Rest Days
Rest days can be incorporated into any walking holiday package.

Solo Travellers
Solo travellers please contact us or use the booking form to send your proposed itinerary including dates, and we will price accordingly. Where possible, we take advantage of existing bookings from other clients to ensure you receive a cost effective service.

Alternative Itineraries
For alternative itineraries to those provided for this route, please contact us, or use the Booking Form to submit your proposed itinerary and number of participants and we will quote accordingly.

Walking Season Dates
Prices are based on the walk starting after 1st April and ending before 30th September.

Walk Information

The Herriot Way is a circular, unofficial route of 52 miles (84km) in length, in four stages of approximately 13 miles. The overall height gain of this low route option is 6,625 feet (2,019m).

The dales of Wensleydale and Swaledale were always very scenic and attractive, but have become renowned as a result of the popular television series, based on the books by James Herriot, “All Creatures Great and Small”, and which were about his work and exploits located in these two dales.

The route starts at Aysgarth with its famous waterfalls. From here you will walk west following the River Ure, through wide meadows and following a disused railway track until turning into Askrigg. From Askrigg the route travels up the Wensleydale Valley to Hardraw Force, Englands highest single-drop waterfall and then into the market town of Hawes. From Hawes the path climbs up the side of Great Shunner Fell, following the Pennine Way and descends into Thwaite, and via the tiny hamlet of Keld. On leaving Keld the path climbs onto Gunnerside Moor, following old lead mining tracks, returning to the valley and the River Swale, and eastwards onto Reeth. The last day of the walk takes you over Grinton Moor and down into the village of Castle Bolton, with the remains of its historic castle, eventually arriving back into the village of Aysgarth. The hardest section of the walk is the day which includes Great Shunner Fell, which entails a long steady climb, not steep, and the path is generally good and paved for long sections.

The four-day holiday is relatively short, but this will enable you to decide where you would like extend your stay, or where you would like to spend more time on a future occasion

OS Explorer Maps
OL30 – Yorkshire Dales – Northern & Central areas

Guide Books
“The Herriot Way” by Stuart W. Greig – Published by Pocket Routes

Mobile Digital Mapping
Digital maps can be viewed on most modern smartphones using an appropriate app, downloaded from the app store associated with your device. Brigantes recommend that whichever app you use, it should support Ordnance Survey 1:25k or 1:50k scale maps. There are many apps to choose from, but the two main providers are Ordnance Survey and Memory Map.

Each provider’s app has its own benefits, but both provide all-important offline navigation, meaning your device does not need a mobile signal to work effectively on the trail.