Three Points of the Compass does like to complete a decent multi-day trail when possible. I walked over 2500 miles on a solo linear ‘Lands End to John o’ Groats Plus‘ walk in 2018 and have completed all of the official long-distance ‘National Trails’ in England, Wales and the best of what Scotland now call their ‘Great Trails’. Also many other UK trails that don’t enjoy ‘National’ status, such as the superb Cape Wrath Trail and Skye Trail. As to those remaining two biggies in the UK- the 870 mile Wales Coast Path and 2700 mile England Coast Path, we shall have to see. Beyond home-grown trails, I occasionally walk some classic routes outside the UK in Europe and beyond and links are included below.

This is an almost complete list of longer trails I have walked in the UK and elsewhere, also occasional links to where I have written a little more on trail specific navigation, gear, food, water sources etc.

United Kingdom

• Boudicca’s Way
• Borders Abbeys Way- A Scottish Great Trail
• Cape Wrath Trail
• Cleveland Way- National Trail
  • Days 1 to 3, Helmsley to Margrove Park
  • Days 4 to 7, Margrove Park to Filey
• Coast to Coast- National Trail
  • Wainwright’s Coast to Coast- a new National Trail
  • The original O.S. Outdoor Leisure 33 and 34 maps: Wainwright’s Coast to Coast
  • Coast to Coast: the Lakes
  • Coast to Coast: the Dales
  • Coast to Coast: the ‘flat bit’
  • Coast to Coast: the Moors
  • Coast to Coast: my gear
• Cotswold Way- National Trail
  • Cotswold Way: Chipping Campden to Stanton
  • Cotswold Way: Stanton to Winchcombe
  • Cotswold Way: Winchcombe to Dowdeswell
  • Cotswold Way: Dowdeswell to Birdlip
  • Cotswold Way: Birdlip to Painswick
  • Cotswold Way: Painswick to King’s Stanley
  • Cotswold Way: King’s Stanley to Dursley
  • Cotswold Way: Dursley to Wotton-under-Edge
  • Cotswold Way: Wotton-under-Edge to Old Sodbury
  • Cotswold Way: Old Sodbury to Cold Ashton (Pennsylvania)
  • Cotswold Way: Cold Ashton to Bath
• Dale’s Way
• England Coast Path: nope- nowhere near! I have only completed about 1000 miles of this 2700+ mile trail (of which 630 miles was the South West Coast Path), but (very) slowly knocking it off.
• Glyndŵr’s Way- National Trail
• Grand Union Canal Walk– from London to Birmingham
  • London to Marsworth
  • Marsworth to Stoke Bruerne (Roade)
  • Stoke Bruerne (Roade) to Stockton
  • Stockton to Birmingham
• Great Glen Way- A Scottish Great Trail
  • Days 1 to 3, Fort William to Fort Augustus
  • Days 4 to 6, Fort Augustus to Inverness
  • Facilities on the Great Glen Way
• Gritstone Trail
• Hadrian’s Wall Path- National Trail
• Hebridean Way
  • Days 1-3: Vatersay, Barra, Eriskay, South Uist and Benbecula
  • Days 4-6: Benbecula, Grimsay, North Uist, Berneray and South Harris
  • Days 7-9: Harris and Lewis
  • Days 10 and 11: Lewis, trail’s end
• Icknield Way
  • post hike look at gear
• Isle of Wight Coastal Path (twice)
• Land’s End to John o’ Groats
• London:
  • London Countryway
    • A hundred miles completed
    • Two hundred miles completed
    • End report
  • London Jubilee Walkway
    • statues and public art on a c16 mile day walk
    • statues and public art on a c13 mile night walk
    • Resources for the Jubilee Walkway
  • London LOOP (London Outer Orbital Path)
    • Encountering post boxes on the London LOOP
• North Down’s Way- including both alternates- National Trail
• Offa’s Dyke Path- National Trail
• Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path- National Trail
  • Peddars Way
  • Norfolk Coast Path
  • A Curator Explores- Part One
  • A Curator Explores- Part Two
• Pembrokeshire Coast Path- National Trail
  • A two-week itinerary
  • post hike gear review
• Pennine Bridleway- both loops completed within this- National Trail
  • Maps and guidebooks for the Pennine Bridleway
  • Pennine Bridleway- Middleton Top to the Mary Towneley Loop
  • Pennine Bridleway- The Mary Towneley Loop
  • Pennine Bridleway- Mary Towneley Loop to Settle
  • Pennine Bridleway- The Settle Loop
  • Pennine Bridleway- Settle to The Street, Ravenstonedale
  • Dry stone walls on the Pennine Bridleway
• Pennine Way- National Trail
• The Pilgrims Way
  • The London Link
    • Southwark Cathedral to Welling
    • Welling to Dartford
    • Dartford to Otford
• The Ridgeway- National Trail
  • Short film- Grims Ditch
  • 2016- Planning
  • 2016- Food 
  • 2016- Water sources on the Ridgeway
  • 2025- day zero- Arriving at Avebury
  • 2025- day one- East Kennett to Ogbourne St George
  • 2025- day two- Ogbourne St George to Woolstone
  • 2025- day three- Woolstone to Letcombe Regis
  • 2025- day four- Letcombe Regis to Goring
  • 2025- day five- Goring to Watlington
  • 2025- day six- Watlington to Princes Risborough
  • 2025- day seven- Princes Risborough to Aldbury
  • 2025- day eight- Aldbury to Ivinghoe Beacon and the Bridgewater Monument
• Skye Trail
  • Rubha Hunish to the Storr
  • The Storr to Broadford
• South Downs Way– National Trail
  • Water sources on the South Downs Way
• South West Coast Path- National Trail
• Southern Upland Way- A Scottish Great Trail
  • Portpatrick to the Glenkens
  • The Glenkens to Moffat
  • Moffat to Cocksburnspath
  • ‘Treasure’ on the Southern Upland Way
• Speyside Way– A Scottish Great Trail
• The Tabular Hills Walk
• The Thames Path- National Trail
  • The Thames Path
  • The Thames Path: Kemble to Cricklade
  • The Thames Path: Cricklade to Lechlade
  • The Thames Path: Lechlade to Tadpole Bridge
  • The Thames Path: Tadpole Bridge to Bablock Hythe
  • The Thames Path: Bablock Hythe to Osney Bridge, Oxford
  • The Thames Path: Osney Bridge, Oxford to Abingdon
  • The Thames Path: Abingdon to Shillingford/Warborough
  • The Thames Path: Shillingford/Warborough to Goring
  • The Thames Path: Goring to Sonning
  • The Thames Path: Sonning to Marlow
  • The Thames Path: Marlow to Windsor
  • The Thames Path: Windsor to Chertsey
  • The Thames Path: Chertsey to Hampton Wick/Kingston-on-Thames
  • The Thames Path: Hampton Wick/Kingston-on-Thames to Putney
  • The Thames Path: Putney to Tower Bridge
  • The Thames Path: Tower Bridge to Woolwich Foot Tunnel
• Two Moors Way
• The Wealdway
• West Highland Way (twice)- A Scottish Great Trail
• Wherryman’s Way
• Yorkshire Wolds Way– National Trail
  • A four day food carry on the Wolds Way

Kent (my home county)

• Elham Valley Way
• Isle of Grain- England Coast Path- completing my ‘Source to Sea’ walk
• Isle of Sheppey-
  • Harty and Eastchurch, the birthplace of British Aviation
  • England Coast Path- circuit of the Isle of Sheppey- day one
  • England Coast Path- circuit of the Isle of Sheppey- day two
• Isle of Thanet-
  • England Coast Path- a daywalk looking for Vikings and Hovercraft
• Medway Valley Walk
  • Day One: Tonbridge to Maidstone
  • Day Two: Maidstone to Rochester
  • A return to the river, two years after my last visit
• The Miner’s Way
• My ‘not-so-local local walk‘
• Saxon Shore Way
  • Gravesend to Sittingbourne
  • Self isolating on the North Kent Marshes- Sittingbourne to Faversham
  • Sittingbourne to Dover
  • Dover to Hastings
• Swale Heritage Trail– medieval churches on the North Kent Marshes

Beer trails

• Birmingham
• City of London
• Norwich, the ‘City of Ale’

A hike across mainland Britain

My 2018 Three Points of the Compass walk across England, Wales and Scotland totalled over 2500 miles and within this I took in the furthest mainland compass points South, South West, West, North West, North and North East, I also walked Lands End to John O’Groats within this longer hike. Some longer ‘named’ trails were included in this such as the 630 mile South West Coast Path, 177 mile Offa’s Dyke Path. 255 mile Pennine Way, 96 mile West Highland Way and 200 mile Cape Wrath Trail. I went ‘old school’ for this walk, carrying paper maps for the entire distance. These had been bundled into sections and were posted on to me by Mission Control (Mrs Three Points of the Compass) to whom I returned maps when used and no longer required. I am sure anyone walking the same or similar route today, would simply rely on their phone or GPS watch.

• Summary of my 2018 ‘Three Points of the Compass‘ walk across the UK.
  • Sixty days to go
  • Fifty days to go
  • Thirty five days to go
  • Thirty days to go
  • Twenty days to go
  • Six days to go
  • I’m off!
  • The first thirteen days- done
  • “what’d you think of cardiac hill?”
  • The next stage
  • I’ve done it!

• Offas Dyke Path

Beyond the UK

• Belgium:
  • Marche Européenne du Souvenir et de l’Amitié (MESA)
• Chile:
  • Fjällräven Classic Chile 2024: check-in
  • Fjällräven Classic Chile 2024- Day 1 ‘The Forest day’
  • Fjällräven Classic Chile 2024- Day 2 ‘The Mountain day’
  • Fjällräven Classic Chile 2024- Day 3 ‘The Lakes day’
  • Fjällräven Classic Chile 2024- Day 4 ‘The Torres del Paine day’
  • ‘O’ Circuit. Torres del Paine, Patagonia
• Germany:
  • Rheindahlen Allied Marches
• Greece:
  • Corfu Trail- Kavos to Liapades
  • Corfu Trail- Liapades to Agios Spiridonas
  • The abandoned vehicles of the Corfu Trail
• Greenland:
  • Arctic Circle Trail: Kangerlussuaq to Eqalugaarniarfik
  • Arctic Circle Trail: Eqalugaarniarfik to Sisimiut
  • Arctic Circle Trail: Hunter cairns
  • Arctic Circle Trail: Gear
• Iceland: Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls Trails.
  • Landmannalaugar to Álftavatn on the Laugavegur Trail
  • Álftavatn to Básar on the Laugavegur Trail
  • Básar to Skógar on the Fimmvörðuháls Trail
  • Gear used on the Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls Trails
• Italy:
  • Sicily
• Netherlands:
  • Nijmegen Vierdagse (International Four Days Marches Nijmegen)
• New Zealand:
  • Abel Tasman Coast Track (north), a New Zealand ‘Great Walk’
• Spain:
  • Balearic Islands
    • Menorca– GR223- Camí de Cavalls
  • Canary Islands
    • Sketching in Fuerteventura
    • Gran Canaria campsites
    • Camino de Santiago de Gran Canaria- day one
    • Camino de Santiago de Gran Canaria- the finish
    • Navigation resources for hiking in Gran Canaria
• Sweden:
  • Fjällräven Classic Sweden 2023- application, logistics and stats
  • Fjällräven Classic Sweden- heading west to the Kungsleden. Nikkaluokta to Sälka
  • Fjällräven Classic Sweden- heading north on the Kungsleden. Sälka to Abisko