DISCOVER Coast to Coast adventure

Alfred Wainwright's breathtaking Coast to Coast walk passes through England's three most spectacular national parks. But more than that, it is a chance to slow down, live the simple life and absorb the stories of the land, enthuses Vivienne Crow

- Vivienne Crow

I feel like I've been waiting months for this: finally, the North Sea. Powerful gusts of wind pummel me and waves shatter against the rocks below as I reach North Yorkshire's towering cliffs.

It's almost a repeat performance of the day we left St Bees and walked Cumbria's Irish Sea cliffs. Was that really just two weeks ago? Time has slowed down since we abandoned our hectic lives and began the day-to-day simplicity of putting one foot in front of the other, absorbing the landscapes, nature and history surrounding us.

My partner Heleyne is a few hundred metres behind me, walking with Jack and his sons. We've been leap-frogging this family and other hikers for most of the Coast to Coast, sharing our highs and lows whenever we catch up - tales of tottering on the edge of Kidsty Pike to peer down on the red deer below; getting soaked to the skin in the Yorkshire Dales; being silenced by the seemingly endless vistas as we strode out along the curving lip of the Cleveland Hills.Overnight: North Ings B&B, Robin Hood's Bay

THE BASICS

"Surely there cannot be a finer itinerary for a long-distance walk!" wrote guidebook author Alfred Wainwright when he devised the Coast to Coast in the early 1970s. It's hard to disagree. For 192 miles, this route meanders across northern England's three most spectacular National Parks: the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors.

Most people tackle the route from west to east so they have the prevailing weather, particularly the wind, at their backs. This means starting the journey at St Bees in Cumbria reached by train from Carlisle on the West Coast Main Line - and concluding at the fishing village of Robin Hood's Bay.