The National Trail along the Wales–England border, from Sedbury Cliffs on the Severn to the sea at Prestatyn, in its twelve sections: the Wye valley, the Black Mountains, the switchbacks of the Dyke itself and the Clwydian hills.
Best season: All year; most walk April to October. The path can be walked all year, National Trails says; most people walk it between April and October, and spring and early summer are best for the flowers. June to August are the busiest and warmest months. The Offa's Dyke Association's season runs from Easter to October, when its passport stamps are out. The Hatterrall Ridge, the highest point at about 700 m, is exposed in bad weather. Before you go
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Twelve sections, the National Trail's own. Two section ends are crossings with the town a short walk off: Buttington Bridge, for Welshpool, and Chirk Mill, for Chirk. The Hatterrall Ridge day is often split at Llanthony, below the ridge. Choose a plan, or pick your own start, finish and nights below.
Changing where you stay suggests a new number of days: the fewest that keep each day under 8 h of walking and in daylight, where a place to stay allows.
Days end where the route has a stay, a camp or a village.
Stage 1: From the start stone on Sedbury Cliffs up the Wye valley to Monmouth: 28 km, National Trails says.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
A market town on the Wye with hotels, B&Bs and a riverside caravan site.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 4 places to stay within about 1300 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 2: Across farmland past White Castle to Pandy: 27 km. There is no Dyke on this section.
Overnight
Hostel or bunkhouse
Pick a date to check the season.
A small village below the Black Mountains with an inn and caravan sites; beds are few, so book ahead.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 3 places to stay within about 1300 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 3: Over the Hatterrall Ridge, the highest point of the trail at about 700 m, to Hay Bluff and down to Hay-on-Wye: 28.2 km. Walkers often split it at Llanthony or Longtown, below the ridge.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
The book town on the Wye, with hotels, B&Bs and a campsite.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 18 places to stay within about 1300 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 4: By Newchurch and Gladestry and over Hergest Ridge to Kington: 23.3 km.
Overnight
Hostel or bunkhouse
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
A small market town with inns, a walkers' B&B and a campsite.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 5 places to stay within about 1300 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 5: To Knighton, near halfway, home of the Offa's Dyke Centre: 21.7 km.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
Near halfway, with the Offa's Dyke Centre, a station, a hotel, B&Bs and a farm campsite.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 2 places to stay within about 1300 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 6: The switchback section along the Dyke, generally reckoned the toughest of the trail, past the halfway marker above Newcastle on Clun to Brompton Crossroads: 24 km.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
A crossroads hamlet with a country-house hotel and a campsite close by; beds are few. Montgomery is a short detour.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 2 places to stay within about 1300 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 7: To Buttington Bridge on the Severn: 20 km. Montgomery is a detour of about 1.2 km; Welshpool is a short walk from the end.
Buttington Bridge Stay in or via Welshpool
Where the path crosses the Severn, with nothing there: Welshpool, with a station and hotels, is about 2.5 km away.
OpenStreetMap lists at least 1 place to stay within about 1300 m of Welshpool; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
See the area on OpenStreetMapStage 8: The flattest section, along the Severn and the Montgomery Canal to Llanymynech: 17 km. Parts are prone to flooding, and National Trails still lists a diversion for new bridge works over the canal: follow the signs.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
A village on the border with an inn that lets rooms.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 9: Over Llanymynech Hill and Moelydd and by Oswestry Old Racecourse to Chirk Mill: 22.5 km.
Chirk Mill Stay in or via Chirk
The mill on the Ceiriog below Chirk Castle: Chirk, with a station and a bunkhouse, is about 2.5 km away.
OpenStreetMap lists at least 1 place to stay within about 1300 m of Chirk; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
See the area on OpenStreetMapStage 10: Over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, below the Eglwyseg crags and by World's End and Llandegla Forest to Llandegla: 25.7 km, National Trails says (it also gives 15.5 miles, which is 24.9 km).
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
A small village below the forest, with a campsite and a country-house B&B.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 2 places to stay within about 1300 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 11: Along the Clwydian ridge over Foel Fenlli, Moel Famau and its Jubilee Tower, Moel Arthur and Penycloddiau to Bodfari: 28 km.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
A small village with a caravan park that takes tents; beds are few.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 1 place to stay within about 1300 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 12: Over the last hills and down from Prestatyn Hillside through the town to the beach: 19 km.
Longest day: day 1, 8 h 42.
Days end at a stage end with a refuge or a village, or in a village the route passes through. Walking times are measured on each stage's mapped line by our route analysis (terrain heights and our hiking-time model, moving time only): no time is published for these stages.Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Running times use 7.5 km/h plus one hour per 700 m of climb: a steady reference, not a prediction. Daylight is sunrise to sunset where the day starts; the time left is for breaks, meals and delays.Refuge dates come from the operator's own pages; when they are not published, we say so. For villages we count the places to stay OpenStreetMap lists; we have not checked which are open. A plan is not a booking: reserve every night before you commit to these day lengths.
Where each stage ends, the 2026 and 2027 seasons the operator publishes, and how to book. Read from the operators' pages on 13 October 2026; each stage page shows the sources and the grade profile.
| Stage | Night at | 2026 | 2027 | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sedbury Cliffs to Monmouth | Riverside Hotel | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking request |
| 2. Monmouth to Pandy | Llwyn Celyn | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 3. Pandy to Hay-on-Wye | The Swan at Hay | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking request |
| 4. Hay-on-Wye to Kington | Kington Accommodation | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking request |
| 5. Kington to Knighton | The Knighton Hotel | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking request |
| 6. Knighton to Brompton Crossroads | Mellington Hall Country House Hotel | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking request |
| 7. Brompton Crossroads to Buttington Bridge | Welshpool | Not checked | Not checked | |
| 8. Buttington Bridge to Llanymynech | Bradford Arms Hotel | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking request |
| 9. Llanymynech to Chirk Mill | Chirk | Not checked | Not checked | |
| 10. Chirk Mill to Llandegla | Llyn Rhys Campsite | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking request |
| 11. Llandegla to Bodfari | Station House Caravan Park | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking request |
| 12. Bodfari to Prestatyn | Plas Ifan | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking request |
Loading the forecast for low point (sea level) and high point (702 m)…
Typical weather on this trail: at the lowest point (sea level) and the highest point (702 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed |
| Stages rated good on typical weather | 0/12 | 1/12 | 9/12 | 12/12 | 12/12 | 12/12 | 12/12 | 12/12 | 12/12 | 12/12 | 9/12 | 1/12 |
| High point, day / night | 4°/0° | 4°/0° | 7°/0° | 9°/2° | 13°/4° | 15°/7° | 17°/9° | 17°/9° | 14°/7° | 10°/5° | 7°/2° | 5°/0° |
| Low point, day / night | 8°/3° | 9°/3° | 11°/4° | 14°/6° | 17°/8° | 20°/11° | 22°/13° | 21°/13° | 19°/11° | 15°/9° | 11°/5° | 9°/4° |
| Rain, mm | 157 | 129 | 126 | 102 | 96 | 106 | 107 | 118 | 111 | 170 | 188 | 185 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Possible | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | Frost | Possible |
| Daylight | 8 h 16 | 9 h 55 | 11 h 46 | 13 h 49 | 15 h 36 | 16 h 40 | 16 h 16 | 14 h 43 | 12 h 45 | 10 h 46 | 8 h 53 | 7 h 49 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Places to stay are limited in some areas, National Trails says, so book ahead. By our count of the listed places, the fewest beds near the path are at Pandy, Brompton Crossroads, Bodfari and Chirk Mill. There is no right to wild camp along the trail: ask the landowner. Luggage-transfer services run along the path.
The old bridge between Chepstow and the Gloucestershire bank, the walk from the station towards the start, closed to vehicles in October 2025 and to everyone in March 2026, after cracks were found. It reopened to walkers in June 2026, but Monmouthshire County Council closes it when the temperature is 30 °C or above or below −3 °C. Check the council's page before you go.
Monmouthshire County Council: Old Wye BridgeSection 3 runs about 11 miles (18 km) along the open Hatterrall Ridge to Hay Bluff, up to about 700 m: in mist and wind it is exposed, and walkers often split the day at Llanthony or Longtown below. Section 6, the switchbacks along the Dyke north of Knighton, is generally reckoned the toughest day.
National Trails: route descriptionNational Trails lists the path's diversions on its map. Near the Montgomery Canal a diversion for new bridge works was extended to June 2026 and is still listed; the Canal & River Trust aimed to open the bridge early in 2026. Follow the signs on the ground.
National Trails: Offa's Dyke Path trail informationClosures and notices last checked 13 October 2026: Monmouthshire: Old Wye Bridge, Chepstow · National Trails: Offa's Dyke diversions (map). Check them again before you set out.
Getting there
Choose a stage or journey above to narrow the travel searches.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Chepstow has a station (Transport for Wales), with trains all year. From the town, walk over the Wye to the start stone on Sedbury Cliffs, about 2 km.
Transport for Wales: ChepstowKnighton, near halfway, is on the Heart of Wales line, seven days a week; Welshpool is near Buttington Bridge, and Chirk near Chirk Mill; Abergavenny serves Pandy. All are Transport for Wales stations.
Transport for Wales: KnightonPrestatyn has a station on the North Wales coast line (Transport for Wales), with trains all year.
Transport for Wales: PrestatynTake your trip with you
Prepare each section while you still have a connection: on the Hatterrall Ridge and in the hills of the middle sections the signal can be weak.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
National Trails gives 177 miles (285 km), in 12 sections on our map. The guide's day planner offers a 12-day plan on the overnight stops, and you can choose your own nights.
All year; most walk April to October. The path can be walked all year, National Trails says; most people walk it between April and October, and spring and early summer are best for the flowers.
Chepstow has a station (Transport for Wales), with trains all year. The "Connect your journey" section has the travel details, with 2 more travel notes.
Places to stay are limited in some areas, National Trails says, so book ahead.
Yes: the whole route and every section, free, for a GPS watch or a phone. The guide also saves your plan for offline use in the app.
Closures we know of are shown on the days and sections they affect, in the day planner and on the stage pages. We watch 2 official notice pages (Monmouthshire: Old Wye Bridge, Chepstow; National Trails: Offa's Dyke diversions (map)); the date we last read them is shown with the notices on this page. Check them again before you set off.
Route & sources
National Trails gives 177 miles (285 km) from Sedbury Cliffs to Prestatyn in twelve sections, south to north. National Trails publishes no section times, only distances, so the times here are measured on our line. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 9649, "Offa's Dyke Path", from the planet of 11 October 2026): 285.8 km, cut at the twelve section ends, without its mapped alternative routes. Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep banks are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
National Trails: Offa's Dyke PathMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation