Anyone any Northumberland recommendations?

[jesusmaryjosephandtheweedonkey]

Looking for a cottage for me and DP in june.
Preferably in a village or town with a shop and pub.
Lots of walks on the doorstep.
Dark skies at night.
I've been on Airbnb all day and now they have all blended into one!
Anyone got any suggestions please?

Dark skies = Kielder area so Bellingham prob best. Coast and Castles = Alnmouth / Amble / Warkworth all good.. avoided Seahouses & Berwick upon Tweed imo.

We like Warkworth and Bamburgh

@52andblue

Dark skies = Kielder area so Bellingham prob best. Coast and Castles = Alnmouth / Amble / Warkworth all good.. avoided Seahouses & Berwick upon Tweed imo.

We love Northumberland and go most years, usually Alnwick but have just booked to go to Berwick at Easter. You’ve got me worried now, what’s wrong with Berwick?

riversidecottage.net/
Well appointed cottage, very clean, great welcome hamper. Pub/restaurant and 2 mins walk across Bridge in Felton shop and lovely cafe (Running Fox). Only few minutes off A1 so easy to explore the area. Can't remember re dark skies.

[quote Philandbill]We stayed here a few years ago at Sandpiper Cottage. It's not in a village but you can walk over the dunes and then onto the truly spectacular Ross Sands. www.rosscottages.co.uk/sandpiper-cottage-northumberland.cfm[/quote]
Oh they all look lovely - off to show my husband now! I want to go away for feb half term and these look perfect. Thank you!

I have friends who have stayed here www.beaconhill.co.uk/ and have loved it.

DH is from Northumberland so I have spent many, many February half terms there. It isn't really the best time to go to Northumberland in my experience. Just to manage your expectations.

Hexham is nice, a few pubs and restaurants, shops and central to get to places

@Crowdfundingforcake

Ford and Etal are nice - pretty thatched pub in Etal

I was going to say this too. There is a lovely B&B called The Estate House in Ford - it is run by different people to when I stayed there but still gets good reviews. It's also close to the Scottish border for trips into the Borders, which are lovely.

I would also say avoid Seahouses and Alnwick - full of tourists from Newcastle. Nothing wrong with being from Newcastle, but everything wrong with crowds!

You can stay in Bamburgh castle!

We have stayed in Wooler twice, really good base for getting both countryside and coast.

@RampantIvy

I have friends who have stayed here www.beaconhill.co.uk/ and have loved it.

DH is from Northumberland so I have spent many, many February half terms there. It isn't really the best time to go to Northumberland in my experience. Just to manage your expectations.

We go to Beaconhill every year. Unfortunately though there are no shops or pubs nearby. The nearest town is Morpeth which is a 15 minute drive away

Little village called Warkworth. Has its own beautiful beach and a castle and 3 or 4 decent pubs. It's lovely and I want to go back this year! No real shop but you can walk to Amble in about 20 minutes where there's a little high street with everything you need including Tesco express where I got Gu puddings 😂

The butchers in Amble sells the best Scotch pies ever.

Second Warkworth - we stayed there last June at this delightful cottage
coquetcottages.co.uk/northumberland-holiday-cottages/the-bridge-barn/ Lots of lovely eateries/pubs in the village, great walking and very easy to get to Alnmouth, Alnwick, Bamburgh and inland to the Cheviots for fab combination of beach walks and hills. Seafood also brilliant, specially at Craster.

And the Italian restaurant is lovely.
The best Indian restaurant in North Northumberland is in Shilbottle. It is such an unexpected place to find somewhere so good, but the food is stunning.

Yes! We went last summer for our family hols.

Longframlington was a great base. Pretty village, gorgeous cafe/bakery, newsagent, two gastro pubs, brilliant independent grocer/shop. Park with dog field.

It was in such a great location, near ish to Alnwick. Perfect to explore the area. We stayed in Stonelaw Cottage, clean as a whistle, cosy and cute. Slept 4 but very reasonable rates.

Longfram has the other Running Fox. The food at the Village Inn is excellent.

The coast was a 20/30 min drive away, near cragside and wallington national trusts, Alnwick was pretty, near Warkworth too. Durham, Hadrians Wall....Bamburgh Castle....we couldn't fit it all in!

I live in Northumberland, and although Keilder dark sky park is great you really needto be on the coast to see the lights. I would suggest Holy island which is utterly amazing but as a tidal island you are tied to the tide times or Low Newton by the Sea. You prob wont find either of these on Air bnb so I would type in places to stay in ....

The Running Fox had superb food, cake, pastries, fresh bread.....it was adjoining our cottage. Heaven!

We stayed at East field Hall Lodges near Warkworth. This might be no good if you need to be next to a shop. Shops are a 10 minute drive away. I loved the area.

Northumberland is popular this year so I wouldn't leave it too long.

I was looking for somewhere fairly remote ( for that read no caravan parks within earshot and preferably no other holiday lets nearby!) and everywhere I liked the look of was booked up for the weeks in September I was looking for.

I’m not going to recommend anywhere because I don’t want the Cornwall overflow (happy to drive for hours and hours to sit on a rock in a Breton top) wrecking Northumberland. They’d only moan about the weather and it’s the most perfect place on earth.

Definitely Rothbury, fits your description perfectly.