However, Wainwright explicitly states that he did not intend people to necessarily stick to these daily stages, or even to his route.

Splitting two or three more of the longer stages, and adding a further one or two rest days, reduces the average day-length to 10 or 12 miles and makes the walk a much easier three-week trip with time to "stand and stare", an activity much approved of by Wainwright.

I want to encourage in others the ambition to devise with the aid of maps their own cross-country marathons and not be merely followers of other people's routes: there is no end to the possibilities for originality and initiative.The Coast to Coast Walk uses public rights of way (public footpaths, tracks, and minor roads), permissive paths and access land; it is one of the most popular of all the long-distance footpaths in the UK.

Tradition dictates that walkers should start the route on St Bees beach by getting one's feet wet and collecting a pebble.

The walk should end in a similar fashion, by wetting the feet and depositing the pebble on the beach at Robin Hood's Bay.