Northumberland coast - help and advice please!!

[FoxesAreFabulous]

Hello all
I'm hoping to pick the collective MN brains so I can book our summer holiday! Teenage dd, dog and I will be heading to Northumberland for a week in the summer and I've been doing loads of research and looking at cottages until my eyes cross!!

We'll be going up on the train and using local buses when we're there and will therefore need - I think - to be somewhere where we can at least pick up some basic shopping on foot. We're happy to walk/bus to get to other places and visit things/do a bigger shop (or have a delivery on the day we arrive) but it would be helpful to be able to pop out for milk etc if we've run out of anything.

I have narrowed our list down to properties in Seahouses, Amble, Alnmouth and Warkworth but despite spending the past hour poring over Google maps and online guides, I can't make a decision!!
I have been warned off Seahouses by a friend with family in the area but have read some nice things about it on here, so I'm really confused.

Can anyone who knows the area well help please and tell me where might be the best bet? I also can't quite work out how far each place is from the beach and doggy loves sand!! We've spent the last two summers visiting Wells-next-the-sea but the cottage we used to rent there has been sold and dd wanted a change - I love Wells and it would be nice to find somewhere with the same feel to it.

Thanks all!!! Very excited to get booking!

Alnmouth is very pretty and right on the beach. Alnwick is really lovely too and only up the road, so that would be my first choice for a beachside destination in Northumberland. I also know Wells and IMO Alnmouth is nicer than Wells. It's also right on the beach, whereas in Wells you have to stay in the caravan park to be near the beach. Seahouses has been cleaned up a lot of late, but I remember going there as a kid and the beach was covered in coal slag!

Thanks juneau - coal slag sounds delightful!! We didn't mind the walk to the beach in Wells as the harbour is pretty and good for bird-watching but it would be nice to be nearer. Does Alnmouth have any shops at all? All I can find are pubs and tea shops - both great but not much help if you need bread in the morning!

Alnmouth is quite small. I don't remember any shops, but we weren't staying there - we just went one afternoon for a walk on the beach. You might be better off in Alnwick though (which is a charming town with plenty of shops), and get the bus to Alnmouth for a walk on the beach. That might be more convenient.

Okay, so on Google streetview I can see a small Mace supermarket/post office in Alnmouth, plus a few pubs, a gift shop, etc.

Warkworth is nice but have you considered Bamburgh? It is gorgeous and there’s enough amenities in the village. You should be able to get a bus from Alnwick.

Warkworth or Bamburgh, definitely

I'd seriously consider hiring a car, by limiting yourself to public transport in rural Northumberland you are seriously limiting where you can visit.

Alnmouth is great- it would be my pick of the places you mentioned, although it is quite a walk from the train station. My PIL used to live in Lesbury which is also lovely and Warkworth is great. Not sure if any have shops though

For activities there is northside surf in amble which is great, plus castles, hills etc

I'd also avoid staying in seahouses and amble

I'd avoid Seahouses but Amble was nice enough.

And Alnwick Castle is beautiful. It's where the first flying lesson took place in Harry Potter. Lovely grounds - take the poisons garden tour. Our DS (then aged about 9) found it fascinating.

I would also endorse Alnmouth. Lovely village right next to the beach. You could step out of a cottage right next to small shops to pick up milk ext and good places to eat in the village. It has a train station.

Very near Warkworth with its ruined castle and riverside walks as well.

Alnmouth has a post office which sells milk, bread and tinned stuff. It also has a posh deli type shop which is no use to man nor beast. For the past three years my partner and I have stayed there for a fortnight in the summer. It's bloody lovely on Alnmouth, but the shops are awful.

Alnmouth is amazing for dogs too
Perhaps you could get a Sainsbury's delivery? That's what I'd do if possible.

Another vote for Alnmouth, ticks all your boxes!

DH, DS, our 2 dogs and I spent a 4-night break in Beadnell just last month. The weather was unseasonably fabulous and we had a great stay.

We stayed in a holiday house called 'Hilly Brow' which was a very clean and tidy terraced new build with a double bedroom and two singles. It has a very small back garden with decking and a small patch of stones/vegetation for doggy doings. It was perfect for what we wanted.

It was a 10 minute walk down to a gorgeous beach, which I imagine would be amazing in the height of summer. We had a car with us, but Seahouses isn't far away and has a large coop and several restaurants.

The Craster Arms is a large restaurant in the village which gets very busy at weekends and definitely needs to be booked in advance.

I would go back in a flash.

No, Beadnell is stunningly beautiful, but it's a place to visit, not to stay.

We stayed in Bamburgh and had a great few days. Stunning beach, castle, cafes, couple of pubs/restaurants, shop.

We found a little modern apartment on homeaway.com which was far cheaper than a cottage! Also wax very central. Worth a look.

You can't beat the beach at Bamburgh, it's amazing. I love Seahouses which is next along from Bamburgh - it has lots of nice shops, boat trips and plenty of places to eat. Couldn't tell you what the beach is like though, as I only visited the harbour. Alnwick Castle and gardens are worth a long visit, and the Tree House there is fantastic. Another great visit is Holy Island / Lindisfarne, depending on tide times. Beaches there are brilliant, as is the castle. Great places to eat there too. Don't know what public transport in the area is like though.

Thank you so much everyone - I think we'll end up going for Alnmouth, it sounds beautiful and just get a shopping delivery on the first day. Can't wait to go and will definitely visit Bamburgh, Alnwick (dd is a massive Harry Potter and Downton fan!) and Warkworth for starters. Thanks again!!

I'm really sorry to hijack, but where is best to walk Hadrian's Wall?
We just want to go for a couple of days in August - so will have a day walking, and then maybe some other stuff to do on other days.

DS will be 14.

www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/hadrians-wall/

Foxes Alnmouth is lovely and we had a day trip there at Feb half term (we live an hour down the road). The Red Lion Pub on the high street was good for food and the kids spent ages playing on the beach at the mouth of the river as the tide was coming in.

If you are into books then visit Barter Books in Alnwick, a huge second hand bookshop in a converted railway station. They have a great kids reading room and a fab cafe.

Hellohah I'd recommend the part around Sycamore Gap and you can then combine with a visit to one of the Roman forts at either Housesteads or Vindolanda.

Barter's books is a great place to visit and spend a (lot of) hours! They're also happy to have dogs inside, including in one of the two tearoom sitting areas.

If you can get transport, then Cragside House is a great day out with lots to see and do. We visited last October when we were down that way and took our son back in February because we knew he would enjoy it too.

Thanks @Tattie... I'll have a proper look tomorrow.