British treks

In southwest Wales, follow a coastline rich in birdlife, including gannets and peregrine falcons, and offering stunning scenic contrasts with remote sandy beaches and dunes, windswept cliff-tops edged with wildflowers, picturesque harbours and quaint villages. Step into history too, because the path, which meanders for 290km, passes 40 Iron Age forts, medieval castles and rusting relics of the industrial revolution (www.about britain.com/articles/pembroke shire-coastal-path.asp).

Scotland's longest trail, just over the border from England and stretching 340km, starts at the pretty harbour of Portpatrick on the west coast, near Stranraer, and leads to the village of Cocksburnpath on the eastern seaboard, not far from Edinburgh. One of the less-travelled long-distance walks, it crosses sparsely populated countryside of forests, gentle hills, lakes surrounded by woodland that shelters deer and wild goats, and rugged, exposed moorland. The trail is well served by guesthouses, and vehicle support is available to carry backpacks from stage to stage (www.southernuplandway.com). In the west, the trail enters the Galloway Hills area where Robert the Bruce fought the English, and follows an ancient pilgrimage route scattered with prehistoric cairns. Small villages include Sanquar, whose tiny post office is the oldest in Britain. In the eastern stretches, visit Sir Walter Scott's Abbotsford House, ruined castles and the ancient Melrose Abbey with its bloody history, cross moors thick with grouse and walk the banks of the River Tweed, known for its salmon.