Hadrian's Wall touring on our own

What time of year are you going? September was quite pleasant walking the Wall. Is there a reason you are not driving yourself? Driving a stick is cheaper, but they do have automatics. A car is just so much more convenient, we had no problem and enjoyed the freedom and control of our time driving. They have freeways, too. That being said; if you can make it to Haltwhistle and stay in one of the many B&Bs, you are right on the Bus route that takes you to the sights. I think that Hexham is closer than Newcastle for your train stop but maybe there is a direct bus to Haltwhistle from Newcastle. There are Hadrian's Wall Tours available.

To me, Hadrian’s wall would be easier to see with a rental car, especially if wanted to visit the Roman Army museum, Vindolanda Museum and Archaeological Site, Cawfield Quarry and Steel Rigg and/or others sites along the wall. While the Army museum is right off the B6318 road, many of the sites are 1/4 to 1/2 miles off the road. The archeological site entails a lot of walking. Yes, the AD122 seems to be the bus you’d take.

The bus is extremely convenient to catch in Haltwhistle.

I’d like to suggest one other option. Hire Peter Carney as your private tour guide for the day. He will provide transportation and expert guidance on a tour personalized for your interests. It was money well spent!!

https://www.hadrianswall-walk.com/

If you are in Edinburgh, you could look into a Rabbie’s bus tour to Hadrians Wall. We did that and got a taste by visiting multiple sites. Driver/guide very entertaining.

https://www.rabbies.com/en/england-tours/from-edinburgh/day-tours/hadrians-wall-roman-britain-the-scottish-borders-day-tour

We took the train to Haltwhistle and stayed there for a couple of nights. We chose Haltwhistle due to the bus connections as we planned to walk parts of the wall and visit the forts/sights. Small town but has a great pub, grocery stores, etc. We bought the 3 day Rover ticket for the AD122 bus and had no problems getting to everything we wanted to see (LOTS of walking though!). Sometimes we took the bus to a stop, walked along the wall and then picked it up elsewhere, for example Milecastle Inn - walk to Twice Brewed inn, then on to Vindolanda - bus home, day 2 bus to the Sill - walk to Housesteads via Sycamore Gap - bus home. Chesters as a bus trip only. Worked great for us, you just have to mind the bus schedule and try to end somewhere that has a cafe or pub you can wait at if you arrive early (ie one of the visitor centers). Just to be clear, the bus takes you close to things, but runs along a valley so there will still be quite a lot of walking to get up to the actual wall, the milecastles and forts etc. Vindolanda, the Sill discovery center are the main exceptions, where the bus drops you directly at the site.

Corbridge Roman village was interesting too - we did that as a separate day trip from Newcastle though as it was only a 30 min train ride from the city. From Newcastle we also did day trips with public transport (mostly bus) to Bamburgh/Seahouses on the coast and Alnwick (castle, Barter Books). All in all, northern England was one of my favorite trips ever! Beautiful landscapes, fewer tourists, friendly people.

Both my hubby and I do not feel comfortable to drive in England. We both can drive a standard but with stick on the right hand side. Appreciate your advice to drive but we won't be , this is why I'm asking for help with Buses.
Did anyone find a particular map to help you plan along the Wall. I've been searching to no avail. Nothing that looks easy to follow so far. We were thinking of just two full days to explore. Will hit the sights of most interest and not worry about the rest.
I did not someone mentioned that the bus takes you along the wall but not right at it? How far off are the sights? Thanks all

I can only go by my experience, but both the the Cawfield Quarry and Steel Rigg sections were .5 and .7 miles from the road where the bus runs and that only gets one to the parking lot. From it you start walking to the wall. There are plenty of places to stop, so look at Google maps to get and idea of places you’d like to stop at along the wall, especially ones that might be more accessible than the two I mentioned. If you go to the archeological site, there’s a lot of walking to it and the museum there.

One person in our party had mobility issues. Without a vehicle to get us closer to the wall she wouldn’t have been able to make the walk from the bus stop.

The AD122 bus works great. I’ve already suggested Peter Carney as both transportation and guide. I hope you will consider him.

You can have a look at the bus route map here https://images-gonortheast.passenger-website.com/downloads/Hexham%20%26%20Haltwhistle%20-%20network%20map.pdf
The AD122 is the orange route, walking paths are dotted lines, the Wall and forts/museums also noted. Note that from the valley, the walk to the Wall is also going uphill (as previous poster mentioned, in the 1/2 mile range from the road up to the wall). Housesteads, for example, is a short but steep uphill walk from the bus stop and Steel Rigg viewpoint was about 15mins gentle uphill walk from the Sill visitor's center.

If you don't want to do any big long hikes but can manage a moderate walk on trails, I'd recommend the walk up to Steel Rigg, along the wall a bit (maybe to Sycamore Gap) and back. You definitely need good footwear and ability to walk on some potentially slippery stones/grass, but otherwise no special hiking ability necessary. This would take about an hour roundtrip from The Sill visitor's center and gives you a great up close view of the wall and one of the milecastles. https://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/walk/sycamore-gap-walk/

Basically, what you can visit will be somewhat determined by how much walking you can do. The bus does still give you a glimpse of things and there is beautiful scenery everywhere, but if walking is an issue, pick the sights that are directly at the bus stops (a few highlights for me in this case would be Vindolanda - still a lot of walking, but mainly flat from the bus stop, Roman Army museum/Walltown, Chesters).

The Sill visitor's center has a link to some walk suggestions and information that might help you get an idea of the terrain https://www.thesill.org.uk/visit/whats-nearby/

We always used Haltwhistle as our base to walk the wall. There is a lovely walk from the town up the burn to Cawfields (map and information here.) From Cawfields there are easy walks both ways along the wall. Use the AD122 bus to reach places like Vindolanda, Roman Army Museum, Housesteads and Chesters. These are all main sites along the wall and you can walk from most of them. One great advantage of using the bus is that you don't have to walk back to the starting point and rescue your car! Timetable of AD122 can be found here.

The best map for walking Hadrian's Wall is Ordnance Survey's Explorer Map of Hadrian's Wall. This is a scale of 1:25.000. (4cm to 1km) and is the map all walkers use. Footpaths are marked in green. The map also shows field boundaries so you know where to head to find stiles, gates etc. (Once on the wall, you don't actually need a map as you can't get lost!)

This website has information about the Hadrian's Wall trail and also has maps which you can zoom in and out of.

\IOt is a wonderful area and a really exhillarating walk. Enjoy...

Haltwhistle lodging suggestion.
Ashcroft guest house

https://ashcroft-guest-house-haltwhistle.booked.net/#w

Hi Shelley -

Every U.K. National Trail has a website and Hadrians Wall is one. Here’s a link to the Hadrians Wall specific shop from the website:

https://thetrailsshop.co.uk/collections/hadrians-wall-path?page=1&grid_list=grid-view

When we hiked the trail we did it with a combination of the Harvey’s strip map and the official guide (published by Aurum Press, it’s the one with the lilac-ish section at the foot). wasleys are right when they say that the Ordnance Survey maps are the most popular, but buying the official guide will not only give you the OS maps in strip form but also will give you a wealth of navigational information and also routes to sites ‘off wall’ (like Vindolanda for instance) plus some historical information. You probably don’t need to order in advance (unless you want to swot up beforehand) as the official guide and/or maps should be available from good bookshops, or even newsagents (thinking W.H. Smith as a ‘for instance’) in Newcastle upon Tyne or even Hexham once you get here. I personally also like the A-Z Adventure maps which are OS maps in strip form, but they have virtually zero information of any other kind, which is why I’d go with the official guide in your case.

If you want to stay close to the wall near it’s most rugged and spectacular section (between Greenhead and Housesteads) try looking at securing a room at the Twice Brewed pub/hotel near Steel Rigg. I’m going to assume the AD 122 stops there because there’s the pub and The Sill Educational Centre/Hostel next door, but absolutely nothing else! Twice Brewed is ‘Hadrians Wall Central’ for hiking groups, but it has full dining facilities and possibly more importantly, it’s own brewery attached! You’ll need to book early though because it’s very popular! Possibly because there’s nowhere else so close to the route at that point.

Hope you get your trip sorted out OK - it’s a fabulous, if remote (and in the wrong weather, bleak) part of the country!

Ian

Unfortunately Ashcroft has been sold and is no longer doing B&B.

I am sorry to hear that. Thanks for letting me know.

Hi Shelley, would you and your husband consider cycling-or, perhaps, E-bike cycling? Here's a couple of resources that may help, if so. There's a trip planner function, and a few impressions of those who've ridden along part or all of the wall, also many lodgings and camp spots. The company linked that rents E-bikes also operates guided E-bike tours.

I hope one day to do a modest cycle tour in England or France or Ireland-or all three-and I ran across this.

Good luck!

https://cycle.travel/route/hadrians_cycleway

https://hadriancyclingltd.co.uk/about-us/

Here's another vote for Peter Carney. He is very knowledgeable, charming and flexible about setting up an itinerary just for you.

He picked me up at my B&B in Haltwhistle (the lovely Ashcroft which I'm sad to hear is no longer a B&B) and returned me there about 10 hours later.

I was the only person that day so we were able to work out a great experience that included some things I wanted to see and do and some he thought I should see and do. The last stop was Durham Cathedral before we drove back to Haltwhistle. Note that it is only about 50 miles between Haltwhistle and Durham.

I know you want to do a lot of walking along the wall, but please be advised that you may be on narrow, steep, wet, muddy and slippery trails with no handrails. I was very glad that I wore waterproof ankle boots. I wished I had trekking poles.

You can get an idea of that from this link: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/hadrians-wall/

Thank you all, Good information here. Lots to consider.

So, I was exploring the AD122 website and they show :AD122 Rover 3 Days - Adult AD122 Rover
1 x Adult For unlimited travel on AD122 Hadrian's Wall Country Bus and all other Go North East services (except Seasider X11)
We would be coming from Newcastle. Has anyone been able to take the bus directly from here? I'm not sure I've read this properly. Thanks All.

Yes, you should be able to use the Rover ticket on the Go North East bus service from Newcastle (but not other bus operators!). Based on current schedules, this will get you as far as Hexham and takes about 1 1/2 hours. The train is only 40 minutes and fairly cheap though, so I don't really see an advantage to taking the bus (unless there are issues with the trains). And if you want to stay in Haltwhistle, it is even less convenient as you would have to switch to another bus in Hexham (total time ca 2 1/2 hours). By train, you can arrive directly from Newcastle in an hour. And not sure when you are planning to travel, but of course routes and schedules may change in the future.

If you do want to stick to the bus or don't plan on doing much hiking, then it may be better/more convenient to stay in Hexham, which is a bit further from the wall itself but a larger town with more transport connections. You can still use the AD122 to get to Hadrian's Wall sites from there and it's a shorter trip from Newcastle with the Rover ticket. Also only 10 mins by bus to Corbridge (Roman town site open weekends only), another destination valid with the Rover ticket.

The Rover Ticket is a good idea as you can hop on and off the bus without having to worry about paying and if making several journeys will work out cheaper than buying individual tickets.

Service 685 which is the direct bus link between Newcastle, Hexham, Haltwhistle and Carlisle isn’t Go North East, so your Go North East rover ticket can’t be used on that.

You would have to pick up either Go North East service X84 or X85 from Newcastle to Hexham and change to AD122 bus there. That does begin to sound a bit of a faff...

The train fare from Newcastle to Haltwhistle is currently £14.60. There doesn’t seem to be any advantage in buying in advance or on travelling off peak. If you are arriving in Newcastle by train, this is probably easier than trying to get the bus.

There is a contact page on the AD122 website, so you could always get in touch with them and check exactly how things work.

I've been reading all your replies. Good advice here. I've been trying to narrow down what to see!

We have two full days but with very few buses, it's going to be a challenge. So, I'm reading information and trying to decide what would be the things we would most like to see. What we could comfortably do, walking -time wise.
We are staying in Haltwhistle. Probably arriving early afternoon on a Saturday. We like the look of the Haltwhistle Burn. So, my thought was to take the bus around to Milecastle Inn. Explore some of the Wall, although not exactly sure what's here.
Then hike back to Haltwhistle along the Burn. Anyone done the walk across and can give me a mileage.? .. I got a map from Haltwhistle Tourism but no mileage. Appreciate your replies. :)

Shelley,

It's only 2 miles down the Burn back into Haltwhistle. A lovely walk.
You could extend it along the wall proper by taking the bus to Once Brewed then the 3 mile walk to Cawfields/the Milecastle Inn.

The AD122 is currently two hourly for the winter. When the Summer schedule kicks in at Easter (until October) that in every past year has become hourly, which makes things much better.

Yes train is fastest, most direct and simplest, from Newcastle. But if you wanted to use your bus rover, with an hourly AD122 that makes using the X84 (or the 10 on the other side of the Tyne). The bus means you see the towns as you come through, especially the centre of Corbridge. Then change in Hexham on to the AD122 which of course brings you all the way along the wall on the way to Haltwhistle, so sightseeing on the way. All X84/X85 journeys are now X84 except a single X85 commuter journey.
Bus frequency means you could hop off in Corbridge, look around there, and back on an hour later.
The direct 685 bus Newcastle to Haltwhistle, which was a joint Arriva/Stagecoach service is now Stagecoach only. They schedule double deckers for the route (normally) which is great for the views. They are about £6 normally for NC- Haltwhistle- I can't give you exact fare as of course we are presently on £2 maximum bus fare across the country, but £6 is close enough, half the train anyway.
The train is a lovely journey along the Tyne- sit on the right hand side of the train from Newcastle for the best views.

Shelley,

One or two more points.

If arriving at Newcastle on LNER it is always cheaper to book a through ticket to Haltwhistle, not split tickets. The local train is run by Northern, but this dates back to British Rail days and how fares were calculated.

You should go to one or both of the big name forts- Houseteads and Vindolanda. For me personally it's Houseteads, but others will validly say Vindolanda. Your choice. Toss a coin if you need to.

It is possible to over state the difficulties of the bus from Newcastle for those not used to transit. Go North East buses are modern and good, and ticketing can be done on their app if that's your thing. All contactless payments too if not doing the app. The journey should be part of the experience.

Eldon Square bus station is a short journey from Central Station on the Metro. It is a modern covered bus station attached to a shopping centre. So there are restrooms, electronic and paper displays, and it's staffed.
Hexham Bus Station has a waiting room, restrooms and the cafe may or may not be re-opening, but plenty of facilities a short (and I mean short) walk away. I was at both bus stations a few weeks ago so that is up to date.
There are only a couple of stands at the bus station, so nothing to navigate. It's a vast improvement on the cramped old bus station.

I will add that people in the North East of England are generally known to be friendly, chatty and happy to help. It’s a fantastic place to visit. Hexham and Corbridge are lovely country towns with the all important good pubs.

Haltwhistle Burn walk is about 1.5 miles. Time taken will depend on how fast you walk and how many stops you make... From the Milecastle Inn, walk along the unclassified road to Cawfields Crag picnic site. Here, skirt round the lake, through the gate and pick up the footpath which takes you up to the Wall and the remains of a milcastle. Walk east along the wall to where it crosses an unclassified road at Sheld on the Wall. This is about a mile and is one of the best (and easiest) short walks along the wall. There are views south across the South Tyne and up to the hills around Alston. North you look across the wilds of Northumberland towards Kielder Forest. You can also trace the line of the Vallum to the south of the wall. It is also a lot less busy than the walk from Housesteads west towards Hotbanks and Steel Rigg Car Park.

Walk back the same way to Haltwhistle, (with a stop at the Milecastle Inn to help you back down the Burn!) This would nicely fill the afternoon and give a good introduction to the Wall.

If feeling energetic, you can continue following the line of the wall east beyond Shield on the Wall, but this steadily climbs (with a lot of ups and downs) to Winshields Crag, the highest point of the wall. It's about 1.5 miles but seems a lot longer. Each time you crest a hill and think you are at Winshields, there's another one ahead of you! The Wall is less well preserved along this stretch and in places just looks like a stone field wall. From Winshields it drops down to the car park at Steel Rigg,.

A few years ago, we walked the route of the wall, end to end, west to east, over several days, and having our bags transferred on to our next lodging. We didn’t use the AD122 shuttle, and only were on, or near roads when the route itself paralleled or followed them. So I can’t offer advice about that, except that the Housesteads Fort entrance was probably a 10 minute walk up from the road to the south for those coming that way, as well as a 4 or 5 minute stroll through a sheep manure filled patch down from the wall, the way I went.

As I recall in the Haltwhistle area, Housesteads Fort was worthwhile, but probably the least valuable stop. Their museum was minuscule. Nearby, Vindolanda and Chester’s Fort were exceptionally good.

Also, if you have the time and inclination, don’t discount the sights close to Newcastle. West of the city, and where we spent the last night before reaching Newcastle the next afternoon, there’s a remarkably fine section of wall at Heddon on the Wall (we stayed at the Heddon Lodge), and east of the city are Segedunum Fort & Museum in Wallsend, and the Arbeia Fort in South Shields.

Yes, I should have said, we will be taking the train right into Haltwhistle and use our Rover Bus pass to get us to our Airbnb. Why do the bus when we have limited time. I'd like to head off to explore a bit to use our bus. Appreciate your thoughts. Thanks Wasley for the fact that this would be an easy walk to give us and introduction. I was also wondering if it would be good to go to one of the spots that gets busy most days, and since we'd be after what they say is the busiest times, might help us out. What was the busiest area to you?
Thanks for the advice that the buses are now hourly. That will be helpful. I also need to check out the bus # 681 for it's schedule as we need to use it to get to Birdoswald Roman fort. Seems out of the way a bit.
Would anyone say, which Museum gave the best overview of the Wall?

isn31c Did you mean taking the train from Newcastle to Haltwhistle? This would be great advice. Thanks

Shelley,
Yes Train NCL-Haltwhistle.
The AD122 stops at the little turning circle just outside the entrance to the Newcastle bound platform. Have faith in it as there were a distinct lack of timetables displayed at the stop last time I was there. You may well find paper timetables in either of the waiting rooms.
There is a brand new, quite swish, waiting room on the platform you will be arriving on, with restrooms which was a great surprise for an unstaffed station in the UK. If you have time before the bus there is a nice historical display in there, and the waiting room on the Newcastle platform has a totally different display.
The west end of the town is just over the road from the station with a supermarket just a short walk up the street, and on the hospital side of the road opposite the Co-op is a Tourist Information Centre in the Town Hall, though if it's Saturday afternoon you are arriving they may not be open.
This is the very thin 681 timetable. Unlike the AD122 which has basically been the same (except winter changes) for years the 681 is volatile. It has had two major changes in the last 6 months. I've been using it in the opposite direction to Alston recently, and the changes have kept catching me out and inconveniencing me, so check closer to the time. As you'll see Saturday is currently it's best day. I would hope it gets revised again and enhanced for the summer. A hope, not a promise.
https://passenger-line-assets.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/gonortheast/GNE/681-timetable-20221203-f1a7907f.pdf
This leaflet shows you how to walk down into the village of Gilsland about 1.5 miles away-
https://cdn.visitgilsland.org.uk/walks/walkdoc-poppingstone.pdf
You can then continue a further 2 miles along the wall to Greenhead for the hourly 685 back to Haltwhistle. This isn't the spectacular parts of the wall, but it is still there and pleasant and interesting enough walks.

I will post when summer AD122 times are out, sometime in mid to late March

Best museum for overview of the Wall? Vindolanda, followed by the museum in Carlisle.

Chester’s Fort museum had some glass cases of dusty old artifacts, but the remaining foundations of the ancient buildings outside the museum were maybe the best along the entire wall.

isn31c Thank you so much for your help. Appreciate it so much. Yes that helpful information. I was looking last night at the bus schedule for the 681 and went to bed rather frustrated because it didn't seem like there was a way to get to it...look around and catch a bus back. I said to my hubby this morning, I'll take it off the list before I let us be stranded. But yes, once the new schedule is released, it might look different. We will take the train from Newcastle to Haltwhistle as it will travel along faster than the bus and we can hopefully have a bit of time to look around, making use of our 3 day Rover Pass. Not just use it to get to our accommodations.
Cyn, I had someone else recommend Vindolanda and so it seems like a good one to add to our list.
I've been trying to decide which places to go to and depending on if I get enough, we will or won't buy the OverSeas Visitor Pass for Heritage Sites. That's what I'm trying to figure out... A lot :) Good thing I enjoy research. Ha Ha.
Thanks everyone.