Please talk to me about Northumberland

[kasbah72]

We are looking to book a late August cottage holiday somewhere in the uk. We were originally thinking about Suffolk/Norfolk and then drifted further south to Sussex and Kent but both are areas we can very easily do from where we live.

So. Dh has now decided that he has always wanted to visit Bamburgh castle and that perhaps this year would be the year to do it. He has never been very far North and so we would probably team up a week in a cottage with a couple of nights somewhere interesting like York just to break the journey.

We are a family of 4, kids will be 7 and 6. We love the sun, being outside, beaches etc but I realise we are talking about the unpredictable British summer here so would like somewhere with inside interesting things to do as well as outside interesting things to do.

I have no clue whatsoever which part of Northumberland we should be looking at. I started looking at places near the castle and the coastline looks amazing but is that the best place to stay? We love water in any form so is it better to go near the reservoir instead?

We have National Trust cards that we would like to use as much as possible if that makes a difference.

Does anyone have any recommendations on areas or even places?

Thanks!

We went to Bamburgh last year and loved it so much we're going again this year :) And made good use out of our National Trust cards. We stayed just over the road from the beach, which has great sand dunes. Weather was mostly cold and often wet but still had a great time :).

The whole county is brilliant. We went for the first time in 2009, 1st week near Holy Island and 2nd week right by Hadrians Wall. I was initially worried 2 weeks was too long (and yes it did rain), but we hardly covered it all. We're planning to go back this year.

Fantastic sandy beaches. The one between Bamburgh and Seahouses can get busy i.e. There will be rather more than 3 other people in sight. At others you may have a mile long beach more or less to yourself. In warm weather a sea fog may well descend so you need warm clothes as well as beach wear. If you like crowds Bamburgh is the place to find them.

I went to Northumberland and really liked it. Stayed inland from Bamburgh, really liked it all. Quiet, huge beaches with not many people. Of course it won't be as hot as the south, unless there's a freak heatwave, but that doesn't matter to me.

I would go by the coast - the NT places in northumberland are excellent too - and if weather is bad a trip to newcastle would be doable, seven stories for example well worth the visit
Alnwick is also great- the castle and the garden - and the best 2nd book shop eveble

The beaches between Bamburgh and Berwick will be quiet. The Cheviots are lovely for a quiet hike. I've only been to north Northumberland (that is where dh is from) and always found it lovely. Second Alnwick water gardens. Dcs had a great time there a couple of years ago in February!

Where to start. OH is from Northumberland and we go to visit family several times a year. It is a brilliant place for a holiday. The only negative is that the weather can be unpredictable.

There are loads of National Trust properties to visit. Kielder is a bit far from everywhere so I wouldn't recommend staying there unless you are happy to spend a lot of time in the car.

Places to visit:
Bamburgh - castle and Grace Darling museum
Dunstanburgh and Craster
Morpeth
Alnwick and the castle garden (the castle itself is poor valur for money but the garden is fab
Alnmouth
Cragside (the jewel in Northumberland's crown IMO)
Wallington
Housesteads and Vindolanda
Chillingham Castle
Belsay Castle
Warkworth Castle
Druridge Bay or any of the coastline
Woodhorn Colliery
Holy Island (check tide times)
Ingram valley
Ford and Etal
Hatherslaw mill and light railway

If the weather is nice a boat trip to the Farne islands is a must (from Seahouses)

I'm sure I have left loads out, but there is loads and loads to see and do in Northumberland.

I would either stay on the coast or somewhere central between Morpeth and Alnwick if you want to visit all these places.

Apart from the A1 the roads aren't too busy either.

Oh wow! Thanks so much for the recommendations. It sounds like a great place to stay with amazing places to visit. I am ashamed to say that it is not somewhere I have ever really thought of, let alone visited.

I will start to narrow down the cottage search now and see what I can find. We are happy to do the long drive to get there but it would be good to stay somewhere within easy reach of the beach, the castles, attractions etc.

Any recommendations for cottages welcome and thanks so much for the advice so far.

Sorry, I can't recommed cottages. We always stay with MIL so I haven't clue about accommodation. Anywhere near Alnwick is going to be pretty central and not too far from the sea.

We stayed there last summer and just loved it .. We spent a week in cottage in Bamburgh, which I thought was the perfect location. The village had several restaurants, pubs, an ice cream shop, a village shop, a castle and a beach all of which we could walk to. We would do one day driving about Northumberland going to see a variety of places and then the next day just hanging out doing something around our cottage. I really thought it was one of our best vacations in the UK, but it is chilly weather. The kids did not mind at all but I was wearing a sweater over my bathing suit at the beach. But it is a fantastic and wonderful place to visit. Would love to go again soon.

We've stayed in
Newcastle Arms in Rothbury (honeymoon many years ago)
Cottage in Alnwick
Cottage in Alnmouth
Unlicensed b+b, but with restaurant for evening meals, in Alnmouth
Coquetdale (?) hotel in Rothbury
2 up and 2 down in Amble - lovely beach, and the fair was on while we were there - dressed the freshest crab I've ever had with a carving knife and a tin of baked beans as a weight. Also Amble's chippy was really good - fish were small/med/large and had the skin under the fillet which made it really chewy - had forgotten what a lovely taste that was. They also did Chinese.

Linden Hall Hotel (was a freebie with credit card reward points - included dinner, and dh got a menu with prices, mine was priceless. We had loads of fun comparing the two.)

All in all, think that Alnwick, Amble and Alnmouth were the best to stay. Alnmouth beach is lovely, although can be cold and windy. Amble is more sheltered, with a separate harbour for the fishing boats, but, we saw sewage foam on the sand at high tide.

Alnwick has a supermarket, used to be Safeway, market and smaller shops, although you could always stock up at Costco in Newcastle on the way up.

Northumberland is amazing. If we didn't live n the South Coast we would go more often. The dses adored it, loads to do, the weather is unimportant.

We stayed in a cottage not far down from Berwick upon Tweed. Berwick is steeped in history, the boys really enjoyed it.

Dunstanburgh castle we loved. I always said when we went back I wouldlike to stay in Craster, sighing walking distance of the castle.

As for Lindisfarne......what to say, we loved it. We went at all times of day for walks to see the tide low and coming in over the road.

Can't wait to go back, we did a week but would definitely do 2 next time. North Wales this year, Northumberland next year I think.

Alnwick now has a Sainsburys. Amble is getting rather run down these days - I would sooner go to Warkworth which is just up the road from Amble.

we are going back to Northumberland this year as we fell in love with it last year.

All of the above I agree with.

we stayed in Beadnell which has a lot of modern holiday houses a 2 min walkfrom the beach, we booked through a company called grace darling cottages.

I like the opposite end of Dunstanburgh beach from Craster, I personally find Craster a tourist trap .

One thing I would recommend if you are self catering is a supermarket delivery, as you will be very linited for food shopping, alnwick has a small sainsburys.

Hope you have a lovely time

I've just got home from a week in Northumberland.

We stayed at Beacon Hill Farm cottages. Not the cheapest, but certainly the best we've ever stayed at in this country.

Sorry, forgot to say... it's only 5 miles from Morpeth, so easy and quick to get to all the best bits of the coast.

We're going to Seahouses this summer. About 4 miles south of Bamburgh and with sandy beach and harbour. Suspect a bit more touristy but this cottage is not on main street !
curlew cottage

Cragside to visit too
You will pass Beamish on the way up