What's Dave Doing?

04/08/2026

Singapore's Changi airport is the best in the world, and it's not even close. I spent 8+ hours there before my late-night flight a few weeks ago, and still only just managed to squeeze in everything I wanted to see and do!

Singapore's Changi Airport is the best in the world, and it's not even close. Here's how to rock your layover there no matter how long it is!

16/07/2026

All going well, I'd never have been able to write this review. I didn't start the South West Coast Path carrying a one-person tent, but sadly I finished with one. On the upside, I discovered that a hundred bucks gets you a hell of a lot of tent if you buy the right one!

After 22 nights under canvas in Naturehike's Cloud Up 1, I'm very impressed by just how much tent you get for so little money.

07/04/2026

To finish up my articles about the South West Coast Path, I've just hit publish on this comprehensive guide to what was, as I'm sure you've gathered by now, an incredible walk.

It's a more high-level view than the daily guides I've been writing, with details on things like costs, accommodation, food and drink, and a whole lot more. If you've been at all tempted to walk the path yourself after all the updates and guides I've been sharing for the last few months, you'll want to bookmark this one!

That'll be it for SWCP articles for now: 160,000 words is a lot of writing on one subject! 😄

Everything you need to know about walking the South West Coast Path, a 630+ mile National Trail around the southwest coast of the UK.

01/04/2026

And done!!

It took me seven weeks to walk the South West Coast Path, and five months to write 150,000 words about it! 🙃 Madness, but hopefully worth it for anyone else who wants to tackle this incredible walk.

Make a cup of your favourite beverage, start at day 1, and settle in. The first half of each post is the story of that day's walking, the second half is planning and logistical information for anyone thinking about doing it themselves.

Enjoy!

My detailed guides to walking each day of the South West Coast Path, over 630 miles from Minehead to South Haven Point.

20/02/2026

Week five of the South West Coast Path in the bag! Writing about it, that is.

This week was bookended by some absolutely terrible weather, even if it had plenty of glorious sunshine in the middle. It started just outside Falmouth, where I got the most drenched I've been on any day of this walk, and finished in Plymouth,on a day when 100kmh winds and rain meant ferries weren't running and forced a sudden change of plans!

What's that, you say? Summer is over?

My detailed guides to walking each day of the South West Coast Path, over 630 miles from Minehead to South Haven Point.

16/01/2026

I forgot to post this the other day, but I've now finished writing about my third week on the South West Coast Path. It starts in a gorgeous little village made famous by Martin Clunes, and finishes at the point where my joint walk suddenly became a solo one!

As usual, you can find all of my SWCP guides in one place to save you clicking around. Hope you like them, and if you've got any feedback or comments, let me know!

My detailed guides to walking each day of the South West Coast Path, over 630 miles from Minehead to South Haven Point.

07/12/2025

I've now finished my guides to the second week of the South West Coast Path, starting in the only town in the UK with an exclamation mark in its name and finishing at one of the best pubs I visited on the entire trail.

In between, there were incredible views, unbelievably steep cliffs and valleys, endless sunshine, and the world's blackest toenail.

You can read them, and the rest of the guides, here:

My detailed guides to walking each day of the South West Coast Path, over 630 miles from Minehead to South Haven Point.

02/12/2025

I took a quick break from writing up daily guides to the South West Coast Path to...write a review of the tent Lauren and I used on the South West Coast Path. Really mixing up those topics there, Dave.

Honestly, this lightweight tent is so much better than I expected it to be for the money. It's hundreds of dollars cheaper than the big brand versions, but with a few small caveats, is just as good for our purposes.

Whether we've been hiking for a night or several weeks, or even just driving to a campsite for the weekend, it's served us incredibly well!

After 23 nights under canvas in Naturehike's Cloud Up3 tent, I'm amazed how good it is for the money.

17/11/2025

If you've been missing my daily updates from the South West Coast Path anywhere near as much as I've missed walking it, I've got something for you!

I've decided to take on the ambitious task of writing up daily guides to the path: there'll be 49 of them in the end, part the story of my experiences, part logistical information for anyone thinking about walking that section of the path themselves. We're looking at 100,000 words or more by the time I'm done: that's the size of a good novel!

Rather than sharing each one individually here, I've put together a page where you can find each guide as I write it. The first week is up now, at https://whatsdavedoing.com/south-west-coast-path-guides/, and I'm adding two or three each week.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

My detailed guides to walking each day of the South West Coast Path, over 630 miles from Minehead to South Haven Point.

01/10/2025

🎉🎉FINAL DAY!!!🎉🎉

Day 49 of the South West Coast Path: Langton Matravers to South Haven Point. 21.5km (13.4 miles), 421m (1380 feet).

I slept terribly overnight for no particular reason, other than perhaps to maintain consistency with the rest of the walk. After grabbing a coffee and breakfast roll from the onsite cafe that opened at 7:30am (what a blessing that was), I set off in the drizzle and gloom for my last day on the South West Coast Path.

The trail was slippery and full of sticky mud - I don't think I've had dirtier shoes at any point on this walk - so I spent most of the morning with my head down, trying to avoid rolling an ankle in the final few hours. The rain came and went all the way to Swanage, where the first hints of blue sky started to appear as I walked along the promenade and out the other side of town.

I'd been getting a bit sad that my photos at the end were going to be of me standing in murky drizzle, but the path wasn't going to be that cruel. As I approached the lovely views over Old Harry Rocks, the sun broke through and the clouds drifted out to sea.

My thru-hiking buddy from the day before caught up with me at this point, and we walked for a little while together before he sped off to meet his family at the finish line. I was in a more reflective mood, ambling along the long, sandy expanse of Knoll Beach as my mind filled with thoughts and memories about the last seven weeks of walking.

Before I knew it, I'd rounded the corner and the large blue marker that signals the eastern end of the coast path at South Haven Point was in sight. My thru-hiking friend was still there with his family, who all gave me a loud cheer as I walked the final few metres up to the marker and enveloped it in a hug.

52 days after setting off from Minehead, through scorching sunshine, pouring rain, and howling gales, powered mostly by coffee, fish and chips, and more breakfast baps than I could possibly count, I'd finished what was easily the longest, hardest, most beautiful, and most rewarding walk I've ever done.

I now understand why people refer to the South West Coast Path as one of the greatest long-distance walks in the world - it truly is. I hope we continue to treasure and care for this remarkable trail, so that generations from now, people can still have all of the joy, pain, and sheer exhilaration I've just been privileged enough to experience.

Thanks for your support and encouragement along the way - it means a lot. For now, I'm off to sleep in a bed, eat some vegetables, and not put one foot in front of the other for a while!

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Below I've included a few stats from the walk, for anyone who might be interested. They're as measured by my Garmin each day, from when I set out each morning to when I arrived at my accommodation each night.

Total days: 52
Walking days: 49
Official trail distance: 1017.6km (632.3 miles)
Actual distance walked: 1193.5km (741.6 miles)
Official ascent: 35,079m (115,088 feet)
Actual ascent: 38,434m (126,095 feet)
Calories burned: 83,212
Steps taken: 1,543,364