Where to stay for Northumberland holiday

[Sarahm8]

We are planning a holiday in Northumberland next easter, but I'm not sure where would be best to stay. We'd like somewhere with a nice beach. Is Spittal nice? Or embleton? Seahouses? Thanks!

We’ve been visiting Northumberland on and off for the best part of 35 years. Tbh, as long as you except its Northumberland and the weather may not always deliver you can’t go far wrong wherever you go or if you follow any of the great suggestions made so far.

we stayed in Lesbury on our last visit which is less than a mile from Alnmouth, and a short drive into Alnwick with all its attractions, down to Warkworth - great castle and another great beach, or up to Boulmer and beyond.

if you do stay in the Alnwick / Alnmouth area I’d give a shout out to Howick Hall, a hidden gem that we’d somehow managed to miss for more than three decades. And we bumped into Robson Jerome there too.😁

Again the beauty of Northumberland - always something new to discover.

I’m from Northumberland, no longer live there but family still do, so go regularly. I’d go for Warkworth with Craster as a second option. Beach at Druridge is lovely, but in the slightly less picturesque area, though everywhere is driveable. Bamburgh can’t really cope with the number of people it gets and Amble is nice but more of a working place.

have you thought about going inland? Wooler and the Cheviots are gorgeous.

And embleton is my absolute favourite beach if you don’t mind a bit of a walk! But you can get there from Craster.

I love love love Druridge Bay. If you park at Cress we'll behind the dunes, you can finish your walk by going to The Drift Café which is awesome for breakfast or lunch.

A few years ago we stayed about a mile from Seahorses at a working farm that had lodges and cottages. It's called Springhill Farm. Also stayed at Cresswell Towers Caravan Park, which was fine as a base.

You MUST go to one of The Running Fox cafés too. Amazing afternoon tea, you'll not eat anything till breakfast!! The last time I checked there were 4 of them, the original in Felton, but there's definitely one at Shilbottle too. Get on their website to book ahead though.

Seahouses is a great base, and if you're looking for accommodation, I can recommend Springhill Farm. It's walking distance into Seahouses, and easy to drive anywhere.

Another vote for visiting Ford &Etal, it's lovely. The stone circle at Duddo is part of it and quite atmospheric.

Also recommend Chillingham Castle which is so eccentric and rather lovely.

Posters saying that Banburgh and Seahouses are busy

How busy is busy?

I stayed in Alnwick this summer and I loved it. But when I went down to Alnmouth beach, what was great about it was that it wasn't busy. None of the areas were busy by my standards. But I used to live in London and now live in Essex. So I may have a different definition of busy.

I really enjoyed it and will definitely go back next summer but thought I'd stay further north, particularly interested in Seahouses , Berwick and Bamburgh. But I wouldn't want to go somewhere busy.

If you have time to go to Vindolanda we had a wonderful afternoon there.

We go to Northumberland during the autumn and usually stay inland. Another shout out for the area around Ford and Etal! Loads of gorgeous walks in the area and not to far to the coast: I love to wander the coast path around Craster and fossil hunting on Cocklawburn Beach near Berwick. Oh, and over the border around St Abbs.

Thanks everyone! This is all really helpful! 😊x

Beadnell is lovely!

Amble is rough, if you want a safe beach for kids go to beadnell.

Low Newton is indeed lovely though there are not many places to stay there. We stayed at Beadnell Bay which was good. All the castles are different so don’t worry about castle overload.

@Notateacheranymore I think the running fox at shilbottle has closed.

Would wholeheartedly recommend Nelson’s in Swarland though. Awesome cakes and right next to a playground. And free/donation tennis courts with a football pitch/trail to walk around and free Wi-Fi. Works perfectly for my DC, from tween to teen, and has done since they were little.