The Northumberland Coast & its Castles

Excellent walking holiday with good notes and tips

The fantastic beaches from Craster to Bamburgh, the huge expanses of pristine sand, dramatic skies and views of the castles were our highlights. 

By far the highlight of the holiday was our stay in The Cookie Jar. It is a delightful small hotel with a highly skilled manager and staff who clearly enjoy providing a top class service for guests. We'd recommend Bertram's as a great place to eat: both for sweet treats and also for light, but delicious early evening meals - better than Warkworth House Hotel restaurant that was very mediocre. In Bamburgh we'd recommend the Copper Kettle for great, flavoursome and wholesome homecooking.

Enjoyed the walks along the beach, helped by the mostly good weather, and the birdlife. Greycroft was excellent. Had a very good meal at Bertram's Bistro in Warkworth and at Sherkhan in Alnwick.

We did the walk from Bamburgh to Budle Bay on the last day. It was absolutely stunning and we were able to walk on an almost deserted stretch of beach. The length of the walks made it possible to explore the local attractions without rushing eg Amble, plus the amazing castles at Warkworth, Alnwick, Dunstanburgh and Bamburgh.

It was wonderful to walk for miles on the clean sandy beaches, which we chose to do barefoot.  We were lucky to be on most of the beaches during low tides, and were also lucky to have dry cool weather.  This aspect of the holiday was more important to us than exploring the history of the castles, although the castles were visually striking. The boat trip was a great option: it was good to get the experience of being at sea, and to see seals and other wildlife close up.  

In Warkworth, we would recommend eating at Betram's, and booking in advance, because they are popular.  They provided us with an excellent vegan packed lunch on a Sunday, which we asked them for on Saturday evening.  

We did like the ability to go for a walk along the river from the hotel in Warkworth in the evening after dinner. Alnwick was great, the castle, the garden and Hulne park. Walked 11miles without even leaving the town! Loved all the castles, and the history. We got to Holy Island early and were jolly glad we had done as it got very crowded later in the day. The weather was great all week and we spent a fair amount of time reading in the sand dunes as well as walking! 

I think we were lucky with the tides, but to walk barefooted along the beach and dipping our feet into the sea as we approached Bamburgh was amazing.

Terrific holiday - lucky with the weather and the tides for Lindisfarne. Walking along such a wonderful coast was an eye-opener - lovely golden sandy beaches with virtually no-one on them - so different from Cornwall - better too but don't tell Visit Cornwall we said so! So much to do that we were very glad we booked extra nights. Would definitely recommend.

We made the mistake of taking a taxi down to Amble for dinner (at the Old Boat House) on the first night, then finding we couldn't get a taxi back! We did get a bus back, but it's important to remember it's a relatively rural area so public transport isn't guaranteed, so book your taxi home in advance if you need one. The advice about booking restaurants ahead of time was useful - we know other (non-Inntravel) guests at Greycroft were unable to find anywhere in Alnwick, so ended going home early. Di Sopra and The Treehouse Restaurant in Alnwick were lovely. Oh, and you don't need special permission to visit the Poison Garden (at Alnwick Garden), and the staff are really knowledgable, even if they're mainly there to stop you touching something you shouldn't!

Beach walking is a better bet than taking the path on occasions - glorious long stretches of sand.

Incredibly friendly people made for an enjoyable holiday.

Do go to Barter Books in Alnwick - a veriatble treasure trove.

We loved the emptiness, walking along the sand for miles with hardly any other people.

The dinner in Lilburns restaurant (Alnwick) was outstanding, as was our room in the B&B. State appartments in Alnwick castle were also superb. The walk to Amble from Warkworth was a bit disappointing, as was Amble. The only other small complaint was the singular lack of seats on the walk to Beadnell, though I realise there is not much you can do about that!

The welcome and service at Greycroft was outstanding: Audrey and Tom were so friendly and helpful and the little touches such as the provision of a fridge and complimentary drinks made the stay here memorable.

Alnwick Castle was disappointing as it was so geared towards families with young children and a bit of a theme park. Warkworth and Bamburgh were much more authentic and enjoyable for us.

Wonderful beaches and views of castles. (We were helped that we had splendid weather the whole time so underfoot conditions were dry.)

Local people were very friendly and helpful.

There was plenty of birdlife to see, especially at Hauxley Nature Reserve and on the Aln estuary.

The food in the hotels was of a very good standard. In Alnwick we had dinners at Caffé Tirreno (recommended in your notes) and Sherkhan Indian (perhaps add to your notes). Both were excellent and needed booking in advance. (Thai Vibe, which you mention, was closed - apparently temporarily.)

We were glad to have had extra days in Alnwick and Beadnell, as that meant we could do the walks as well as visiting Alnwick Castle/Alnwick gardens and Lindisfarne on our extra days.

Beaches, castles and excellent walking. Good choice of hotels in excellent location. Northumberland is a stunning location and ideal for an enjoyable and varied walking holiday. The only issue was the baggage transfer company and so I would recommend either ensuring the bags are well below the maximum limit or carrying a weighing device to be able to confirm the precise weight!

We thoroughly enjoyed our week's walking in Northumberland. The hotels are excellent, The Cookie Jar in Alnwick was a particularly luxurious treat. There are lots of interesting things to see along the way, imposing castles, windswept, unspoilt beaches and attractive seaside villages - we loved Alnmouth. Can recommend a crab baguette from Seahouses, eaten with a fine view of Bamburgh Castle, excellent. We finished our holiday with an extra night at Beadnell and enjoyed a day trip to Berwick on Tweed to walk around the walls of the town. 

A most enjoyable holiday experience, well up to Inntravel's invariably high standards. We opted for the beach routes wherever possible and revelled in the peace and windswept beauty of those marvellous wide and clean spaces. And walking around Holy Island was a magical experience. The variety and contrasts of the many castles, ranging from thoroughly ruined to actively lived in, provided a great theme to the week. We added an extra day in both Alnwick and Beadnell and found that decision to have been thoroughly vindicated by the additional experiences we were able to enjoy.

We visited three very different places, each interesting in its own way. We strongly recommend the boat trips to Coquet Island and the Farne Islands for anyone interested in wild life- getting to close to the puffins, terns and kittiwakes on Inner Farne was an amazing experience. Alnwick was also a highlight but really important to book restaurants in advance as they were very busy in late July. At the time we travelled, some sites of interest still had Covid restrictions and it was again important to book in advance. Apart from this reducing flexibility a bit, we had an excellent trip and hope to visit the area again soon.

This was a really good itinerary and a lovely holiday with loads of interest. Cookie Jar and Alnwick Garden were real highlights and Budle Bay was magical.

This was our first Inntravel holiday in the UK and it was very good indeed. The accomodation was excellent, particularly the Greycroft B&B which was well located in Alnwick, safe and well organised, and where Audrey, Tom and Sarah made us very welcome indeed. We very much enjoyed the walks up the wide, empty beaches all the way up the coast and visited five castles. The only advice we would give to others is to check the tide tables before you book your holiday and choose a week when the tide is out during the daytime. We were lucky that the tide was out whenever we walked, so we seldom had to navigate the sand dunes, and were also able to visit Lindifarne all day at the end of the week. Well done Inntravel - no mountains but another very good week thank you very much!

A lovely relaxing walking holiday with plenty of local interest, excellent accommodation and stunning scenery.

The view from the ramparts  of Bamburgh castle, looking  down on miles of pale gold sand,  a calm sea and a vast blue sky above  - peace, space, beauty. Northumberland has so much to give.

I've done a number of international trips with Inntravel but never a UK one before. It was superb, and much enjoyed by me and my companion, who was new to Inntravel. 

Highlights: the stays at Greycroft & Beadnell Towers; the walks along the huge beaches; Dunstanburgh Castle, Alnwick Garden & Hauxley Nature Reserve.

Tips: Don't park under trees at Beadnell! Hope & Anchor pub in Alnmouth is good for evening meal (short & frequent buses between Alnwick & Alnmouth).

The whole area was a delight. Service was good wherever we went and the people friendly. The walks were interesting and at times the views were wonderful. Just be aware of flying golf-balls when walking beside the courses ! Two balls just missed us beside the Warkworth course. The Beadnell Towers hotel is a great place to finish the holiday.

The entire holiday was as described and went according to plan, beginning with the prompt arrival of our cheerful and informative taxi driver who took us from Beadnell to Warkworth.  We had not visited Warkworth before so to discover such a pretty village made a good start to our holiday: we particularly enjoyed exploring the castle and walking by the river.

We shall always remember the warm welcome from Audrey at Grey Croft when we arrived after a day of walking through constant rain.  In arranging the accommodation she has paid great attention to detail and she is a mine of information on all aspects of the area.  Tom’s breakfasts were delicious and we enjoyed sitting in their lovely walled garden.  The guest house is well situated being within easy reach of a number of restaurants as well as Alnwick Castle and Garden and Barter Books - all well worth a visit.  When the weather improved we spent a very pleasant day at Alnmouth.

The highlight of our stay in Beadnell was the boat trip to the Farne Islands, particularly the hour spent on Inner Farne, only recently reopened to the public.  To see so many sea birds, particularlly the thousands of puffins, at such close quarters, made for a really memorable day. We also enjoyed our trip to Lindisfarne, particularly the recommended walk around the island: we saw an amazing variety of wild flowers and butterflies.

In all, we had a relaxing and varied holiday : quite an achievement in these difficult times.

I was slightly disappointed by some of the routes with quite a bit of road walking. However the quality of the coastline made up for this. The notes were fairly unnecessary as it was obvious where to go.

A spectacular coastal walk with expansive sea veiws, wide open windswept beaches and flower filled dunes and tracks. Everybody we met including the taxi driver, hotel staff and people along the way were very friendly. Your timing must be spot-on for the buses as they are infrequent and can be crowded. Alnmouth was particularly attractive and unspoilt and I would liked to have stayed a few nights there. Alnwick gardens were lovely and our timing was right for the roses - if not for the weather (temperature of 9 degrees and raining).

A really beautiful part of the North of England that we would probably have never visited if it wasn't for the travel restrictions. It would have been our loss! Wonderful unspoiled beaches, coastal wildlife in variety and quantity that was totally unexpected and even the weather delivered. Thanks Inntravel for making the whole thing so easy to enjoy. 

We loved this holiday which was helped by some very good weather on most days. The walking along the coast was lovely and the places that we stayed were varied but all very good. We found the staff at all of the hotels very friendly and helpful. We had our evening meals at the hotels at Warkworth and Beadnell (the latter included in the holiday) and took the owner (Audrey) recommendations for Alnwick which were both excellent on the nights we were there (DiSopra and Lilburns). You won't be short of things to do as, apart from the walking, there are plenty of places to visit and we managed to make the trip to Holy Island. Unfortunately our proposed puffin cruise to the Farne Islands on the day we were leaving was cancelled due to the poor weather conditions. All in all though this was a really lovely holiday.

Northumberland is a glorious area, with abundant bird life and wildflowers. The mix of beach walks, coastal paths, dunes and walking beside meadows was stunning. Options to visit castles or bird watch, circling islands on boat trips provides variety, depending on your interests. We went on the boat trip from Amble round Coquet Island, which was a particular highlight. We were blessed with wonderful weather too, throughout our week in Northumberland.

The holiday exceeded our expectations and we enjoyed chatting to local people and using your taxis and buses.  A very beautiful area.

This was a fantastic holiday in so many ways; a rich mixture of stunning scenery, wonderful hotels and a warm welcome wherever we went.  We particularly enjoyed walking along the beaches, sometimes with our shoes off and getting our feet wet.  The history and heritage of the area added an extra level of charm and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Alnwick gardens.  We are impatient to return to this fabulous part of the world.

A great staycation and a fantastic opportunity to really get away from it all on large beaches with great views.

Wonderful holiday made perfect by the fantastic weather. So glad we upgraded to the Cookie Jar - it was fabulous. The walks took us through stunning scenery and whilst we were initially a little disappointed to find Bamburgh Castle closed, we were able to peak at the film set for the new Indiana Jones movie and share with the locals, the excitement of Harrison Ford being in town. Never before met such friendly and hospitable people as in the North East and we were well looked after throughout. 

Extending the holiday to give time to visit Holy Island (Lindisfarne) and the Farne Islands is, in our opinion, very worthwhile.

Walking along the beach as part of our walk was fabulous and be able to see dolphins from Ebb's nook and lots of bird life.