The new King Charles III England Coast Path is an adventure in exploring the UK on foot

At dawn, the English coast can feel deceptively quiet: a strip of shingle, a long curve of sand, a headland dissolving into mist. But it is a shoreline that has witnessed invasion, defence, industry, fear and freedom. And now, it is also the longest continuous coastal walking route in the world.

The King Charles III England Coast Path, which was opened on Friday, stretches for 2,795 miles (4,500 km), tracing the entire coast of England. The unbroken trail, looping along beaches, bird reserves, Neolithic burial sites, nuclear power stations, fishing ports and seaside towns, makes the entire English coast legally walkable. The idea for the path stems from the Marine and Coastal Access Act of 2009, which placed a duty on Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Natural England, a public body to advise the UK government about nature, to establish the trail. “This will be the longest maintained coastal route in the world once complete,” a Natural England spokesperson says.

A section of the walk that has been completed most recently is a stretch running from the Scottish Borders in Scotland down towards Lincolnshire in England. It totals 245 miles (nearly 400km) of continuous trail, which is 75% of the route.

This northern section passes through fossil-rich cliffs, salt marshes with migratory birds, and bays shaped by centuries of shipping and industry. If it seems familiar, it’s because parts of it featured in the opening scenes of the 2002 thriller 28 Days Later.

Walking along England’s south coast seems like getting a lesson in the island’s history. The trail passes Roman landing sites in Kent, the Norman bulk of Dover Castle, and the Martello towers built to repel Napoleon’s armies. At Portland, it skirts the spot where the Vikings first attacked England in the 8th century. In Portsmouth, the navy’s flagship HMS Victory and the Tudor warship Mary Rose sit side by side, markers of naval ambition and loss.

Remnants of World War II are threaded through the route: pillboxes buried in grass, tank traps rusting into the beach, defensive walls built in anticipation of invasion. Walking the coast makes that history unavoidable, but it’s not explored through museums or plaques but via what’s underfoot.

The coastal trail dwarfs most long-distance walks, including the Appalachian Trail in the US and the Pacific Crest Trail, from Mexico to Canada. It is resolutely English in character: wild in places, suburban in others, punctuated by tearooms, caravan parks and working harbours. Along the way, walkers can detour to castles, take boat trips to see seals and puffins, or simply follow the tide from village to village.

Coastal routes have linked ports and markets for centuries, long before walking became recreational. Public access, however, was uneven. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act of 2000 opened much of England’s countryside, but the shoreline remained fragmented by private land, military zones and hazardous infrastructure. The 2009 legislation finally addressed this, and the trail was renamed in 2023 for King Charles III’s coronation.

The changes are already visible to those who live and work along the coast. Mark Lakeman, who runs Experience South West Tours and has been guiding travellers along the Devon and Cornwall coastline since 2018, has watched the demographic shift in real time. “I’m seeing more younger, professional Gen X guests who want to engage with nature and get away from the tourist trail,” he says. The coast path functions as a corridor for people and wildlife. Linking fragmented habitats has created a continuous ribbon of protected space along the shoreline.

Many, he notes, are moving towards experience-led travel, drawn by walking, cold-water swimming, forest bathing and low-impact exploration. His guests come from the US, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and across Europe, often on multi-day trips rather than short breaks. Lakeman believes the coast path will amplify the trend. Once fully linked, the South West Coast Path, already popularised by Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path, will connect seamlessly into the national trail.

“Walking holiday leaders will pick and choose the best or most challenging stretches,” he says. “That’s going to boost regional tourism, especially in places that don’t usually see it.”

The question of impact, particularly on smaller coastal communities, has been central to the project. Natural England says the majority of landowners along the route did not object to plans for the path, adding that the new National Trail “has the potential to create economic benefits for communities and businesses around the path”. The coast was segmented into 67 stretches, each proposed following in-depth engagement with landowners and local stakeholders.

“There’s something incredibly grounding about walking the coast,” says London-based writer and endurance walker Sarah Thompson. “You don’t conquer it. You learn to live with the terrain, weather, tides, your own limits. It teaches patience in a way few other forms of travel do.”

As I walk the South West Coast Path in Devon, I realise that nowhere does Britain reveal itself more honestly than along its shoreline. The coast compresses centuries into a single day’s walk: traces of ancient settlement, industrial ambition, leisure, defence, and decline unfolding mile by mile. This isn’t a backdrop to rush through, but a living edge shaped by the past and the present.

Teja Lele writes on travel and lifestyle.