Northumberland - things to do!

[mummy1202]

Hi,

We are coming for a few nights near Morpeth with two young children and am looking for any ‘must dos’ nearby! Happy to drive a little bit if required.

Also, if anyone has any top tip places to eat/takeaways nearby, that would be amazing!

Thank you in advance - we don’t want to miss any gems! 💎

Seahouses
Bamburgh
Ford and Etal
Holy Island
Craster
Low Newton
Warkworth
Amble

Honestly so many lovely places, can combine many of the above. Just potter about.

Northumberland zoo - lovely small family run zoo. Not massive and doesn’t have lots of big animals but really nice.

Morpeth dairy- little playground and cafe outside but you can see the cows and their ice cream parlour is amazing

puffin watching boat rides if you’re at the right time of year are amazing

loved Bamburgh castle on a sunny day- so beautiful. Alnwick gardens and castle also might be worth a look- see if it suits

Lillidorei and Alnwick Gardens

Alnwick Castle and Gardens (especially if they are Harry Potter fans)
Alnmouth Beach
Cragside
Kielder water/forest
Whitehouse Farm Centre

Also The Lazy Fox in Shilbottle is lovely for brunch/lunch

l definitely second a trip to seahouses and taking a boat out to the Farne islands,

You could easily spend a couple of days in Alnwick visiting the castle and gardens and don’t forget to go to Barter Books, one of my favourite places. It’s a massive book shop in the old train station, lovely cafe there too.

Cragside is an amazing national trust property (there’s a bbc documentary on it from about 20 years ago) my dc loved it at 4&6 years old. There was a great fish and chips plus gelato place right on a beautiful sandy beach at Blyth, called Coastline . Kielder Forest is lovely too

No one has mentioned Whitley Bay, I used to love it there when I was a young child!

OP it is more of your traditional touristy place with arcades and a promenade.

The other suggestions are a lot more cultured but it depends on what you like!

Castles - so many fantastic castles, especiallyifyouhaveEnglish Heritage membership. My daughter loved visiting the Roman site of Corbridge too.

If you like a great variety of cheeses , there is a fab cheesemonger in Morpeth .
We use them for our Christmas cheeseboard .

Seaton Delaval is another interesting National Trust property.

If you head into Newcastle, Jesmond Dene Park is beautiful. Broad Chare gastropub is fab. Check out what's on at the Glasshouse Music Centre on the Gateshead side.

It's a great area.

Alnwick castle and Lilidori were big hits with my DC.

If you have small children then Whitehouse Farm just outside Morpeth might be fun for them. They have tractor rides, feeding the animals and lots of baby lambs during the lambing season which is underway now.

For takeaway if you like Indian food I would strongly recommend Morpeth Tandoori.

Belsay Hall also has nice walks and a children's play area and a castle to explore.

If you are going Alnwick it might be worth grabbing the May issue of gardeners world magazine as it has 2-4-1 card in it . Alnwick gardens have been included the past 6 years ( you have to pay for the castle and garden and play area all separately)

Seahouses - Boat trip with Serenity and then lunch at The Black Swan, the food is amazing. We happily drive an hour to eat there. Would recommend pre-booking in the Orangery.

Cragside and stop at The Running Fox to either pick up a picnic (pre-order) or stop on the way back.

Wallington Hall had lovely parks for little ones, the cafe is nice and there's also a pizza van.

Park at Craster and walk along to Dunstanburgh Castle. Lunch at The Jolly Fisherman after.

Bamburgh Castle and beach, the beach always comes high up on Britain's best beaches. The Copper Kettle or Lord Crewe are both lovely lunch spots.

Some really good suggestions here.

Alnwick for a day is easy, barter books to get second hand books, lunch in the cafe, then Alnwick gardens, and lilidorei.

Amble harbour, puffin cruise and then either lunch at the chippy, or if you go later the week there is a brewery (Brewis Beer) that have food stall Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and always have some really nice food offerings on.

As others have said lots of lovely countryside walks or towns you can visit. You can do a nice walk down by cresswell and go to the Drift Cafe which is nice and friendly and decent food options.

We love Whitehouse Farm as it’s super fun for children and they have lots of activities and things to do but don’t expect much from the food, pretty standard fare.

Places to eat that are lovely - jolly fisherman in Craster, the boathouse or the fish shack in Amble, Lobo rojo in Whitley bay. For nice family meal Lolly Rosso in Morpeth has always been good for us.

If you have a car I can also really recommend driving into Newcastle and heading to Ouseburn - there is a children museum based on reading (seven stories) and then next door Ouseburn farm, so you can get indoor or outdoor (or both) and then get some food nearby at patty melts for example.

Cragside, seven stories, bamburgh for the beach. If you fancy a little longer drive, Beamish. Lindisfarne. So many awesome places

Thanks so much, everyone!

Sounds like there is so much to do!

Morpeth itself sounds like there is lots to do, with a decent park?

Lots of good suggestions already. Not sure anyone has mentioned Dunstanburgh castle, it’s a bit of a walk so depends how little your children are. Huge crab sandwiches in the pub in Craster before or after.

Stayed near Berwick on Tweed a couple of years ago en route to Scotland. Personally thought Holy Island was very disappointing, don’t know what I was expecting but felt it was just a bit tacky. Didn’t get to Alnwick but a friend said it was a great place to visit, particularly for Harry Potter fans.
Crag side was amazing though, the grounds are huge and the science room was fantastic - we went back for a second visit. Thoroughly recommend a visit.
The beaches in Northumberland are beautiful and not over busy.