Coast along
As a nation, the English do like to be beside the seaside. So it’s apt that the new England Coast Path will become the world’s longest coastal walking route when it’s completed later this year. Combining various national trails with new waymarked routes, the path dips, weaves, and climbs its way around almost 2,800 miles of glorious coastline.
The path passes through 23 English counties, taking in smugglers’ coves in Cornwall, puffin-topped cliffs in Cumbria, Northumberland’s crumbling castles and much more besides. We’ve cherry-picked the most stunning stretches, as well as the best places to stay along the route (p45).
Kent
The coast that frames the southeast of England is full) is often described as Britain’s only desert. For the most part, the terrain is pancake-flat, but the coast rises famously at the White Cliffs of Dover, where there are spectacular views across the English Channel. Being so close to the continent has left its mark on Kent. In Sandwich, Dover, Hythe and New Romney, the county has four of the original five Cinque Ports, a confederation of harbours that protected England against invasion from France; elsewhere, you’ll find Roman forts and Norman castles and, in Folkestone, a moving memorial to the Battle of Britain.
