Mickledore Travel Traveller Reviews

Walking through beautiful Northumberland with all the details sorted and organised for us

Helpful, available, friendly, highly organised

Walking across England following the world renowned Wainwright’s Coast to Coast trail was 13 days of adventure.

Mickledore provided everything that we needed to ensure that our Coast to Coast holiday met our expectations.

The weather was fantastic. We had no rain, mostly sunny days, and warm temperatures. The trail was easy to follow, offered amazing views, and while it had a few strenuous stretches, was not too difficult. Each night's lodging was run by welcoming, friendly hosts. Our rooms were comfortable and the breakfasts were tasty. We enjoyed the variety in accommodations having different decors and settings.

This was our second trip with Mickledore. They are courteous and responsive to all messages. It took very little time on our part to coordinate through them as they made it that easy for us. We enjoyed staying at every accommodation they booked. The materials provided (maps, trail guide, restaurant/banking/transportation/shopping) were perfect in providing details and options. Our luggage transport was handled without issue.

We spent 6 days walking the island including walking up to the highest point Goatfell where the views are simply stunning. Many of the views were memorable particularly over to Holy Isle. Well worth doing! Accomodation was generally of a high standard and the luggage transfers meant that the 'usual hassle' was removed.

The booking process and contact with Mickledore via email etc were all dealt with quickly and efficiently. The information supplied to us from them including maps, guide book, in depth information re 'places to eat', public transport, and how to get to each B & B made for a very straightforward trip. So pleased with them that we have booked another trip with them since we got back!

Walking the South Downs Way National Trail, a 100 mile linear route from Winchester to Eastbourne was made a pleasurable experience with the excellent accommodation selected by the company, faultless baggage courier service, comprehensive local information and Trailblazer / Harvey map forwarded by Mickledore to allow a trouble free, enjoyable holiday.

The South Downs Way National Trail was the fourth holiday booked through this company. We keep returning as customers for the service and quality of accommodation booked for us en-route.

My wife and I walked Hadrian's Wall from Bowness to Wallsend. It was a fantastic experience and one we will remember.

We chose Mickledore at random, however we could not have made a better choice. Their input was the difference between a good walk and a great walk.

This was the second walking holiday we booked through Mickledore. Both have been first class. The holiday consisted of walking the 81 miles from Ilkley in West Yorkshire through Upper Wharfedale before crossing the crown of the country and making our way via Ribblehaed, Dent and Sedbergh to Lake Windermere. We chose to do the walk over 7 days. There are 6 and 8 day options depending on your level of fitness and how much you want to stop and take in the stunning countryside and observe the wildlife. We are both in our mid 60s and are very fit and I think the timescale was the right one for us. The first two days of our walk involved sticking pretty close to the upper reaches of the River Wharfe. It is mostly relatively easy walking although there are some moderately steep climbs to be negotiated. The landscape is lush and green and the rolling hills are criss crossed by the archetypal dry stone walls. We passed through the magnificent Bolton Abbey, skirting Appletreewick and had tea and a scone in the picturesque village of Burnsall before stopping for our first nights accommodation in Grassington. A magnificent sunny morning greeted us, as we climbed out of Grassington continuing northwards. A cool northerly breeze took the edge off the warm late May sunshine and made for almost perfect walking conditions. The descent towards Kettlewell was stunning and we enjoyed lunch by the river in the village. The afternoon took us back close to the track of the Wharfe and we made our way on through Buckden to our next stop in a lovely farmhouse called Low Raisgill in the hamlet of Yockenthwaite. Another hearty breakfast fuelled us for the next leg of our journey towards Ribblehead.. We continued our journey to the source of the Wharfe before traversing Oughtershaw Moor. This was our first stretch of real Pennine moorland. Even in the dry conditions there were still some boggy stretches. Walking boots are a must for this section of the trip. After straddling the Pennine Way for a short distance we crossed the watershed of England and before too long the imposing Ribblehead Viaduct was visible in the distance. Our next night was spent in the splendidly remote but very comfortable "Shepherd's Cottage," about 2 kilometres away from the viaduct. The cottage is right on the Dalesway and the route rises steeply up Blea Moor over a short boggy stretch before finding a track descending down into Dental going towards the village of Cowgill. The cool northerly of the first 2 days had now gone and the continuing sunshine meant the temperature was rising into the low 20s. With Whernside to the south and Aye Gill Pike to the north and the westward flowing River Dee at our side, we made our way through the beautiful valley resplendent in the warm, late spring sunshine. Dent is one of those picture postcard Pennine villages and it was lovely to reach our next stop and have a cool drink. Day 4 took us on via the Dee. The call of the cuckoo punctuated our journey westward towards the pretty village of Millthrop. From there the Dalesway loops souh of Sedbergh before meeting up with the River Lune. Our next accommodation was at Ash-hining Farm. Our guest house proprietor host drove us into Sebergh for our evening meal as is the practice at several of the more remote locations on the route. The warm sun had now become a permanent fixture on our walk and the next day was no exception. The jagged hills of the Lake District were now visible on the horizon and we made our way towards and across the M6 cutting a furrow between the Dales to the east and the Lake District. Soon afterwards we crossed the main west coast railway line and continued through very pleasant countryside and finished our day in the village of Burneside. A taxi was waiting to take us to our accommodation in nearby Kendall. Our last day was one of the shorter stretches, which I think is psychologically good. The odd ache and pain didn't seem too bad on this last morning. We even permitted ourselves a diversion up to Brant fell to enjoy the views over Windermere before descending into Bowness and our finish. Bowness did seem manic after the peace and serenity of the past week but it was great to finish. We made sure we went to register our walk at the Hawkshead shop in the town so that a donation goes to the upkeep of the Dalesway. The sunshine had been with us since lunch time on Day 1!

Mickledore have been excellent. They clearly have walkers designing their programmes. The accommodation has been very good or excellent and the luggage transportation service has been top class. The information they send out in advance is good and they respond promptly to any queries. We will definitely book with them again.

We spent six days walking with accommodation and luggage transport organised by Mickledore. Everything was very well arranged as usual, and the guide books and maps provided accurate and easily understood.

Mickledore organise self guided walking holidays and have many routes to choose from. We have used them for years as they provide a first class service

Reviewer's images:

Celebrated my 75th birthday with my son who was celebrating his 50th birthday. Great way to mark two milestones.

Mickledore was attentive to details and answered every inquiry promptly and accruayely.

This is a brief summary of the adventures of Tom and Ed and their ten-day walk on the Cotswold Way National Trail. First and foremost, we successfully completed the entire 103-mile trail in ten consecutive days from Tuesday, May 8th and finishing by walking into Bath on the afternoon of Thursday, May 17th. When I say, we walked into Bath I really mean we limped into Bath. Ed suffered from nerve issues in his toes and an injured knee. While I suffered from multiple blisters on my left foot. In addition, while the official distance of the Cotswold Way is 103 miles, Ed and I managed to walk it in just over 130 miles. Some of the extra miles were due to our bed and breakfasts being off the official Cotswold Way trail. However, most of the extra miles were due to my lack of navigational skills. We experienced highs and lows on our ten-day walk. Some of the highs were the beautiful scenery. We walked through ancient Beech Wood forests, through fields of bright yellow canola plants, and acres of wild garlic plants, blue bells & cowslip. I can still smell the garlic. We walked through valleys and pastures filled with wild flowers in full bloom. The colors were like a rainbow. We watched and talked with men sheering sheep, a stonemason building a traditional dry stonewall, and the owner of an estate near Ullenwood who shared some local history of the involvement of the area in the World War II D-Day invasion. We walked through battlefields, golf courses, and past historic monuments. We visited Abbeys, churches, and graveyards. Ed and I marveled at the ancient burial mounds like Belas Knap. We walked through miles and miles of sheep and cow pastures. Which means we walked through miles and miles of sheep and cow manure mazes. Ed managed to avoid stepping in the gifts left by the sheep and cows. I was not as lucky. On the tenth and final day of our walk, I stepped into a very deep and wet cow “pie”. While Ed failed to warn me about my pending mishap, he did support me after the fact by laughing uncontrollably for hours after my accident. We walked past outstanding examples of Cotswold sandstone architecture in the form of quaint stone farmhouses with thatched and stone roofs, beautiful Abbeys, and small town buildings. We stayed in Bed and Breakfasts in rural villages with marvelous hosts. We were served full “English” breakfasts and provided daily packed lunches for our walks. One of the greatest highs was meeting and getting to know other walkers. We met and came to know Nick and Lesel and Dr. Richard and Sally both couples from England, and Dr. Richard and Melinda from the USA. They out walked us nine of the ten days (passed us each day finishing early). However, Ed and I beat them to Bath on the tenth day entering the city like conquering heroes. While our highs greatly outnumbered our lows, we still had a few of the later. During our journey, Ed managed to lose his eyeglasses, his passport, his wallet, and his boots. While we never found his eyeglasses, Ed did find his passport and wallet in different pockets of his pants other than the pockets where he had originally placed them. After almost destroying his bedroom looking for his boots he was informed that he had left them, like all the B&B guests, in the foyer of the B&B. Another low was my left foot. Early on the walk, I developed some horrible blisters on my left foot. With the help of the doctors, we met on the trail and with Ed’s engineering skills; I managed to walk most of the trail with a bandaged left foot in moderate pain. Ed came up with the plan to cut holes in my shoe to relieve the pressure on the multitude of blisters on my left foot. The plan was much like drilling a hole in someone’s skull to relieve the pressure on the brain. It worked. However, this did precipitate the development of a reputation on the trail as the Alabama boys who had cut holes in their shoes. The walk on the Cotswold Way National Trail was one of the greatest experiences of my 66-year-old life. Ed and I completed a journey that will probably never be topped, at least in my life.

Mickledore handled all of our in-country travel arrangements. They did an outstanding job arranging our accommodations, daily packed lunches, and the transporting of our luggage from B&B to B&B.