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Very soon, after 16 years of work, the entirety of England’s gorgeous coastline will be open to the public.
From this summer, thanks to the King Charles II Coastal Path, you’ll be able to walk all 2,700 miles of the English coastline. That’s from Berwick-upon-Tweed all the way down to Land’s End. Work on the path began way back in 2009 and, though not yet 100 percent complete, it is finally being inaugurated this week. Once fully open, it’ll be the longest managed coastal path in the entire world. That’s a pretty big deal, and one of the reasons why we featured the trek on our lists of the greatest new things to do in the UK this year and the planet’s top new attractions in 2026.
Large parts of the route are already very well established, but around 1,000 miles of new path has been created to make the King Charles III path a reality. That has included new stretches between Tilbury and Southend-on-Sea, from Southend up to Wallasea Island, from Calshot to Gosport and from Gosport to Portsmouth.
Existing paths have been improved with bridges, boardwalks and resurfaced path. In Cornwall, for example, the trail from Marsland Mouth to Newquay had a facelift that involved making repairs, improving drainage and moving some inland sections of the path closer to the sea.
Without the path, walkers who wanted to walk the English coastline in its entirety have had to cut inland, walk along roads or trespass over private land. Now, you’ll always be able to see the sea, without breaking any laws. To make the path a reality, the government had to negotiate access rights with landowners along the coast.
Obviously, it would take several months and a whole lot of dedication to complete the entire path in one go. The best way to do it is bit by bit. There are trails that pass world-famous sites like Durdle Door, Bamburgh Castle, Dover’s white cliffs or the Norfolk Broads National Park, that stop by some of our finest beaches, like Holkham Beach or Kynance Cove, and that cut through some of Time Out’s favourite seaside towns like Margate, Brighton, St Ives or Whitby. You can see the full King Charles III Coastal Path map here.
See all of Time Out’s 26 best new things to do in the world in 2026.
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