Typical Itinerary
Day 1 – Arrival
Our driver will be at your nominated collection point at a time that suits you to load your team and all of their kit. When you arrive at camp, just outside of Whitehaven, we’ll cook you a hearty meal, run through the plan for your C2C adventure and then leave you and the team to it for the evening.
Day 2 – Whitehaven to Keswick
- APPROX 4.5hrs
- 58km/36mi
- 880m
The first day in the saddle starts with a nice 16km (10 mile) path along a former railway line followed by a 20km (12.5) mile gentle climb into the Lake District National Park. The first lake you’ll encounter is Loweswater, where, if you’re lucky, you’ll get to see a few red squirrels, who make the local conifers their home. Beyond Loweswater you’ll pass through Lorton Village before tackling the first big climb of the tour, then descending to Portinscale, on the banks of the ‘Queen of the Lakes’ – Derwentwater. The quintessential Cumbrian market town of Keswick, made famous by literary greats such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and of course, William Wordsworth is where you’ll rest up this evening.
Day 3 – Keswick to Gamblesby
- APPROX 5hrs
- 66km/41mi
- 1070m
After leaving Keswick the course gets a little hillier but with only one substantial climb, right at the end of the day. You’ll pass by the ancient Castlerig Stone Circle, zig zag across the River Greta, pass by the ruinous Penrith Castle before a climb and descent in to Edenhall. Beyond Edenhall you’ll follow the beautiful River Eden, by the circa 3000 year old Long Meg and Her Daughters Stone Circle.
Day 4 – Gamblesby to Edmundbyers
- APPROX 5hrs
- 64km/40mi
- 1090m
On day 4 you’ll start out with a 10km (6mi) descent before climbing the Hartside Pass to give fantastic views across the Solway Firth to Scotland. There’s a lot of ups and downs to the middle section of today but the end brings with it a 20km (12mi) downhill section so there’s plenty of time for those sore legs to recuperate.
Day 5 – Edmundbyres to Tynemouth
- APPROX 5hrs
- 74km/46mi
- 340m
The final days ride is the longest but it’s mostly downhill, the perfect way to end a multi day tour. You’ll cross from lush countryside in to the beating heart of the North East, Newcastle Upon Tyne via Hownsgill Viaduct, following the course of the River Derwent until you cross over the Tyne itself and trace it all the way to Tynemouth and the North Sea.
Day 6 – Home
After a few celebratory pints of Newcastle Brown ale the night before, you can have a well earned sleep in whilst we prepare your breakfast. Once you’re fed you can begin the final journey home. We’ll get the site packed up and will be following closely behind.
If you’d like to extend your C2C adventure there are a couple of great mountain bike trails, kayak/SUP spots and hundreds of other attractions along the route which you could call in at for a day. There are also lots of historic sights and lovely villages to take in too. Get in touch and we can talk through the options to extend your stay and personalise this basic itinerary.
What’s included?
- Transport for you, your luggage and kit from/to your front door
- 2 person support team, on call incase of incident or emergency at any point during your tour
- 3 meals per day. Chosen by you from an extensive menu of locally sourced, ethical ingredients and cooked fresh each evening over an open fire
- Freshly ground coffee and/or a choice of tea with meals
- Water bottles filled each morning
- Energy boosting snacks for the day
- Beautiful 5m canvas bell tents. Pre-pitched. Furnished with real beds and winter tog duvets and linen bedding
- Routes loaded into a GPS device for the nominated team navigator and added to a backup OS Landranger map too
- Routes available in GPX/KML format, viewable on Google Maps, Strava etc. for the rest of the team
- Devices charged overnight so you are juiced up
- A Nine Yards T-shirt for the lead booker and Nine Yards tote bags for the rest of the team
What’s not included
- Alcoholic/soft drinks other than water
- Personal equipment (bike, helmet, waterproof clothes etc) – We can arrange the hire of kit, if required
- Personal travel insurance
- Personal expenses for souvenirs, pub trips etc.
If you would like a guided tour, need to hire equipment or would like to otherwise personalise the tour with add-on excursions, diversions, or any other changes, we can do that. Just get in touch via our Personalised Adventure page.
Nine Yard Tours is a boutique holiday experience provider and as such we are strictly limited in our tour capacity. This means you receive a fully flexible personalised service from our dedicated crew from start to finish. It also means once a date is booked, it’s booked and our small but mighty team is unavailable for anyone else’s luxury adventure. We sell on a first come, first served basis, so get in touch today so we can plan your most adventurous glamping experience to date
*All Preplanned Adventure routes are approximate and may vary slightly depending on campsite availability at the time of booking. We will confirm the final route when bookings are made. If there isn’t a campsite available at the end of any tour section, we will arrange transfers from the closest available site.
**Please note that all Preplanned Adventures are self-guided and participants are required to be proficient in their chosen tour method, be it cycling, hiking or paddling.
