From the South West Coast Path to the Pembrokeshire beaches, pull on your walking boots and enjoy a walk on the coast with our guide to the best coastal walks this autumn
Abbotsbury Castle walk, Dorset
Take an autumn stroll through 5,000 years of history, travelling high above the coastline along the South Dorset Ridgeway with its amazing views. This 5.9-mile walk takes in Abbotsbury’s fifth-century holy site, St Peter’s Abbey, subtropical gardens, a swannery and a 14th-century chapel dedicated to spinsters. southwestcoastpath.com
Hunstanton to Cromer, Norfolk
If you really want to stretch your legs, how about making a weekend trip of it and walking the 45 miles along the North Norfolk Coast Path from Hunstanton to Cromer. Along the way you will take in low cliffs, wide sandy beaches and salt and freshwater marshes. Great for bird watching and, if you’re lucky, you’ll even spot a seal or two. walkingclub.org.uk
Heddon’s Mouth, North Devon
This stunning 2.1-mile walk is great at this time of year, when the trees start to turn colour and birds and small animals begin their winter rummage. Starting and ending at the popular Hunter’s Inn, take a gentle stroll through ancient woodland, along a babbling stream to a tiny secluded shingle beach strewn with boulders and shadowed by steep, scree-clad hillsides, with dramatic cliffs of geological importance and tales of smugglers and U-boats. southwestcoastpath.com
Skrinkle to Amroth, Pembrokeshire
The beautiful beaches and the tourist attractions around Tenby make this probably one of the busiest sections of the whole Pembrokeshire Coast Path but this 14-mile walk from Skrinkle to Amroth has amazing views of Caldey Island and the coasts of The Gower and Exmoor. nt.pcnpa.org.uk
St Ives, Cornwall
If you only do one coast path walk this autumn make it around St Ives Bay, taking in views of the town from Godrevy Head. Be inspired as you gaze out towards the moody and atmospheric Godrevy Island, immortalised in Virginia Woolf’s famous novel To the Lighthouse. Keep an eye out for grey seals playing and hunting for fish in the surf, and for the pod of bottlenose dolphins often seen further offshore. southwestcoastpath.com
Chapman’s Pool, Dorset
A breathtaking 7.3-mile walk on the South West Coast Path around a limestone coastline carved into dramatic caves and platforms by millions of years of erosion by the sea. Chapman’s Pool itself is a wonderfully wild beach where the stream joins the sea from a plunging ravine carved through high cliffs. southwestcoastpath.com
Image of view to Portland by Steve Luck. southwestcoastpath.com
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