Alnwick in February

[thebignewtvsbroken]

Hello,

We have just booked accommodation in centre of Alnwick for 3 nights, mid February.

Planning to visit Lindisfarne / Holy Island. Never been before so any tips in this regard would be welcome.

Also, we are staying near Alnwick Castle but have just seen it's closed for the winter until March!

Does anybody have any other recommendations for things to do in and around Alnwick?

Check the tide tables for holy Island please

February is hard if the weather is bad - I'm an outdoors person

Cragside house ( national trust ) might be open and that's always worth a trip

Everyone rates barter books in Alnwick

We went in March

The gardens at the castle were open.

Bambrugh castle might be open. There is a ruined castle at dunatanbrough as well.

We went into Newcastle as well - dig cafe and cat cafe plus shopping,

@midgetastic thank you, yes, I've checked the tide tables. Looks like we'll have to go early one day and back across by 2:30ish or so.

Aware the weather might make things difficult, which is why I'm disappointed about the castle being closed.

Hopefully will be something else we can do.

Barter books.

Thanks. Just checked, looks like Bamburgh castle is open.

Expensive though, £55 for family ticket. Would you say it's worth it? x

Unless the weather is really terrible, if you like the outdoors, you'll have a great time. It's a beautiful part of the world.

I have never bothered with bamburgh castle myself - nice cafes , great beach for walking on

Cragside is worth it whatever

It will be cold and possibly rainy but Northumberland is so lovely I wouldn’t let it bother you!

Agree about checking the tide times for Holy Island. There are some lovely pubs in and around Alnwick for a drink or lunch/dinner. Got to recommend Barter Books and Alnwick Castle too.

I would also really recommend getting some Alnwick Rum (if you drink). I’m not a big spirit drinker but Alnwick Rum is really nice!

Finally I absolutely love Bamburgh. Even if you don’t go into the castle itself it is very striking from the green outside. The beach at Bamburgh is gorgeous too for walk, even in the winter!

See if you can get in here for a meal, they've only been open a year and just got in the Michelin guide. So good, if that's your sort of thing...

sonnet.restaurant/

Bambrugh castle definitely worth it. Has lots of rooms and a dungeon. Stunning views of the Farnes from the battlements

Also you could visit Chillingham castle inland, which is very cool. It's supposed to be haunted and definitely has a spooky feeling. It's very remote inside the national park. There are horned wild cattle in the area.
Also recommend taking the boat to the Farnes from Seahouses.
Book a table to eat at the Alnwick treehouse, it gets booked up early so do it soon!
Also recommend the Potted Lobster in Bambrugh.
Cragside is awesome too.

dirty bottles is good for food! alnwick gardens is lovely and if you have kids there’s a bit called lillidorei which is fab. barter books is a nice bookshop too

chillingham-castle.com/

Not bothered for the inside of Bamburgh castle, but the outside is truly stunning - one of the best views in Britain with the beach, imo! Go for a walk on the beach, then warm up in a pub after.

Barter books is great, nice fire in the cafe.

Agree that Cragside is excellent.

We quite often get the train up to Edinburgh for the day as well if we're there for a week - you might not have time though.

I'd spend the money on Alnwick Gardens and the playpark (Lilidorei) rather than Bamburgh Castle. If you fancy a castle then Warkworth was fun for the kids plus pretty cheap - plus a nice village for lunch and a mooch around the shops.

if you go to Warkworth, this place is really nice for food Eat at Bertram's

Lots of great places here, thanks all, going to look them all up now and make a plan

Just looking up the boat trip....is it Billy Shiels boat trip?

So this goes across to Holy Island, so we could do this instead of driving / walking across?

There are various all very good boat trips - we used serenity last time - some will land on holy island, others on inner farne and some tour the islands - because of the great bird life

The sailings or landings are often cancelled with weather though so could be hit or miss in February but would be great fun if it went to plan

Not so much a tip but we went to Holy Island and went into a cafe and ordered breakfasts - full English. We then asked if it came with beans.
Everyone behind the counter turned and looked and the lady serving said
"Beans?".
As though I'd asked if it came with custard.
Anyway no it didn't come with beans!
Not long after my DD and bf came in as they had arranged to meet us there, they ordered their breakfast and DD then enquired if it came with beans and she was met with what could only be described as a death stare and a No.
Then when DD came over to us the woman behind the counter remarked - "They're with them weirdos.".🤣
To this day we have no idea if beans is really not a thing up there North of the Tyne!
Or what we did to be called weirdos!
The Priory was a very special place to visit.
and Cragside is amazing.

Haha @Luddite26 I'll be sure to bear that in mind about the beans!

Chillingham will be closed when you're there. Cragside gardens will be open however the house opens mid Feb.

Don't panic though there are plenty of lovely places to visit Craster, alnmouth and low newton come to mind. You can have a look around the villages and walk along the beach, followed by a good pub lunch. And of course holy island, which is very special.

We like walking and there are some lovely walks to do, some short, obviously check the weather first.

Head south a bit and visit Beamish Museum. It’s fabulous (try the fish and chips) and plenty of indoor things to do if the weather is a bit rubbish.

Sunset puffin cruise and chips from Seahouses.

Warkworth Castle is lovely, and the village too.
So many lovely beaches in the region. Try Alnmouth. Nice beaches and a pleasant village with a couple of good pubs.
So long as you don't mind bracing conditions there are so many opportunities for lovely wanders.

.

Also Dunstanbrough Castle. Lovely short walk from Craster and if the spirit moves you , you can walk a bit further to a beach of golden sands.