Getting there & around · Wainwright's Coast to Coast Path
Coast to Coast Food, Water and Resupply — Stage by Stage
Quick answer. Shops exist in the towns, Kirkby Stephen, Reeth, Richmond and Osmotherley, and in a few villages; Keld, Blakey Ridge and Clay Bank Top have none. Four stages have nothing to buy at all between start and finish, Patterdale to Shap among them, and the longest shop-free run is from Osmotherley to Glaisdale, about 50 km with only a café and a pub on it. Buy tomorrow's lunch when you pass a shop, carry 1.5 to 2 litres of water and treat any beck water you take.
- Kirkby Stephen, Reeth, Richmond, OsmotherleyTowns with shops
- Keld, Blakey Ridge, Clay Bank TopNo shop at
- stages 1, 5, 7 and 10 (and 14)Nothing en route
- Osmotherley to Glaisdale, about 50 kmLongest shop-free run
- 1.5–2 litres capacityWater to carry
The Coast to Coast runs village to village, so most days start and end where there is food. The problem is the middle of the day and the handful of villages with no shop. This guide lists, stage by stage, what the stage pages name: the shops, pubs and cafés on or beside the route and the water points marked on each stage map. It does not list anything the stage data does not.
Two rules from the route's FAQ apply to every stage. Buy food for the following day when you pass a shop, not when you need it. And fill up before the dry stages, because the water is where it is.
Stage by stage
"Fill up at" is the start; "on the way" is only what the stage page names between the two ends; "finish" is what waits at the stage end. Springs marked on the stage maps are noted as treat-first, because that is how they are marked.
| Stage | Fill up at | On the way | Finish | Water rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 St Bees → Ennerdale Bridge | St Bees shops and pubs | Nothing. The shop at Cleator has closed; Dent Hill is the dry stretch | Village shop, Fox & Hounds, Shepherds Arms | Moderate |
| 2 Ennerdale Bridge → Rosthwaite | Gather Cafe, Ennerdale Bridge | Loft Beck (treat); Black Sail Hut has drinking water when open; Honister Slate Mine café about 18 km in | YHA Borrowdale café and small shop at Longthwaite, Peathouse Tea & Coffee Shop, Royal Oak | Abundant |
| 3 Rosthwaite → Grasmere | Rosthwaite | Stonethwaite Beck, Greenup Gill, Far Easedale Gill (all treat) | Grasmere shops, cafés, pubs; YHA café | Abundant |
| 4 Grasmere → Patterdale | Grasmere shops | No taps or cafés; Tongue Gill, Grisedale Tarn, Grisedale Beck (treat) | White Lion, Patterdale; more in Glenridding | Abundant |
| 5 Patterdale → Shap | Patterdale, fully | Nothing: no shop, café or tap; becks for emergencies only (treat) | Kings Arms, Greyhound Hotel, New Ing Lodge, Birchwood Cafe | Moderate |
| 6 Shap → Orton | Shap | Black Dub and King's Well springs (treat) | Village shop, George Hotel, Kennedys chocolate café (closes mid-afternoon) | Moderate |
| 7 Orton → Kirkby Stephen | Orton shop and café | Nothing; Kellsike Well spring (treat) | Full town: supermarket, outdoor shop, chemist, cafés including Beagle's Bakes and Baguettes and Buttercup, pubs including the Taggy Man | Moderate |
| 8 Kirkby Stephen → Keld | Kirkby Stephen | Nothing between Hartley and the Swaledale descent; the Ravenseat cream-tea stop has been closed since 2023 | Keld Green Cafe, Keld Lodge bar and restaurant. No shop | Scarce |
| 9 Keld → Reeth | Keld (no shop) | High route: nothing. Low route: Muker and Gunnerside cafés, pubs and taps | Two Dales Bakery, Post Office Stores, a public tap, Black Bull, Buck, King's Arms; Dales Bike Centre café | Moderate |
| 10 Reeth → Richmond | Reeth shop and cafés | Nothing; Marske has no shop or pub | Richmond, the largest town on the route: shops, outdoor gear, Buck Inn, Unicorn, Golden Lion, Town Hall Inn, Ship Inn | Abundant |
| 11 Richmond → Danby Wiske | Richmond | Brompton-on-Swale shop and pub at about 5 km; then about 11 km of lanes with nothing | White Swan, Danby Wiske (evening meals) | Abundant |
| 12 Danby Wiske → Osmotherley | White Swan | Blue Bell Inn and post office at Ingleby Cross before the climb; Orchard Café at Mount Grace on a short detour | Top Shop, Londis, post office, Roots Cafe, tea shop, Golden Lion, Three Tuns, Queen Catherine | Moderate |
| 13 Osmotherley → Clay Bank Top | Osmotherley shop and cafés | Lord Stones Country Park café at Carlton Bank, about halfway: the only stop | Nothing at Clay Bank Top; your bed's lift to Great Broughton (Wainstones Hotel) or Chop Gate (Buck Inn) | Scarce |
| 14 Clay Bank Top → Blakey Ridge | Wherever you slept; nothing at the col | Nothing; Maiden Spring (treat) | Lion Inn: bar, restaurant, packed lunches. No shop | Scarce |
| 15 Blakey Ridge → Grosmont | Lion Inn | Nothing for about 16 km; George Gap Spa spring (treat). Then Arncliffe Arms at Glaisdale, Horseshoe and Postgate at Egton Bridge | Grosmont shops, tearoom, pub | Scarce |
| 16 Grosmont → Robin Hood's Bay | Grosmont | Littlebeck (limited) at about 5.5 km; Falling Foss Tea Garden (seasonal) at about 8 km; Hawsker pub, café and campsite shop at about 16 km; then nothing | Robin Hood's Bay pubs and cafés, including the Laurel Inn | Moderate |
The water rating is the stage page's own summary of how much reliable water the day has. "Abundant" on stages 10 and 11 refers to the towns and villages at each end, not to the middle, where those pages say there is nothing safe to drink.
The stretches with nothing
Four stages have no shop, café, pub or tap anywhere between start and finish: 1, 5, 7 and 10. Stage 14 has a spring marked treat-first and nothing else until the Lion Inn. On those days everything you eat and drink is on your back from the first step.
Then there are the runs between shops, which matter more for planning than any single stage:
- Kirkby Stephen to Reeth, 35.6 km over two days. Keld has a café and a hotel bar but no shop. Buy two days of lunch in Kirkby Stephen. On stage 9 the low route passes Muker and Gunnerside; the high route passes nothing.
- Osmotherley to Glaisdale, about 50 km over two and a half days. Stage 13 has the Lord Stones café at halfway; Clay Bank Top has nothing and you leave the route for a bed; stage 14 has nothing until the Lion Inn; stage 15 has nothing for about 16 km until Glaisdale. The Lion Inn does packed lunches, which is how most people bridge it. Buy the rest in Osmotherley, which the stage notes call a logical resupply before the harder moorland stages.
- Ennerdale Bridge to Honister, about 18 km. The Honister Slate Mine café is the first stop on stage 2, and the stage notes say to leave Ennerdale Bridge with everything.
- Patterdale to Shap, 24.6 km. Nothing whatever. The stage notes say it twice.
What to carry
- Water capacity of 1.5 to 2 litres. The stage notes ask for 1 to 1.5 litres on the short Shap to Orton crossing in warm weather, 1.5 to 2 litres to Blakey Ridge, and at least 1.5 litres on the last day.
- Treatment. A filter or tablets turn the fell becks on stages 2, 3 and 4 into water. They do not make the mining-moor becks on stage 9 a good idea, and the Haweswater page says reservoir water is not for drinking.
- A day's food plus a spare. The spare covers a closed café; Kennedys in Orton shuts in the afternoon, Falling Foss is seasonal, and Lord Stones' hours decide whether stage 13 has any stop at all.
- Cash. The stage 9 notes recommend coins and cash for the dale businesses.
Water safety in three lines
Fell becks with sheep above them: treat. Moorland becks: peat-stained, treat, and expect them to taste of it. Anything below old lead workings on stages 9 and the Swaledale side of 8: the stage notes say treat with caution, which in practice means carry enough not to need it.
Packed lunches and evening meals
On this route half-board usually means breakfast, an evening meal and a packed lunch, and it is the only lunch on offer at Keld, Blakey Ridge and Clay Bank Top. The stage notes mention evening meals at the White Swan in Danby Wiske and Keld Lodge, and pubs with food at most other stage ends; the accommodation guide makes the case for a room above a pub on a wet Lakeland night, because you eat without going back outside. Vegetarian options are widely available; the guided-tours page advises flagging vegan or other dietary needs in writing before you arrive, which applies just as much to a B&B you booked yourself.
Resupply towns, in order
If you only remember four places, remember these, because each is the last shop for a while: Kirkby Stephen (end of stage 7, before the Swaledale moors), Reeth (end of stage 9, the bakeries are good for trail food), Richmond (end of stage 10, the fullest range of shops and outdoor gear on the route, and the usual rest day), and Osmotherley (end of stage 12, before the Moors). Grasmere, at the end of stage 3, does the same job for the Lakes.
The stay and eat directory lists places at each stage end from the same database as the stage pages; the packing list covers bottles, filters and the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Are there shops along the Coast to Coast?
In the towns and a few villages. Kirkby Stephen, Reeth, Richmond and Osmotherley have proper shops; St Bees, Ennerdale Bridge, Grasmere, Orton and Grosmont have a village shop or several; Keld, Blakey Ridge and Clay Bank Top have none. The route's FAQ puts it simply: buy food for the following day when you pass a shop, not when you need it.
Is there drinking water on the Coast to Coast?
It varies by stage and it is the thing walkers get wrong. Taps and cafés exist in the villages; between them, several stages have no reliable safe water at all, including Patterdale to Shap, Kirkby Stephen to Keld and Clay Bank Top to Blakey Ridge. Fell becks can be treated; moorland becks are peat-stained; on the mining moor above Swaledale the stage notes advise against beck water because of metals in the ground.
Which stage has the longest stretch without a shop or pub?
Patterdale to Shap has nothing at all for 24.6 km, not even a tap. The longest run between shops is from Osmotherley to Glaisdale, about 50 km over stages 13, 14 and the first half of 15, with only the Lord Stones café at Carlton Bank and the Lion Inn on Blakey Ridge in between.
Can I get a packed lunch?
Usually. On this route half-board normally means breakfast, an evening meal and a packed lunch, and the stage notes mention packed lunches at the Lion Inn and evening meals at the White Swan in Danby Wiske. Ask when you book; in the villages without a shop it is the only lunch available.
Do I need to carry a stove?
Not unless you are camping. Every stage end has an evening meal within reach, and the hostels and bunkhouses on the route have kitchens. What you need to carry is the day's food and water, not the means to cook it.
