Pennine Way Walking Holidays

Macs Adventure has been organising self-guided walking holidays on the Pennine Way since 2010. Being the original National Trail, it made complete sense for us to offer it in our range of tours, and it has been a very popular one every since. 

We offer a flexible experience of staying in comfortable B&Bs, guesthouses, and tradtional and cosy country inns. Setting off on a journey like this can be a little daunting so it makes it a little easier to know that at the end of the day you will be staying with the friendliest of accommodation providers and that your bags will have been whisked in front of you by our speedy luggage couriers! You can book with confidence that we have it all covered for you.  

We want to showcase our expertise, by giving you all the resources you will ever need. On the route, we use high-quality digital mapping to make sure you find your way, as well as a host of tips, facts and recommendations to enrich your Pennine Way experience.  We have also carefully developed the itineraries we offer to try and minimise any transfers as much as possible as we do believe that this detracts from the overall experience. 

Our aim is to make sure that your Pennine Way adventure is a memorable one for all of the right reasons!

Over on our Macs Adventure Community Page , we highly recommend taking a read of our customer David Stott's daily updates on the Pennine Way when he completed the walk in August 2020. If his photos and insights don't leave you feeling inspired to take on this great challenge, nothing will! 

You can also read a diary on his adventure over on his blog Beyond the Sacred Mountains.

David has travelled all over the world, and yet our own National Trail, the Pennine Way seems to have made a lasting impression on him!

Take a Break - We recommend that you incorporate at least a couple of rest days into your walk. Malham and Middleton-in-Teesdale are great places to re-charge the batteries. Or if you want more time to explore Hadrian's Wall Country, Once Brewed is a good option!

Take your time - You will enjoy the route much more if you don’t push yourself too much, and it gives you more time to take in the beautiful scenery along the way! We offer Pennine Way itineraries up to 22 days long so you should find an option to suit your abilities.

Make sure you have the right gear - Take a look at our blog for more details – as this can make a big difference to how enjoyable you find the walk.  In particular, we recommend having a pair of gaiters for those tricky boggy bits and a good pair of walking poles for those gnarly descents.

Meet the locals. - Quite often the B&B owners and locals are the best people to speak to about ideas for alternative routes, places to see, lunch stops etc. This local knowledge can really help make your walk go as smoothly as possible. 

Get some training in! - The full Pennine Way has a combined ascent which exceeds the height of Mount Everest so it isn't a challenge to be undertaken lightly. If you can get some training in and start doing some walks in hillier terrain and also some longer walks to get used to the idea of long distance walking, you will get much more enjoyment from it!

Q: How far in advance do I need to book?

A: We suggest you book as soon as your plans are finalised as some of the villages on the Pennine Way have quite limited accommodation options. If booking at short notice we will always try our best to accommodate your plans. 

Q: When is the best time of year to walk the Pennine Way?

A: Traditionally April/May has always been the most popular time of year because the theory goes that the weather is better. This said any time between late April and September offers a great experience! If you are doing the full Pennine Way you are sure to experience rain at some point though so make sure you pack your waterproofs!

Q: What is the walk like?

A: The Pennine Way isn't a technically challenging walk - just a long one! The terrain varies from grassy tracks and pastures, to open boggy sections, to more challenging rocky sections with steeper ascents. A lot of work has been done in recent years to lay down stones over the worst boggy sections, but some still exist, so this is a walk where a pair of gaiters will definitely come in handy!

Q: Do I need to be able to navigate?

A: Most of the trail is well signposted with the wooden signposts and acorn symbol. However, booking with Macs Adventure you can download our app, which has the routes already loaded, so that we no longer need to use paper and can do our bit for the planet. However as the weather can be rather unpredictable in some of the moorland sections we do recommend that you have had some experience in navigating in order to get full enjoyment from the walk.