Need suggestions for Northumberland base and lodging

We stayed at The Oaks Hotel in Alnwick as used it as a base. If you visit Alnwick castle there is free nearby parking at Greenwell Road (Part C) long stay car park. From Alnwick we visited Bamburgh Castle and the town as well as Holy Island. Also in the somewhat nearby vicinity are the border abbeys; Jedburgh, Kelso, Melrose, and Dryburgh. Near the hotel is a Lidl, Aldi, and Co-op.

You won’t regret staying in Bamburgh. Great food pubs and a lovely small village right on the coast with the imposing castle. I don’t think it’s got a shop but you’ll be out every day in the car anyway. It’s beautiful.

Seahouses is more of a traditional British seaside tourist town with fish and chip shops etc. Alnwick is a much larger (although still pretty small!) town with more amenities. You could also consider Alnmouth which is right on the coast as well.

Thanks so much, jaimeelsabio - it looks nice but is a little pricier than what I'd like. In order to afford 5 weeks of travel, I need to pare down my lodging costs. :-)

Helen, I was interested in Alnmouth and was looking for lodging there but have only found a couple that are near my price range, so I will start looking at Bamburgh. Thank you!

Mardee,

I am very surprised you can't find anything in Alnmouth, as I know there were places there (without looking at the Franciscan Monastery in town!!) which were within my budget 'BC'. I've looked in the past.
And let's just say my ideal budget for UK trips is significantly below yours. I would never pay more than £50 for a PI for instance, even if I had to pay well over that for a full service guesthouse or hotel.

I know you will find places in Seahouses and Berwick which are in budget. I know Seahouses. While Helen's comments are true about Seahouses it is not for one minute a brash seaside town like Blackpool or some of the South coast resorts. A relatively small town, very picturesque, in the summer it can get a bit over run by day trippers. At your time of year much less so.
I wouldn't hesitate to stay there.
Berwick has a lot of history to explore, but a bit far north than ideal for you, so increased gas/petrol costs.
Rothbury is a bit inland for your itinerary, but a great village and some lovely guesthouses. When I stayed there to explore the upper Coquet Valley I stayed at the Queens Head Hotel- a nice hotel/pub and very budget friendly.
I was using the postbus so day tripping didn't work for Rothbury.
Just looked at it and it's £70 tonight, but other places in town for less than that.
I wouldn't hesitate to pay £70 for the QH.
For me most of the Northumbrian coast is within day tripping distance- at 3 to 4 hours each way, so I don't have too much experience of hotels up there. On family holidays we almost always stayed in static caravans at places like Haggerston Castle.

I often wonder about recommending caravan parks on here. That’s where we tend to stay as well as really prefer a caravan to a damp and dark cottage, plus they’re usually cheaper and have other facilities on site. I think the problem is that often you have to book Saturday to Saturday at peak times and it’s quite difficult to explain the caravan park concept and all it’s variations.

Stuart, I'm not sure why I couldn't find anything. Maybe I should have tried the TIA instead of just looking on Google. But I am glad to hear you say that about Seahouses. It did sound like fun and I like the idea of getting boats from there. And I like the idea of staying by the beach. I'm not usually a "beach" person, but there's something about that coastline that appeals to me.

Stuart & Helen, that said, with regards to caravan parks, I'm intrigued by those. I looked up the Haggerston Castle Caravan Park and it looks really nice. I guess I thought caravan parks were similar to campgrounds here in the states where you have mostly RVs and campers there and some tents. But the HCCP had really nice little mobile homes (not sure what they are called) to stay in. An the price is only £79 for 3 nights for the Saver (without all the extras) for my April dates (17 April to 20 April).

It looks a bit farther north (but not as far as Berwick) and seems an easy drive to other places. One thing you all have to understand is that driving for me is not an issue. I live in a rural area where I have to drive 20-25 minutes in any direction to get to anyplace, including gas stations, grocery stores, shops, libraries, etc. So I'm used to driving.

Is there any catch to the caravan park that I should know about? Or any others that might work that you know of? I will also check in Seahouses for places as well. Thanks so much to both of you!

Those mobile homes are called static caravans or if people are being posh they call them ‘lodges’ in the advert but we all know they mean a caravan.

On a site like Haggerston Castle some will be owned by the park and rented by them and some are privately owned. Often people rent out their caravans that they own, but this is done separately not through the park. Websites like Direct Holiday Homes list these. The conditions for private rented ones vary a lot - some don’t include linen, some you have to pay extra direct to the park for use of any facilities, so you really need to read the description.

I would always pay extra to stay in the top of the range models. Some of the basic ones don’t even have central heating so just be really careful!

There are loads of caravan parks in Northumberland. A google search will bring them up. The facilities available vary a lot from a full on holiday park with pool, bars, kids clubs etc to sites with nothing at all and everything in between.

Traditionally caravan holidays have been a more working class type of holiday and while I think that’s still true to an extent, some of the quieter sites in desirable locations (without bingo nights!) can attract quite a moneyed crowd. And actually, it’s not cheap to own a caravan anymore.

Helen, that's all very interesting! It might be fun to try it out. I always like new experiences, especially if they are not too expensive. 😊 I think I'll do some web searching and see what I find. Thank you!

I think you might enjoy it. We love a caravan mini break. Ones booked direct from an owner tend to be better quality as obviously people really look after them. You can find some on Airbnb and booking.com or some sites have their own Facebook pages where people list their caravans.

We stayed at this AirBnB in Alnwick. I've stayed in many, and it's one of the nicest and the host is great. Walking distance to the castle, gardens, Co-op and just 5 minutes from Barter Books. There is a flight of stairs to go up, though.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/636053948063111091?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=c355fed7-96dd-4a19-9551-dfadaf816087

Have you thought about Seahouses? It's an attractive village with harbour and close to everywhwrer you afre likely to want to go. It has a range of accommodation at different prices and plenty of choice of places to eat - especially fish and chips!

We stayed at The Bamburgh Castle Inn a few years ago which overlooks the harbour. I don't know how it fits into you price range though.

Mardee,

I've been travelling all day.

I was trying to make the Visit Northumbria web site work on mobile earlier, and it wasn't playing ball. But I looked at booking.com and like you was shocked at the prices of what was listed on there for Alnmouth.

So from somewhere we need better listings, which I hope are on Visit Northumbria. I struggle to believe so many places in Alnmouth closed during the big C.

I can't link it as I'm travelling until midnight but there is a web site www.seahouses.org
There is also a visitalnwick.org.uk

I think Helen has summed up static caravans and lodges very well. Over there everyone RV's so I suspect the concept is a new one to Americans. As you likely saw last year people also tow little caravans for use on touring sites. Again possibly not known or at least common in the US. I'm not suggesting that for you but that is what Joanne on another thread is talking about, I think.

Haggerston is very handy for Lindisfarne. In fact a shuttle bus used to run between the two. On line there is a lot of out of date and contradictory information about that and shuttles on Lindisfarne generally.

PS- magically the seahouses web site linked itself!!

Thanks, all! I will be back later but have to spend the day on the run. Thanks for all your advice and I will check everything out!

Mardee,

I've now hyperlinked the Visit Alnwick website. Some quite nice places on there, although you might need to map them to locate where they are. I am surprised to see Alnmouth not included on their website. I still can't find anywhere in Alnmouth. The one candidate, The Old Granary, closed down permanently on 1 October.

The visit seahouses website is also a huge letdown for accommodation.

But Booking.com gives lots of options for Seahouses. And the Sunningdale at Bamburgh looks good- but is £43 cheaper booking direct than with booking.com for your dates.

I didn't compare any of the places in Seahouses that way.

@Helen, I looked and looked at caravan sites, but every single one I found has specific days that you start and end your stay (most were Monday/Tuesday and Friday/Saturday). And unfortunately none of my days coordinated with theirs. Next time I will plan better because I really would like to stay at a caravan park.

@Sara, thanks for the Airbnb recommendation. Unfortunately, it looks like it's pretty much booked from April 1st on out.

@wasleys, I did think of Seahouses and have been going through Google maps to find something there. I found a few that were okay, and did look at Bamburgh Castle Inn, although it was a bit too rich for my blood. Being gone 5 weeks, I have to budget tighter than I usually do. But I did find one place in Seahouses that looks very nice, is (hopefully) reasonably priced and in a good location. I'm waiting to hear back from the owner. The problem I'm finding is that many websites state a specific tariff for the rooms, but when you try to book, the price doubles. In this case, there is no online booking so I emailed her and hope to hear back soon.

@Stuart, thank you so much for all the work you did! I did find one for Alnmouth (you have to click on Alnwick Heritage Coast) but it's a weird listing (the Dormy Room at Alnmouth Golf Course) and appears to be only for golfers. Their website was excruciatingly slow and it took me 15 minutes just to find that info.

I also looked back at the Haggerston park, and I think I was doing something wrong before because the same thing happened here that happened in my note to Helen above.

I do have a confirmed booking at the Victoria Hotel in Bamburgh, which seems very nice but it is a little pricier than I would like. However, I'm keeping it for now unless I find something that works better. I'm really hoping that the one in Seahouses I mentioned above works. I don't want to say the name, though, as I'm afraid I'll jinx it. 😊 If it works (or doesn't), I'll let you know.

Hi Mardee

I don’t know what your budget is but you can find caravans to book on Airbnb and booking.com. These are caravans that people privately own and so you don’t get the same restrictions with changeover days.

A different option but I’ve stayed a few times at the Holiday Inn Newcastle Gosforth Park. This is right on the edge of the city just off the A1 with easy access to Northumberland eg, 30 mins drive to Alnwick. There are always tourists staying there to visit these areas. It’s a nice hotel and very reasonably priced.

Mardee,

I'm pleased you have somewhere booked. The last thing I expected was for you to have any problem at all finding somewhere to stay up there, 6 months out, and whatever the budget.

I looked at the Golf Club website this morning and it works fine for me, so who knows what was happening last night.

For anyone else Helen's suggestion is a good one, as that also gives access to the coast- the likes of Whitley Bay, Tynemouth, St Mary's Isle/Lighthouse etc, up to Blyth and Newbiggin by the Sea, Druridge Bay- the south Northumberland coast. But you are also on the Newcastle bypass (A19/A1) so you could even make Hadrian's Wall work from there.
For the more budget conscious there is also a Travelodge on the same site.

Mardee,

You initially suggested Amble as a possibility and we never said anything about it. Well I was in Amble today, for the first time in quite a few years. I had a couple of requested visits in the area, so came back up the wrong side of the country from Devon overnight to fit them in.
Amble is very much a town of two halves. The town centre is pretty uninspiring (as it always was) but a huge amount of money has been spent on the "harbour village" and it is very nice down there, right on the King Charles Coast Path as it makes it's way down the coast of Northumberland.
A lighthouse on the pier end a very new lifeboat house, as well as fishermen and quite a few places to eat.
The harbour had coal staithes to load the coal ships (for Germany and Denmark) until trade ceased suddenly in 1969, and the staithes were demolished in 1970.
Amble is also where 1 hour boat trips leave from to see the puffins (also arctic, common, sandwich and roseate terns) and grey seals on the offshore Coquet island. These can only be booked by phone with the skipper Dave Gray on 01665 711975 or cell 07752 861914. He has an e-mail but apparently barely uses it- beth.gray@virgin.net. I think it's rather like the boat trips from Elgol, Skye- they run if there are enough people and the tide and weather.
Afterwards on the way home I dropped down to Morpeth. I tend to forget about the old Chantry Chapel there (one of only 4 bridge chapels in England) which is now a free bagpiping museum. It tells the story very well of piping round the world, especially the Northumbrian pipes.
On the 3rd Saturday of each month there is a free piping concert there from 2.30 to 4.45 pm (not July and August). For other venues see www.northumbrianpipers.org.uk

And the Northern Poetry Library is also in the Old Chantry Chapel.

South Northumberland always was a juxtaposition of great scenic beauty alongside a major mining industry- now finally all gone, although you see a lot of the legacy in many of the villages and pit towns.

Stuart, I do have Amble on my list of places to visit while in Northumberland so all of this information is great! Thank you! On the Saturday of the piping in Morpeth I will be heading to Haltwhistle in the early afternoon but maybe could stop by to see part of it.

I will also check out the boat trips there. Is there any different between those boat trips from Amble that go to Coquet Island vs. the ones from Seahouses that go to the Farne Islands?

While I have you here, so to speak, what are your thoughts on the drive from Seahouses to Haltwhistle? The A1/A69 looks to be faster but there is also the B6342, which is a bit slower but maybe more scenic? Thanks again!

Mardee,

The A1/A69 is the fast and, dare I say it, boring route. A route you take to go from A to B quickly.

If I've come thousands of miles (say in the opposite direction, for me to the US) I would want to take a more scenic route. I would think it was what I came to Northumberland for.

For me I would probably edge for the B6341 up Coquetdale to Otterburn then the B6320 through Bellingham. But if you opt for the B6342 you could stop in at the National Trust Wallington Hall. Once you get to Chollerford I would cut through to Haydon Bridge on the B6319 through Newbrough.
Wallington Hall is somewhat unvisited, to the extent that the National Trust have funded a free weekend bus to it and the nearby Belsay Hall (English Heritage)- towards Newcastle on the A696 this year. Promoting them as a Duo of houses to visit.

After Wallington you could stop in at the farm shop at Kirkharle Courtyard. The nearby Kirkharle Church is also worth a look in.

Newbrough was the site of an old Roman fort (the Church now occupies the site) on the Stanegate and has a very fine town hall for a small village.

On the question of the boat trips- with Billy Shiels (or any of the other Seahouse companies) you know the boat will run and that it will be full. Coquet Island from Amble- Coquet Island is an RSPB reserve, with a lighthouse and for the twitchers is very well known for its terns (especially roseate terns) as well as the puffins. Amble undoubtedly has an identity crisis, so the boat will be far less busy, but is also less likely to run. Bird and wildlife wise you will see much the same (from what I have heard) + the terns. Coquet has been on my Northumbrian bucket list for years.
With the Farnes you also get the story of Grace Darling (although the first keeper of Coquet light was William, Grace's elder brother).

In some ways it would be silly to stay at Seahouses and not do the predictable and do a sailing from there. On the other hand Amble and Coquet is for the cognoscenti.

Northumberland for me yesterday was always going to be a missed opportunity, a quick in and out, the poor relation being squeezed in. Two overnight bus journeys in a week, three packed days, then a walking accident in Devon (where I was very lucky to escape with minor injuries, but at least I proved my heart is in good shape!), it couldn't have the time it needed.

Thanks so much, Stuart. That's exactly the information I was looking for. And I do prefer scenic drives even if they do take longer. That's what it's all about after all. 😊 As far as the boats go, I'll play that by ear. I can always book something at Amble and if it doesn't work out, go with one of the boats to the Farne Islands.

Sorry about your accident but glad you escaped with minor injuries. Unfortunately, I also had an accident this past weekend and fractured my upper humerus. Luckily it does not need surgery but it's hard to use right now, and I've been having to keep it in a sling much of the time. It won't affect my trip, though, so I'm very happy about that.

Regarding Alnmouth, for anyone reading this in the future.

Three places have come to light today- The Hope and Anchor Inn, The Red Lion Inn and the Sun Inn. As Inns they seem not to want to pay booking.com to be listed- likely get enough trade. All have booking websites.

For anyone wanting a higher end place there is also the Whittling House Hotel.

Sometimes these questions take a (long) while to resolve, but they are not forgotten about.