip as a family (e.g. two adults and two children) is entirely feasible. In this way you're not reliant on reaching a particular goal such as a refuge on any particular day which removes some of the time pressure you may encounter otherwise. Having said this, there are a number of official camp sites, bunk houses and B&B's, but they tend to be located in or near villages, mostly outside, but close to, the Dartmoor National Park boundaries. "Lining them up" for a multi-day hike might be possible, but I have not checked this out.

As regards hiking on Dartmoor, there are plenty of paths described in decent guide books. With alpine experience, it should be no problem to hike up some of the local hills ("Tors") following your own path (or a local sheep/pony track) or camp near a nice stream. Some of the rocky outcrops allow for easy scrambling for children. If you visit Dartmoor during the week or off-season, you will not encounter too many people. As usual, you should check the weather forecast, as bad weather there can be abysmal. The ground can be boggy even in summer, so expect some wet feet.

If this sounds like an advert, I beg your pardon. I'm just fond of Dartmoor and its landscape.

Answer 6

It doesn't fulfil the "close to London" requirement, but perhaps for another time:

• Spean Bridge station - Laerig Leacach bothy. Approx. 10km, first 3 on a quiet road.

• Laerig Leacach - Meanach bothy. Approx. 5km.

• Meanach bothy - Steall hut. Approx. 10km. Beware of the wire "bridge" over the river just before the hut; I don't think there is a path on the South side to easily avoid it!

• Steall hut - Fort William & station. Approx. 10km, path/road.

The first two bothies were open 10 years ago, I think they still are. The Steall hut has a fee to obtain the key locker code - £10 per person or min £50.

This route does not have a lot of gradient, but detours to peaks can be added. It is accessible by train, and gives you the Steall waterfall and all of Glen Nevis (home of Hogwarts ;) ) going down Nevis Gorge for the finale.

Note that from the waterfall and downwards there can be many people.