Some information that might be helpful to anybody planning to do the SWCP.
Aged 59 I wanted to attempt this walk before I hit 60.. My budget was £2500 staying in hotels & B&Bs. To keep on budget I planned a 31 day itinerary with 30 nights accommodation & on 4 occasions taking a bus inland to a cheaper hotel. I booked all these in advance so the itinerary was not flexible.
I set off on April 29th & finished on May 29th with my wife driving me to the start & picking me up at the end. All the ferries were operating apart from the Starcross to Exmouth ferry but fortunately there is a direct train service between these 2 places.
I used my Osprey Talon 44 Backpack weighing 7.7 Kg without food or drink. I did take all 5 AZ Adventure series books & the most recent SWCP association handbook which was useful for tide times etc, plus a decent pair of binoculars for bird watching so I could have traveled lighter.

Accommodation - £1647 (24 of the 30 included breakfast)
Ferries - £41.80
Buses - £33.00
Train - £8.10
Compeed - £10.98
Food & Drink £781.88 (could have been less bus I enjoy a proper meal & a few pints)
TOTAL £2511.78
In total 1 walked 665 miles including to and from accommodation. Averaging 21.5 miles a day.

My itinerary. (mileage includes walking to & from accommodation)
Day 1 - Minehead to Lynton - 21 miles - St Vincent Guest House
Day 2 - Lynton to Ilfracombe - 19.9 miles - Avoncourt Lodge
Day 3 - Ilfracombe to Barnstable 28.7 miles - The Yeo Dale Hotel
Day 4 - Barnstable to Westward Ho! - 23.6 miles - Premier Inn (Bideford)
Day 5 - Westward Ho! to Hartland Quay - 21.9 miles - Hartland Quay Hotel
Day 6 - Hartland Quay to Bude - 15.7 miles - Premier Inn
Day 7 - Bude to Tintagel - 23.4 miles - Pendrin Guest House
Day 8 - Tintagel to Trevone - 27.2 miles - Well Parc Hotel
Day 9 - Trevone to Newquay - 23.6 miles - Premier Inn
Day 10 - Newquay to Portreath - 24.2 miles - Portreath Arms
Day 11 - Portreath to St Ives - 18 miles - The Western
Day 12 - St Ives to St Just - 19 miles - The Wellington
Day 13 - St Just to Penzance - 24.2 miles - Premier Inn
Day 14 - Penzance to Lizard - 28 miles - Haelarcher Farmhouse
Day 15 - Lizard to Porthallow - 17.4 miles - Gallen Treath Guest House
Day 16 - Porthallow to Portscatho - 23.4 miles - Bus to Truro - Donnington Guest House
Day 17 - Portscatho to Mevagissey - 19.8 miles - The Wheel House
Day 18 - Mevagissey to Polperro - 26.9 miles - House on The Props
Day 19 - Polperro to Kingsand - 23 miles - Half Way House
Day 20 - Kingsand to Wembury - 19 miles - Bus to Plymouth - Mariners House Hotel
Day 21 - Wembury to Kingston - 16 miles - The Dolphin Inn
Day 22 – Kingston to Salcombe - 16.6 miles - Bus to West Alvington - Ring O Bells
Day 23 – Salcombe to Dartmouth - 23.1 - 8 Bells B&B
Day 24 – Dartmouth to Babbacombe 25 miles - The Anchorage Hotel
Day 25 – Babbacombe to Exmouth - 16.4 miles - Manor Hotel
Day 26 – Exmouth to Beer - 21.6 miles - Dolphin Hotel
Day 27 – Beer to West Bay - 20.7 miles - Durbyfield B&B
Day 28 – West Bay to Portland - 22.7 miles - Seventy Seven B&B
Day 29 – Portland to Lulworth Cove - 26.1 miles - Rudds of Lulworth
Day 30 – Lulworth Cove to Swanage - 20.9 miles - Bus to Wareham - Angelbury House
Day 31 – Swanage to Haven Point - 8 miles

At the moment some of England's and Wales's YHA hostels are still closed due to Covid because they don't have small private rooms which can be used by couples or families (or may do only group bookings), but a few have reopened. You can check by selecting the ones shown on the SWCP from yha.org.uk and querying availability and prices for your expected dates.

An alternative, and for sole or couple travellers now in my view preferable (like YHA used to be) are the increasing number of independent hostels, some of which are old YHA premises which have reopened as independents, but I don't know how many of those there are on the SWCP. Try https://independenthostels.co.uk/

Though there won't be many on the more remote parts of the SWCP, larger towns and cities including Plymouth and Exeter, plus towns in Cornwall which could be used as bases from which to get to the coast path and back, now have chain hotels such as Premier Inns, which if booked early can be cheaper than b&bs and even hostels.

I'll post this on here because this is the walk my wife and I are considering.

The point is that this is a long walk (no kidding?)...and if we stay in B&Bs all the way it is going to get seriously expensive.

We really don't want to camp so Youth Hostels seems to be the best solution.

My problem is that right now, given the pandemic, I don't seem to be able to find out what the Hostels cost to stay at...

So, I am thinking that someone on here might be able to give me a clue...it doesn't have to be exact, just a ball park that will help me work out the overall cost.

Anyone out the that could help?

Many thanks,

Patrick

Its a shame you missed the Erme at low water, its an exhilerating paddle
Several estuaries can be enjoyably walked round, but it makes the walk even longer

Oops! Pressed the wrong button.

I intended to say that ferries were an issue on this section of the path. The major ones keep regular hours but a couple are one man bands. I was lucky to arrive early at the Yealm crossing. The ferryman had a hospital appointment and was leaving at 11am! The Erme has no ferry at all and can only be crossed on foot within an hour of low water. Needless to say I arrived at high tide - an expensive taxi ride was the preferred alternative to walking an extra 9 miles on narrow roads.

Two excellent National Trust properties passed en route. Overbecks on the approach to Salcombe and Coleton Fishacre, a wonderful arts & crafts house and garden after Dartmouth. Both very interesting and highly recommended.

Walked another 150 miles from Portloe to Torquay in April and here are a few notes on accommodation which I hope will be useful. No hostels this time as they are rather thin on the ground in this section. Not always easy to find single rooms at a reasonable price.
Mevagissey - Honeycombe House. A super B & B. Refurbished Victorian house with great view of the harbour. Highly recommended.
Fowey (Polruan) - Hormond House. Characterful cottage with a pleasant owner.
Looe - Bridgeside Guest House. A bit tatty but excellent breakfast and convenient location. Cheapest of the trip and excellent value.
Kingsand - The Halfway House Inn. Smart but pricey. Good evening meal.
Wembury Bay B & B. No problems, Very good pub up the road.
Bigbury - Summer Winds. I was given the family suite! The luxury of a bath.
Kingsbridge - 2 Kings Arms Cottages. Salcombe is a bit Chelsea-on-Sea and Torcross has very little accommodation so stayed here 2 nights. Very pleasant and good eating options in Kingsbridge.
Dartmouth - Eight Bells B & B. Quirky B & B on the quay. Pleasant owner.

lots of ferries on this section. The small ones (

Sally,
As I am confined to barracks with a nasty cold (and it is a great day for a fell walk out there, sunny and clear if cold) I will try to cheer myself up with some further thoughts on the SWCP.

As you say you have done lots of LDPs you probably have a good idea of your own capabilities, but 20 miles every day (and there will be an average of almost 4000 feet of ascent), particularly if you are doing it in one hit, is quite a commitment, and it would be a shame to rush it. I suspect you are much younger than me - with my 75th birthday fast approaching I find that 15 miles a day is about right. A fair challenge when carrying all your kit, but with sufficient time even when walking in the short days of early spring to savour unexpected delights, of which there will be many, as well as allowing time to shelter from the worst of the inevitable bad weather days. Both my trips so far have involved 11 straight days walking (other commitments have restricted me to that) but I have found that is about right, long enough to feel you have completed a journey, but a manageable amount to plan ahead in detail at one time.

I haven't always stuck to that plan.My very first day was 21 miles and 5000 feet from Minehead to Lynton (Porlock is really the only place before Lynton and that's only half a day's walk) and I was pretty tired when I reached Lynmouth, only to see the last railway of the day going up the cliff! It was a hard pull to my B & B at the very top of Lynton village. Hardest day so far was the 20 miles from St Ives to St Just. The section from St Ives to Zennor is boggy and with rocky scrambles, much tougher than most of the path.

On the book/don't book issue, I can well understand the appeal of not booking accommodation ahead and playing it by ear. However I personally find one of the joys of walking LDPs is the sheer simplicity of it all. You soon get into the swing of your days consisting of eating breakfast, slinging your pack on your back and walking to your next port of call. For me not having to worry about finding a bed for the night is part of that. The only decision of the day is lunch, but no shortage of options in that part of the world, anything from a sandwich from the Co-op to seafood at a nice pub depending on your mood.

Enjoy the walk, however you decide to do it. Commitments to visit our family in far flung parts of the world mean that it will be mid-April before I will get back to the path. Can't wait!

Hi Sally,
Yes, I generally book the accommodation ahead. I have found The SWCP Association year book a good source of information and it is good to support B & B providers who in turn support the path. I find it more enjoyable knowing that I don't have to find my bed for the night at the end of a long day. Reasonably priced single rooms can be hard to find so it can pay to sort things out in advance, particularly at weekends and bank holidays. And finally planning the itinerary and anticipating the joys ahead is a pleasant thing to do in the depths of winter.

Thanks Tony - I've printed your list of accommodation, did you pre-book? At the moment working out roughly where I might stop and seeing what accommodation is available - will risk doing it ad hoc after the first night, with a list of phone numbers to ring if there aren't many options for the next day.
Good luck completing the path!

I have got as far as Falmouth from Minehead in two visits.
For what it is worth here are some accommodation options that have worked for me:-
Minehead - Duke of Wellington. A Wetherspoon pub, fine for one night.
Lynton - Rockvale Guesthouse.
Braunton - North Cottage, North Street.
Clovelly - Pillowery Park. A nice B & B, pleasant walk down to the village for dinner.
Elmscott - Elmscott Bunkhouse. A simple self catering ex-YHA hostel.
Boscastle - Bowcastle YHA. Nicely refurbished after the floods, some noisy families when I stayed at Easter.
Mawgan Porth - Bre-Pen Farm B & B. Nice pub within walking distance.
Perranporth - Perranporth YHA. Self catering only but a fabulous position on Droskyn Point.
Portreath - Cliff House B & B. Good pub for evening meal next door.
St Ives - Cohort Hostel. In an interesting refurbished building in the centre of town.
St Just - Lands End YHA. In a lovely lush valley, great food.
Porthcurno - Sea View House B & B. Try to find time to visit the excellent Telegraph Museum.
Penzance - Penzance YHA. A lovely refurbished old building on the edge of town.
Porthallow - Gallen-treath Guesthouse. Great pub in the village - The Five Pilchards.

Hoping to complete this superb path in 2018.

a friend of mine did not book ahead and he found it OK. He found he got better deals for a single person at the last minute. He was able to avoid school hols.

Hi Raymond - thanks for your comments. I also planned to walk all round the British coastline, originally in one go, but have now decided to do it in bits. Want to do the South West Coast Path around June next year, should be warm (in theory), long days and before the schools break up. Someone else suggested the South West Coast Path Association guidebook, which I've now got. My idea is to book the first night accommodation and just take each day as it comes. Would I have any problems finding B&Bs on the day enroute in the bigger towns? That way I can plan distances as I go along, and see how I feel. Many thanks for taking time to reply.
Sally

Sally
My wife and I have done the SWCP in mostly one week sections over many years. We have met people who were doing it in one, some by backpacking. You have to do what suits you and fits in with you time and money. It is a very interesting walk and I think it would be a mistake to rush it, even though there would be great satisfaction in doing it in a short time.
The South West Coast Association publish a very useful guidebook which is updated every year. It covers the route, public transport, ferries, accommodation etc.

There are some bits of the route where you can stay for a few days and use buses to access sections. Makes it easier.

I could tell you more but I do not know what you know already. We have done a lot of the UK coast and we are hoping to complete Engalnd and Wales over the next 3 years

Hi - have wanted to do the South West Coastal Path for sometime, not sure how to go about it, would be great if someone (or more) out there would like to do it too. About 630 miles, in one hit, averaging say 20 a day looking at about 31 days, or break it up and do it in sections, as and when. Thought I would just throw this out, probably looking at starting next year now. Have been a member for about seven years and done lots of great trails, never been on the forum before, so no idea who, if anyone, will read this.
Hope to hear from someone, if only with advice.
Sally Lightfoot
Norfolk