Northumberland Coast Path

The Northumberland Path offers some of the finest coastal walking in Europe, it stretches for 103 km along the Northumberland Coast AONB from Cresswell in the South to Berwick-upon-Tweed in the North.

The Northumberland Coast Path is part of the North Sea Trail which offers over 5000km of coastal walking around the North Sea Basin. The North Sea Trail website has interactive mapping for all of the sections in all seven countries as well as hundreds of articles relating to the natural and cultural heritage of the areas through which the trail passes.

Walking the Northumberland Coast Path

The Northumberland Coast path is 103km or 64 miles in length, if you choose to walk north,, it starts in Cresswell at the Southern end of Druridge Bay and ends in Berwick-upon-Tweed bear the Scottish Border.

The route mainly follows rights of way (footpaths and bridleways) but in some places follows beaches, minor roads, tracks and permissive paths.

The route is fairly level with very few steep climbs and the surface is generally firm although some sections can become muddy in winter or after heavy rain.

Most of the step over stiles along the route have now been replaced with gates to improve accessibility.

A guidebook has been produced by the AONB partnership to accompany your walk, it costs only £4 and can be ordered here.

The guidebook breaks the trail up into six sections which can be walked easily in a day, these are:

Cresswell to Warkworth

Warkworth to Craster

Craster to Seahouses

Seahouses to Belford

Belford to Fenwick

Fenwick to Berwick-upon-tweed

Further resources

Public Transport

Follow this link for more information about public transport

Baggage Transfer

Baggage transfer for the whole route can be arranged with Carrylite

Accommodation

If you are planning to use accommodation along the trail it is best to book early, especially for single night stays in the peak season. Most of the towns and villages along the path provide bed and breakfast or guest house accommodation. Larger hotels can be found in Amble, Warkworth, Alnmouth, Embleton, Seahouses, Bamburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed. Please note there is currently no visitor accommodation in Cresswell, however the Plough Inn at Ellington is only one mile way and has accommodation.

You can search online for accommodation at visitnorthumberland.com

Alternatively Berwick Tourist Information Centre offer a book-a-bed-ahead service on 01289 330733.

Camping – If you are planning to camp, please be aware that there are no campsites on the route south of Craster.

An alternative to booking accommodation along the trail would be to have a central base and use the bus to get to and from the trail. If you do this, we would reccomend Alnwick as the best base.

Maps

The trail is very well waymarked and signed, however we do advise that you use the guidebook and the relevant Ordnance Survey map.

The OS maps that cover the trail are:

Explorer 325 – Morpeth and Blyth

Explorer 332 - Alnwick and Amble

Explorer 340 - Holy Island and Bamburgh

Explorer 346 – Berwick-upon-Tweed

Circular trails

There are four short circular trails along the Northumberland Coast Path, these are at Belford, two at Craster and at Druridge Bay.

Leaflets describing each of the four trails are available from here or from Tourist Information Centres

The Belford Trail is 10 miles long and forms a figure of eight around the Coast Path, the route takes in St Cuthbert’s Cave, Holborn Moss and offers fine views of Holy Island, Budle Bay and the Farne Islands.

The trail to the north of Craster is classic coastal walk, the 4 ½ mile route includes the dramatic Dunstanburgh Castle and the quaint fishing village of Craster.

The trail to the south of Craster offers some of the most memorable coastal walking within the AONB. The 5 mile route heads inland towards the wooded grounds of Howick Hall the heads seawards to the bating house and Cullernose point, which comes alive in spring and summer with hundreds of breeding seabirds.

The trail at Druridge Bay is an easy access route around Ladyburn Lake at Druridge Bay County Park.