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Planning a trip on the Dales Way

Published 25 January 2011. Last updated 22 March 2012

When the back of my guide book described the route as "Britain's gentlest long distance path" I wasn't quite sure what to expect of it. Thankfully though, the Dales Way turned out to be a lovely walk and one well worth doing.

Its eighty odd miles are never hugely taxing and in the most part, well way-marked and difficult to get lost, so if you're after an introduction to long distance walking, this is a fine one to pick. And if you do, you'll be wanting to know some information about how to plan your own trip. Won't you?

In this guide

1. In sections or all in one go?
2. Planning an itinerary
3. Finding and booking accommodation
4. Getting to/from the Dales Way
5. Guide Books and Maps
6. And finally, and any questions

In sections or all in one go?

First off you need to decide how you're going to do the Dales Way. Are you going to do it all at once, or try and break it up in to sections?

The relative rurality of the Dales Way and its short length mean it's not particularly easy to split up but it is possible to split it into two three-day walks by breaking at Ribblehead station on the Settle to Carlisle Line.

Sedbergh has a few buses to Kendal, and there are also railway stations at Burneside and Staveley however both of these would be on the last day of walking so neither are particularly useful.

Planning an itinerary

I split my walking over six days although the terrain is easy enough that many people will be able to polish it off in five slightly longer days.

Two suggested itineraries are shown below - one for six days, the other five. All distances are approximate. Locations with a railway station are shown with a ^*

1. Accommodation in each village is limited, however there are also several villages between, each with limited accommodation, which make alternative stopping points
2. Note that there is a Dent railway station, however it is 4 miles from Dent village.
3. There is limited accommodation in Burneside, however there are regular bus and train services connecting the village with Windermere and Kendal.
4. The nearest railway station us at Ribblehead and you can find accommodation at the nearby the Station Inn. Both are accessed by a 1½ mile walk down the road.

Using good paths and with easy navigation, the route lends itself to walking most of the year round.

Finding and booking accommodation

The most useful place to get information on accommodation is from the The Dales Way Association who regularly publish an accommodation list on their website. It includes hostels, bunk barns, camping and B&Bs. It's not the best formatted document, however includes plenty of information.

With the exception of the start and end points, most of the places on the Dales Way are small villages and, as such, accommodation is not always in high supply in a particular village. That said, between Ilkley and Oughtershaw there are plenty of villages to stop at.

The only accommodation at Ribblehead is the Station Inn which offers both B&B and a bunkbarn. However Ribblehead station is just next door on the Settle to Carlisle line, which offers other accommodation options. Burneside also has frequent bus and train services to Kendal which again offers plenty of options.

If you're interested in hostelling, the YHA have hostels at Kettlewell and Windermere. Windermere hostel is three miles from Bowness-on-Windermere at Troutbeck.

There are also independent hostels in Kendal and in central Windermere there is Lake District Backpackers. There are bunk barns at Dent, Oughtershaw and at The Station Inn at Ribblehead.

Getting to/from the Dales Way

Some long distance paths start and finish in places rather difficult to access. This, thankfully, is not true of the Dales Way. Both Ilkley and Windermere are well served by public transport, and arguably have been picked for that very reason.

Ilkley is the terminus of the Wharfedale Line and apparently was the last railway station to be lit by gas. According to Wikipedia, the gas lights remained in service until 1988. More useful for planning purposes is that the station is a short, half hour train ride from both Leeds and Bradford and there are two trains an hour to each destination. Leeds is a sizeable interchange with inter-city services run by several companies. Ilkley and Leeds both offer coach links.

At the other end, Windermere sits on the Windermere branch line. Trains run roughly once an hour, mostly terminating at Oxenholme Lake District, although some trains run through to Manchester Airport. Oxenholme is on the West Coast Mainline and features services through to London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh. National Express also operate services to Windermere and nearby Kendal.

If breaking the walk at Ribblehead there are infrequent trains from there to Leeds and Carlisle.

Guide Books and Maps

There aren't a huge number of Dales Way guides. The most popular seems to be Cicerone's guide, by Terry Marsh and this was the one I used, and lists the route in both directions.

It features Ordnance Survey maps of the route, however only at the 1:50,000 scale. As the route is relatively simple and well way-marked, this is not generally a huge problem except between Sedbergh and Burneside where the route goes through a lot of farms and gets a bit confusing.

Harveys produce a large scale map covering the route.

Ordnance Survey maps OL19 and OL7 cover these areas, and if you want the full route you'll need 297, OL2 and OL30.

And finally, and any questions

With few major hills to climb, The Dales Way is a good all rounder and could easily be done in spring and autumn as well as summer. Being well way-marked and easy on the foot, it's the perfect walk for the long distance walking novice, and highly rewarding with the views too.

So put your best foot forward and head to the Dales. For it's certainly a great place to be.

And if you've any questions or would like some advice, do ask in the comment box below.

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