E9 European long distance path
| E9 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Length | 5,000 km (3,100 mi) |
| Trailheads | Cabo de São Vicente, Narva-Jõesuu |
| Use | Hiking |
The E9 European long distance path, E9 path or European Coastal Path (French: Sentier Européen du Littoral) is one of the European long-distance paths, running for 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) from Cabo de São Vicente in Portugal to Narva-Jõesuu in Estonia.
The path follows the western coasts of Portugal, Spain and France as far as Roscoff. From Roscoff the path splits to offer two alternative routes:
- by ferry to Plymouth in England, and then following the English south coast as far as Dover, where another ferry crossing returns the route to Calais in France. In England the path follows parts of the South West Coast Path, the Solent Way, the South Downs Way and the Saxon Shore Way paths. The British route itself includes an alternative route via the Isle of Wight;
- or along the north coast of France from Roscoff to Calais.
The path then follows the coast of Belgium and the Netherlands. Here it follows the Dutch North Sea Trail,[1] which includes 5 successive trails:
- from Sluis (border with Belgium) to Hoek van Holland
- Hoek van Holland to Haarlem
- Haarlem to Den Oever (there is an alternative route to Den Helder, but the European route continues along the Afsluitdijk)
- Zurich to Lauwersoog
- Lauwersoog to Bad Nieuweschans (the border with Germany).
The path then continues into Germany. It crosses the base of the Jutland peninsula, before following the coast of the Baltic Sea through Poland, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, continuing in Russia towards Saint Petersburg.
The path is still under development[when?], and not all sections are yet available.[2]
References
- ^ "Introduction/Netherlands". North Sea Trail. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- ^ Ramblers Association. European Path E9 Archived 2007-12-12 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 19, 2006.