Celtic Way

The Celtic Way is a long-distance walk from West Wales, through South Wales and into Wessex and the West of England in the United Kingdom.

Distance

The Celtic Way runs for 1,155 kilometres (718 mi).

The route

The route runs from Pembrokeshire eastward through South Wales to Chepstow where it enters the county of Gloucestershire and carries on through Wiltshire to its destination at Stonehenge. There is the option of continuing to Somerset and Dorset Devon and Cornwall. A guide to the route was published in 1998: The Celtic Way: A long distance walk through western Britain by Val Saunders Evans, Cheshire: Sigma Leisure.

The route links sites of importance in Celtic Britain and prehistory. Its central focus is Stonehenge. Key sites along the route include the following: in Pembrokeshire: Ynys Meicel, Goodwick SSI footpath, Tre-llan holy well, Carn Ingli, Pentre Ifan, Gors Fawr stone circle; in Carmarthenshire: Gwal y Filiast burial chamber, Castell Mawr, Merlin's Hill, Llanegwad, Dryslwyn Castle, Gron Gaer Hillfort, Dinefawr Castle, Carn Goch Hillfort; the Black Mountain from the Carmarthenshire and Powys border going into Glamorgan: the Carmarthenshire 'Fans' - Fan Brycheiniog ridge, Fan Hir, the Myddfai lakes, Llyn y Fan Fach and Fawr associated with the physicians of Myddfai, Cerrig Duon stone circle, waterfalls at Scwd yr Eira and Sgwd Gwladys, and the heights of Sarn Helen.

The route continues through the Vale of Glamorgan, including two significant burial chambers: Tinkinswood and St Lythans, both of which raise interesting archaeoastronomical questions. High level walking above the post-industrial coastal plain runs eastward over the Garth Mountain, Caerphilly Mountain, Twmbarlwm, and over Gray Hill to Wentwood before coming down to the Bristol Channel where the route crosses the Severn Bridge walkway then links with established footpaths in England to the Wiltshire Avon on its way to Windmill Hill, Avebury, Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow and through this designated Heritage Landscape to Stonehenge. From here it is possible to walk across the Hillforts of Wessex to Glastonbury.

There is a continuation from Somerset down to Penwith in Cornwall, and St Michael's Mount, following routes across Exmoor National Park, the Celtic Way Exmoor Option and over Dartmoor.

The final section runs from Stonehenge to the Dorset Coast to set the scene for a walking route linking with France at Mont St Michel.

The route is currently (2013) being revised and updated. See www.thecelticway.org for an archive giving access to the route sections as downloads and www.walkcelt.com for information on the progress of the revision.

External links

Celtic Way - LDWA Long Distance Paths

The Celtic Way - a long-distance walk through western Britain. http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Celtic-Way-Distance-Through/dp/1850586187

Long-distance footpaths and National Trails in Wales
Coastal footpaths & trails	Anglesey Coastal Path Ceredigion Coast Path Gower and Swansea Bay Coast Path Llŷn Coastal Path North Wales Path Pembrokeshire Coast Path South Wales Coast and Severn Estuary Coastal Path Wales Coast Path
Non-coastal footpaths & trails	The Beacons Way Cambrian Way Celtic Way Cistercian Way Clwydian Way Dyfi Valley Way Glyndŵr's Way Landsker Borderlands Trail Marches Way The Maelor Way Monnow Valley Walk Offa's Dyke Path Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Walk Taff Trail Usk Valley Walk Valeways Millennium Heritage Trail Wye Valley Walk