Northumberland Long Weekend Itinerary
As we explore more and more of the UK with our dogs, we’re making a conscious effort to discover the picturesque countryside outside of the usual hotspots we’ve visited for so many years. Don’t get me wrong, Northumberland absolutely relies on tourism, but there’s a certain peace and quiet to it that you could only dream of in Cornwall!
Sitting just south of the Scottish Border in the far north east of England, we’ve certainly been guilty over the years of just sailing straight through Northumberland to head for the Highlands, or staying in the more familiar territory of the Lake District ticking off Wainwrights. After returning from a four day trip here, we can confirm that we have totally fallen in love with the area. This county truly is a gem packed with wild coastlines, unspoiled wilderness, ancient castles and national parks perfect for exploring with your dogs.
Below you’ll find our itinerary for a long weekend in Northumberland. Whilst four days is a perfect amount of time to immerse yourself in everything Northumberland has to offer, I can guarantee that, like us, you’ll be itching to return the moment you leave.
We had then planned to head into Northumberland National Park to visit Hadrian’s Wall, however the temperatures were a lot warmer than expected, so we chose to head for the forest instead to find some shade for the dogs. If you’re near Hexham, I’d absolutely recommend you plan in a trip to Hadrian’s Wall to see this incredible piece of English history. You can park at Steel Rigg car park (W3W blockage.deny.relax) and follow one of many walking routes to explore the area. Below is the route we had planned:
Instead, we headed for Kielder Forest, England’s largest planted forest and location of the biggest man-made lake in Northern Europe! It really is difficult to fathom just how vast this place is: it’s home to over 150 million trees covering 250 square miles so one things for certain, it’s easy to find solitude!
Kielder is also a haven for wildlife, boasting 50% of England’s red squirrel population.
We chose to stay close to the water given the weather, so headed over the viaduct to the far side of Kielder Water (I’d definitely recommend this as it was virtually deserted compared to the other ‘easier access’ side!) We parked at Hawkhope car park (W3W forwarded.evoked.snacking) and the parking charge of £6.50 gives you access to all car parks at Kielder for a full day, so you can explore different areas.
The woodland was absolutely stunning. It was incredibly quiet with lots of opportunities for the dogs to swim and we were able to have them off lead for the whole walk. We based our route on the below and just extended to suit us:
Unfortunately Andy had to leave on Sunday to head home for work, so we spend the afternoon in Alnmouth before he caught a train back to Cheltenham (direct all the way home which we were very impressed with!).
First on the cards was finding some lunch! I’d absolutely recommend stopping in Scott’s of Alnmouth, a charming deli with grab and go breakfast and lunch, homemade goodies (the pastel de nata were incredible), takeaway coffee bar and all the deli bits and bobs you might want to pick up. We took everything with us to the beach, just a 5 minute walk away and it really was all delicious.
Alnmouth beach was quite busy, but it was a sunny Sunday and high tide. Nevertheless, it’s a great dog friendly beach with beautiful sand and the water was so clear – the dogs had a great time splashing around in the water and Maple managed to completely plaster herself in sand before we let the beach!
It’s fair to say that Cheswick Sands completely blew me away. It takes a little effort to get to, with a 5-10 minute walk over the dunes from the small free parking area but you’re rewarded with one of the largest stretches of pristine beach on the Northumberland coast and it’s dog friendly all year round! There’s plenty to explore, with miles of beach, black basalt rock pools and backed by a huge expanse of rolling dunes. On a clear day, you’ll have views extending beyond Berwick-upon-Tweed to the Scottish border in the north and Holy Island and its historic castle to the south.
We visited on a sunny day and it was extremely quiet save for a few dog walkers.
After a chilled afternoon back at Findara Cottage, I decided this was my sunset opportunity and I’d earmarked Budle Bay for this. You wouldn’t think the coastline on the East of England would offer any sunset opportunities, but in the summer months the sun sets much further north of west, so we had a fantastic view up the beach as the sun was setting.
We parked in a free car park in Bamburgh with space for about 25 cars (W3W waiters.tadpoles.refuses) which brings you right out onto Bamburgh beach. This was a lovely beach with great views of Bamburgh Castle and is again, dog friendly all year round without restriction.
Heading left up the beach and away from the castle, you can scramble over the rocks or pick up the footpath at the back of the beach to make your way over to Budle Bay. If I had to pick a favourite spot from this entire trip, my sunset walk at Budle Bay would be it. In two hours, I didn’t see another person and we literally had the entire beach to ourselves. It’s absolutely colossal too, with a vast expanse of sandy beach for the dogs to run around on as the tide went out.
Follow the route clockwise and it’ll take you out to the huge beaches on northern coast of the island, before looping around to the distinctive daymark of Emmanuel Head, onwards to the spectacular Lindisfarne Castle and Priory ruins and finishing up in the little village. I’d recommend a stop at the fabulous Pilgrim’s Coffee House before heading back to your car. Bear in mind that dogs are required to be on lead while on Holy Island to protect ground nesting birds.
Next upon our jam-packed final day was the beautiful stretch of coastline between Boulmer and Howick. This really was quite a drive from Holy Island and would perhaps have been better to combine with a visit to Alnmouth, but it was a stretch I wanted to explore for the afternoon.
Parking is at a car park just above Howdiemont Sands (W3W location compliant.flexibly.masts) and beware of the new parking system which is a bit of a nightmare. It’s an ANPR system and the first 30 minutes are free before the charge of £3.30 for the day kicks in. Unfortunately there is no signal to pay online, however you can pay up until midnight on the day of your visit, just take a picture of the signage and remember to do it once you get back after your day out!
Thankfully the parking stress is worth the trouble, as Howdiemont Sands and neighbouring Sugar Sands are two beautiful little beaches on a really interesting stretch of coastline. I had both of these beaches to myself and while much smaller than some of the other beaches I visited in Northumberland, were definitely among my favourites.
We squeezed in one final stop on our last day, which felt like a must to make the most of the beautiful weather and mostly because I wasn’t ready for our stay in Northumberland to end! We parked up in Craster before beginning the walk over the headland to Dunstanburgh Castle. The castle came into view pretty quickly and the views really were spectacular for the entire walk. We did this right at the end of the day and I can imagine it gets pretty busy as there were a lot of people heading back as we started walking over! You’ll find the route we took below:
Unfortunately the castle was closed by the time we got over there, but it is National Trust run, free entry for members and dogs are welcome too. You can choose to continue on past the castle to the beautiful beach of Embleton Bay, but it was getting late and the pub was calling, so we headed back to Craster and The Jolly Fisherman, the most fabulous pub in the village with incredible seafood and great views across the harbour from the garden.
So, here ends our dog friendly long weekend in Northumberland itinerary. I can’t overstate what a fabulous part of the country this is, we really did absolutely love our time here and will definitely be returning to explore more of what the county has to offer.
If you have any questions at all, please drop us an email or message us over on instagram and we’ll be happy to try and help. Thanks for reading,
Cara, Andy, Poppy and Maple x
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