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Berwickshire Coastal Path

Stretching for some 48km from Cockburnspath in the north down to the English Border and Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Berwickshire Coastal Path provides some superb walking. The northern end of the route links up with the Southern Upland Way, whilst the John Muir Way which continues round the coastline of East Lothian is accessible via the John Muir link.

Stage descriptions Length Time Done
Cockburnspath to Dowlaw 12km 3½-4 hours
Dowlaw to St Abbs 11km 3½-4 hours
St Abbs - Eyemouth 6km 2 hours
Eyemouth to Berwick upon Tweed 19km 5-6 hours

The route takes in some dramatic clifftop scenery complete with arches, stacks and crumbling castles. It rounds St Abb's Head, a National Nature Reserve renowned for its birdlife, to reach the attractive fishing village of St Abbs. Several sandy beaches are reached en route to the town of Eyemouth, before the long final stage leads on along the cliffs to cross the Border.

THE CHALLENGE

The Berwickshire Coastal Path is well waymarked for most of the route. The going is reasonably straightforward with some steep ascents and descents. Care is needed by unprotected cliff edges.

BOOKS AND MAPS



BAGGAGE TRANSFERS AND WALKING PACKAGES

Click to find organised Berwickshire Coastal Path walking holiday packages and baggage transfer providers.

ACCOMMODATION AND SERVICES ALONG THE WAY

There is bed and breakfast accommodation at Cockburnspath, but no facilites at Dowlaw except for a car park. St Abbs, Eyemouth and Berwick all also have hotel accommodation as well as bed and breakfast and shops.

St Abbs and Berwick-upon-Tweed also feature hostels.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Cockburnspath has a local bus to Dunbar, which itself has a train station and onward bus services.

There is no public transport to Dowlaw, though fit walkers will be able to combine the stages. St Abbs and Eyemouth both have bus services, whilst Berwick-upon-Tweed has good bus and rail links.

Timetables for all the routes can be found on Traveline Scotland.

Users' walk reports for the Berwickshire Coastal Path

There are 276 Walkhighlanders who have completed the Berwickshire Coastal Path. To record if you have completed the route, you must register and be logged in. Our users have contributed 10 public walk reports for the route. These are ordered below with the most popular ones first.

Title AuthorDate walked Likes
Video: Coastal Path in 2 days with wild camp  Hounds of Howgate 14/07/2018  11
St Abbs to Cockburnspath (Peace and Buiscuits)  Ettrick Shepherd 14/09/2019  8
The Berwickshire Coastal Path 2023, featuring Storm Babet  Robbiemo10 21/10/2023  3
Berwickshire Coastal Path  nigheandonn 04/11/2017  3
Berwickshire Coastal Path - Cockburnspath - Burnmouth  rdtoward21 20/06/2014  3
Berwickshire Coastal Path  noxidajd1961 06/07/2015  2
Berwickshire Coastal Path: 2 days Cockburnspath to Berwick  ceholts 29/07/2022  1
Berwickshire Coastal Path 4: Eyemouth to Berwick  Ian_Chapman 20/08/2012  1
Berwickshire Coastal Path - Dowlaw Farm to Eyemouth  rdtoward21 14/07/2012  1
Minibus to access walks  walkermiles 04/04/2018  0

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Walking can be dangerous and all walkers must take personal responsibility for their own safety. You should always carry a backup means of navigation and not rely on a single phone, app or map. Walkhighlands strives to provide accurate information but cannot accept responsibility for changes, errors or omissions.