Extra days before going to Newcastle upon Tyne for husbands work

I think that would be a really good chance to explore Northumberland

@Mardee has a current, quite lengthy thread running on Northumberland currently. Hopefully she'll link it in here, to save a lot of repetition.

You don't say whether you'll have a car or be using transit, either would work well.

It would work from Newcastle fine, but ideally you'd stay somewhere between Berwick on Tweed and Morpeth- in a perfect world not south of Morpeth. Berwick would make a fine base, but there are lots of possible coastal bases, as well as the likes of Alnwick, Morpeth or even Rothbury. With a car Wooler would be another really good base.

Where having a car would be really useful (not totally essential) is a visit to Holy Island/Lindisfarne.

That totally depends on your interests. We would take the train to Hexham, Haltwhistle, or other stop along the line from Newcastle to Carlisle, spend two nights in a nice little B and B, and spend some time exploring Hadrian’s Wall, including the Roman fort at Housesteads.

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

Thanks. We will not have car so glad to hear transit friendly options. We look history, nature, hiking, and trying new foods.

I’m with Lola. I ‘d enjoy Hadrian’s Wall. Country.

Here is more information on getting around Hadrian’s Wall area by the AD 122 bus:

https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/services/GNE/AD12

https://www.goodjourney.org.uk/attractions/ad122-hadrians-wall-country-bus/

It is a great place to hike. We stayed in Haltwhistle and walked to the path and eastward our first day, ending at a pickup point for the AD 122 bus and rode that back to Haltwhistle. The next day, we boarded the bus in Haltwhistle and rode to the stop near Housesteads Roman fort, explored that, then hiked to another pickup point for the bus back to Haltwhistle. Two great days of hiking in beautiful rolling hills alongside the historic wall built 2000 years ago.

https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/hadrians-wall-path/

You can get more information from the numerous blogs about hiking Hadrian’s Wall, but most cover the whole length (84 miles), and we only did a section in the middle.

The AD122 may or may not go on to an enhanced timetable for the summer at Easter-last year for the first time ever it didn't get an enhanced hourly schedule.
For the more western part of the Northumberland part of the wall towards Birdoswald (the County border with Cumberland) use the 681 service- https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/services/GNE/681

Also don't buy an AD122 Discovery Ticket at £12.50, buy a Northumbria Day Rover for £5 or single tickets at £2 for each journey. All fares are purchased on the bus, using contactless or cash. The £5 fare is quite a new product (introduced since Summer 2023) and is a multi operator ticket. The only reason you would buy a Discovery ticket now is if you were there between May and September and took the open top Toon Tour in Newcastle. That is a good introduction to the city and does not suffer from the same traffic problems as many cities. The Toon Tour is good enough that, even as a local to the area, I think it is worth it (on a fine day)- maybe the only HoHo in the UK I would say that about it.

Apart from the train there are 3 bus routes from Newcastle to Hexham, which allow you to see more of the Tyne Valley- the 684 from Eldon Square, the 685 (to Carlisle via Haltwhistle, hourly,- using double deck buses) from Eldon Square and the 10- that is the more useful as it serves Central Station- from a shelter across the parking lot from the car rental office at Central Station. You can't mistake the 10- they are route branded buses.

So you could come down from Edinburgh on the train, walk out of the station, take the Toon Tour, then the 10 to Hexham. A pretty good introduction to the area. Sometimes speed is not everything.

In coastal Northumberland, if you end up choosing that, Arriva Northumbria run most services

Sssshhh, don’t tell anybody, but the Northumbrian coastline from, say, Warkworth up to Holy Island (Lindisfarne) is cracking! Big sandy beaches, castles, little villages, wildlife, off shore islands, and if you go in the sea, possible hypothermia! But, generally fantastic even if a well kept secret! Don’t tell anybody I told you!

Ian

Hi, char0308! I am heading to England next month for 5 1/2 weeks, and will be spending 6 nights in Northumberland and by Hadrian's Wall. It is a beautiful location and there is much to see and do. I'm spending 3 nights in Seahouses, on the coast, and then 3 nights in Haltwhistle, by Hadrian's Wall.

Here are some of my threads and a few others that might help. BTW, as has been said, you can use public transportation, but you might want to rent a car for a day or two to get to some outlying places. Arnold Clark has a rental office in Newcastle and is a well-recommended agency on this forum.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/last-stop-northumberland-and-hadrian-s-wall
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/need-suggestions-for-northumberland-base-and-lodging
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/hadrian-s-wall-touring-on-our-own
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/help-with-trains-and-booking

Lastly, if you're interested, there is a British crime show called Vera that is filmed in Northumberland. Breathtaking scenery and an interesting show. It will give you a good look at the area. Vera and her team are based in Newcastle and there are some gorgeous shots of the city at night and during the day. All the seasons are on Britbox, but you can watch season 1 for free on Amazon Prime, and seasons 1-4 for free (I think) on Freevee.

Will you have time to explore Newcastle together or will it be work and then straight home? You could base in the city for the few nights before he starts work and have a look around plus do some day trips to eg, Tynemouth, Durham and Hexham easily by train or get a bus to Hadrian’s Wall. Transport connections are better from the city than from a rural location so you have more options.

We will be in Edinburgh our first 3/7 Thursday through 3/10 Sunday, then 3/11 Mon thru 3/13 Wed are days to be determined, then husband will work 3/14-3/15 Thur/Fri in Newcastle and i will be solo exploring, then we have 3/16 Sat and 3/17 Sun as two more days to plan. I head home Mon 3/18 and my husband will stay in Newcastle and work a few more days.

We are both a little worried about renting a car and driving on opposite side of road than we are use to. We were in London a couple years ago and it was hard for our brains to grasp when in taxis 🤣😂

In that case I think you could do 'The Northumberland Coast' as outlined above while you are together on the way from Edinburgh to Newcastle.
While your husband is working you could maybe explore Durham and York by train. Maybe Tynemouth with it's abbey (on the Tyne and Wear Metro) then St Mary's Isle at Whitley Bay (also on the Metro), maybe the National Glass Centre at Sunderland (if that is of interest), also Roker Pier at Sunderland, maybe the Penshaw Monument.

If you're into James Herrriot Thirsk is a straight shot on the train.

Then for the weekend go to Hadrian's Wall as above.

If you are into Indian Food you could take the Passage to India Curry train on Friday night from Newcastle to Corbridge, with your meal in the eponymous restaurant at Corbridge old Railway Station.
That is a special experience. The 'train' is a reserved section of a normal service train, transformed into a little bit of India.
Stay in Corbridge or Hexham for the weekend. We haven't mentioned Hexham Abbey also the lovely independent movie Theatre in Hexham.

You have the ingredients to make it a special weekend. Presumably you fly back from EDI rather than NCL- NCL is an easy hop on the metro from Central Station if you were flying out of there.

PS- On 9 March there is a bus from Berwick to Holy Island/Lindisfarne. If you can take advantage of that for a day trip it is highly recommended- 0905 from Berwick and 1830 back, as it is a middle of the day tide.
https://passenger-line-assets.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bordersbuses/PERY/477-timetable-20240103-b48f2f9e.pdf