[1] Leave the YHA, turning left, north, along Church Plain which soon becomes the High Street. You will be walking towards the coast. At the T junction with Station Road, turn left. Take the next right turn along Staithe Street. There is a Nisa supermarket on this corner. Walk to the end of the road.
[2] At the end of Staithe Street, with the harbour in front of you, turn right towards the Granary with its gantry for unloading ships. Walk east under the gantry and along the Quayside. Carry straight on at the Chandlery along the no-through road. Do not follow the main road round to your right. Continue ahead. After a few buildings on your left, a pavement starts with harbour boats visible on the left and houses on your right. Shortly after passing Wells Sailing Club on the right, the road forks. Keep left here and onto a track. At the end of the buildings, continue along the coast path passing a number of seats looking out over the salt marshes.
[3] At the end of the first field on your right, turn right, descend from the sea defences embankment and follow a good path around the next two sides of this field. Pass a few houses and allotments and then cross a narrow brick bridge over a former railway track (now a path) and walk along Northfield Lane, towards the centre of Wells-next-the-Sea. Take the second road on the left, Knitting Needle Lane.
At the next junction, Northfield Avenue to your right meets Northfield Crescent to your left. Cross over this junction and continue along Knitting Needle Lane. At the end of Knitting Needle Lane, turn right along Maryland and walk to the end. Turn left along Polka Road, (the B1105).
[4] To take a short cut back to the Youth Hostel, walk up Polka Road looking out for a footpath on the right. (This is opposite Bluebell Gardens, the first road on the left). This footpath will lead you through the churchyard of St Nicholas’s church back to the YHA.
For the main route, walk south along Polka Road, passing Bluebell Gardens on the left, to the junction with Warham Road, the A149. Turn left, east, along Warham Road. This road soon forks, bear right following Warham Road towards the Recycling Centre. About 50m from the junction, opposite the first building on the left, turn right along a narrow lane with tall hedges both sides. Pass a disused water works building on the left and two large barns on your right, and follow the track to the end of the next field.
Continue following the track as it follows field boundaries, turning first right, then left, and right to reach a junction where the main track appears to turn left but actually meets another track, Market Lane. The signpost marking Bicycle Route 1 in both directions confirms where Market Lane runs Turn right, north, onto Market Lane and return towards Wells, passing a cemetery on your left and a school on the right. Market Lane becomes a road after the school. At the end of it, turn right onto Burnt Street, (the A149). Walk the last 150m back to the Church Plain on the left and the YHA. Beware of traffic on Burnt Street which you will need to cross.