The Coast to Coast Walk ( C2C ) was devised by Alfred Wainwright in 1973 and is a route from St Bees Head on the Irish Sea coast of Cumbria (Lake District) to Robin Hood’s Bay on the North Sea coast. The distance has been traditionally stated as 192 miles but, according to recent re-measurings, the real distance of the route usually undertaken nowadays is approximately 220 miles ( Ref: Wikipedia & personal communication of GPS measurements from other walkers ).  It passes through 3 National Parks and some of the most beautiful and varied scenery in England including the rugged mountains and beautiful lakes of Cumbria, the rolling hills and pretty valleys of the Yorkshire Dales, the beautiful Vale of Mobray & Cleveland Hills, and the expansive heather moorland of the North York Moors - with some dramatic coastal scenery at each end. See detailed physical map (840k) map
Whilst being enthusiastic Lake District fell walkers, we had no previous experience of long distance walks and so decided to thoroughly enjoy and concentrate on the walk itself by using a company specialising in long distance guided walks.  We eventually chose (run by Dean and John Halsall) and we did the walk in May 2005.   There were 6 walkers in our group plus John or Dean and everyone got on extremely well -  John and Dean ensured that the 13 days were extremely enjoyable, well organised and with first class B&B accommodation each night plus luggage transfers.