World's Longest Coastal Trail Is Open

England has stitched together a new national calling card: a single walking route that wraps around its coast. King Charles III on Thursday inaugurated the nearly 2,700-mile trail, reports Lincolnshire World. All told, the King Charles III England Coast Path makes up the world's longest managed coastal trail, reports the BBC, citing the government body behind the project, Natural England. The route knits together existing paths with more than 1,000 miles of new or upgraded stretches, adding boardwalks, bridges, and step-free sections to improve access. Roughly 80% is finished, but the full route will be open in a matter of months.

It winds past chalk cliffs like the Seven Sisters, salt marshes, dunes, nature reserves, former military sites, and historic seaside towns, while newly granted access rights open previously off-limits beaches and clifftops. Work has been underway more than 15 years, and the path has been built to flex with a changing climate: A first-of-its-kind legal "rollback" provision allows the trail to be shifted inland as erosion and landslips reshape the shoreline. Conde Nast Traveler has details on its eight sections, while the BBC estimates it would take two years of daily walking to complete a continuous coastal trek if you tack on Scotland and Wales.