Planning is half the fun of a C2C trek, and I've just begun plotting my May attempt in earnest.
The first important element I've had to tackle is travelling to the start and back from the finish. The preferred option would be train. I was able to travel up to St Bees from Faversham for £14.50 (including a £1 booking fee!) for my first solo attempt last year. The return from Whitby was over £100, but I figured it was still worth the the trade-off for the lack of flexibility. However, when I had to abandon the trip part-way through, I had to fork out another £95-odd for a train ticket home from a different station because it was booked on the day of travel.
This time, though, the cheapest rail ticker I can find to St Bees on the day before I start the walk is £108, with another £136 for the way back. What a rip-off. The coach is a nightmare, with more changes than a Lady Gaga concert, so given that my car's pretty economical on fuel it seems the easiest way is to drive to the start, park my car and then make my way back there from the finish. This has the advantage of being more flexible and meaning I don't have to set out for Cumbria at the crack of dawn.
There are two feasible ways back from RHB to my car at the end, neither perfect. The first is to hitch a ride on the Sherpa van that delivers baggage to walkers along the route. They charge £22 for each half of the route - but you have to overnight in Richmond and do it over two days. However, National Express go from Scarborough to Whitehaven - just five miles from St Bees - and charge £38.10. The coach leaves at 9.10am and arrives early evening, but at least it's a single day and a few quid cheaper, and easier to change without incurring huge cost if I take an extra day or two to complete. The bad news is that I'll have to get the bus to the coach station from RHB, meaning another early start that prevents me celebrating the end of the journey late into the night!
