The Wales Coast Path is an 870-mile route around the whole coast of Wales that officially opened in 2012. It was the first country in the world with a path around its entire coastline and the routes takes in two National Parks, three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, eleven National Nature Reserves and numerous other Sites of Specific Scientific Interest and Local Nature Reserves. The route is undoubtedly a triumph, linking the already successful coastal paths of Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Anglesey with some of the lesser known parts of the Welsh coast. In North and South Wales, where towns and cities dominate large parts of the coast, the route has in the main avoided too much road tramping and found quiet corners of these otherwise busy parts of Wales. And, in the cliffs that make up a large proportion of the coastline between Great Orme’s Head and Barry Island, Wales has a natural resource that needs very little introduction.

The Wales Coast Path: A Practical Guide for Walkers by Christopher Goddard and Katharine Evans was first published in March 2014 by St David’s Press, with an updated 2nd edition following in 2021, and was the first guidebook to cover the whole of the route of the newly-opened Wales Coast Path. It is an essential companion for both the serious long-distance walker and for day-trippers who wish to tackle the Coast Path one stage at a time.