Northumberland without a car

Morpeth is the obvious choice.
Seahouses for the Farne Islands is doable by bus but with a bit of careful choreography from Morpeth. You might have to route via Berwick or the new bus from Chathill station.
I'm not sure I wouldn't split that as 3 nights Morpeth, 2 Seahouses. Especially if the tides were right to get a high tide Lindisfarne boat trip from Seahouses in as well. Billy Shiels is the only one who does Lindisfarne.

It's day trip terrain for me from Cumbria, so I have no thoughts on Morpeth hotels as I would never ever need to stay there, but £160 feels like a good budget.

Katie, I had a car when I was in Northumberland, so keep that in mind, but I stayed in Seahouses at a B&B that I just loved. The owner was an artist named Julie, who was so nice. She charged £100 per night and the place was really lovely. It was called Bakehouse B&B and was right in town and just a short walk from the harbor.

My room was really lovely and very spacious. The bathroom was across the hall, but it was all enclosed into a suite no one else can access. There was a small mini fridge, TV, kettle, coffee and tea, and snacks. It was on the first floor, so you had to walk one flight to get up to it. But it wasn’t a very tall staircase.

Downstairs was a lovely living room/common area where you could hang out, read, watch TV or whatever. Breakfast was included, and Julie was an amazing cook. She made things to order, and everything was delicious.

If you’d like to see photos of it, here is a link to my blog. Just scroll down to the part where I get to Seahouses (I made a stop in Durham on the way) and there’s some photos in there.

https://mostlytraveled.wordpress.com/2024/04/19/day-30-goodbye-yorkshire-and-hello-northumberland/

Thanks Stuart. I can't find anything suitable in Morpeth but I'll keep looking.

Thanks, Mardee. I will check it out. How far was it from the town center?

Katie,
I've been looking at the Visit Northumberland website but businesses have to pay to be on there, and it's been problematic before.
I'm trying to walk round Morpeth because I've seen some pretty cute looking B and B's there before.
You see these places even if you never intend to use them, and kind of squirrel them away in your mind.
Two I've come up with are the Stepping Stones and the Castle View.
What I have also found is The Morpeth Apartment. It has a great location, everything looks good and looks a good place, well within budget. From what I can see and know about Morpeth I'd take a punt on it. The question for you is do you trust the gut feeling of a stranger?
Somewhere else I've just found on Booking.com and VRBO (I know, VRBO) is the Clock Tower Flats- also looks interesting and way within budget.
I'm aware you asked for Inn but apartment seems to be a theme of this forum so I'm going out on a limb here.
I've always fancied the Waterford Lodge Hotel from the outside.
Personally I'm not influenced by TA reviews. But in advising a stranger I note it only gets 3* and a pretty mixed bag of reviews. Make of that what you will.

Exploring Northumberland without a car can be challenging - where to base yourself is always a dilemma, as it's a large county and public transport doesn't cover everywhere.

Having said that, if it's the coast you're focused on, then Alnwick or Alnmouth are good choices, with buses to places like Seahouses and trains to Newcastle and Durham.

If you want a cottage rather than a bed and breakfast, try this company https://www.northumbria-cottages.co.uk/

Stuart and ramblin' on,

Great suggestions. I'm off on a 3 day camping trip with kids and grandkids but I will dive back into these suggestions when I get back. Thanks so much!

Katie

Thanks, Mardee. I will check it out. How far was it from the town center?

About a block. It was on the street right off the city center, and very convenient.

Great! Thanks, Mardee.

katie, here's a link to the website: https://www.bake-house.net/

That's how I booked it (by emailing Julie). However, she is not able to take credit cards if you book direct, so if you want to pay by card, then you need to book it through booking.com. https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/the-bakehouse-b-amp-b.html

Thanks Mardee,

I am still very up in the air about where to stay but will consider this.

Katie

Oh, I know - just giving you the info just in case. No obligation at all, lol!

You are going to have such a great trip no matter where you stay. It's an incredible part of the country and I love it!

Yes, your love for it is very contagious, Mardee!

Morpeth really does have great transport links and is a lovely town with plenty of amenities. It’s not big but it’s the biggest town in the area so all buses stop there, making it easy to get to other places. It also has a train station.

I know you prefer a B&B but maybe consider a rental property? Morpeth is not somewhere people typically come for a holiday, although it can be (relatively! Don’t worry about huge crowds!) busy and gets day trippers.

It's worth saying that 5 train companies serve Morpeth- Northern (the principal hourly service), Transpennine (the local stations service to Edinburgh), Cross Country (to as far as Penzance on a direct train), Lumo and LNER (both direct to London).
I've had Newcastle to Morpeth on the train for under £2 with a railcard on TPE and Northern.
For buses wholly within Northumberland there is a £5 day rover ticket, and for the whole North East of England a £7.50 day rover. The latter includes the Tyne and Wear metro and the Shields ferry on the Tyne.
Three or four buses an hour Morpeth to Newcastle also an hourly service to Rothbury for Cragside. Services even call into Cragside during opening hours.
There is also a Newcastle Airport to Morpeth direct hourly bus.
Even with a car I think Seahouses would be a bit limiting for trips to Newcastle and Durham.
Yes a car works well for the coast.
I've just been checking for Seahouses due to the relatively restricted coastwise direct bus service. Connecting in Alnwick onto the improved #418 gives you other and better day trip opportunities.
It also lets you go the other way on the 418 and 473 to the interesting market town of Wooler. The 473 also takes you to the Chillingham Cattle. Connecting at Wooler Ford and Etal are easily reached by bus, including the Heatherslaw Light (steam) railway.
In Morpeth do visit the Chantry museum to learn about the town history especially the Northumbrian pipes- a smaller and very distinctive version of the bagpipes in Scotland.
Yes I'm also passionate about the coast, but even more about the inland parts of the County which often seems to get forgotten. Everyone who goes to Scotland goes to Culloden, how many go to Flodden field for instance. Even that can be done by public transport fairly easily.
The Farnes are not just wildlife, but also Grace Darling and the Hermitage- an integral part of the Lindisfarne story.
You can also get to Amble for the seabird cruises to Coquet Island, including puffins- another RSPB reserve.

Just adding to its wonderful reputation of beauty, Bamburgh was named top seaside beach from one publication.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jun/27/bognor-regis-back-at-bottom-of-uk-seaside-rankings-which

Thanks so much for the additional information on Morpeth. I'm taking another look for lodging there.

I think that one problem I'm having with Morpeth is that the B&B's are not yet taking reservations for next year. I like the look of the Stepping Stones and the reviews. They have reservations available up until December 22nd but none after that. I may just have to wait. I hope this is just usual practice with some B&B's and not evidence that they will not be open next May.

Katie

Katie,
That is probably the case that the diary is not yet open. They may well close for Christmas and New Year re-opening in January. I think you can message then through booking.com without having a booking.
BTW there are real stepping stones in the river to walk across.

Stuart

Oh, good suggestion about messaging them!

Yes, I saw pictures of the stepping stones. Amazing.

Katie

Hi Katie- in case helpful, we just got back from a trip to Northumberland without a car so I can now share our experience. We stayed in Berwick-upon-Tweed which was easy to get to for us on the train from London and has good bus links. From Berwick we were easily able to get to some great places via bus: Seahouses (for a boat trip to the Farne Islands), Bamburgh, Lindisfarne, Craster (for Dunstanburgh Castle), and Alnwick. For Lindisfarne we took the bus to the causeway and then walked across to the island at low tide, which was amazing and felt like a very special way to approach it. I also really enjoyed staying in Berwick, which had some lovely places to eat and beautiful views of the sea and the river from the town ramparts. The buses aren't super frequent but as long as you do a little planning in advance it's quite easy. We used a taxi once, to get from Seahouses to Bamburgh when the bus timetable didn't quite line up with our plans, and that was also very easy and only cost £8 (we used Park's and they were great). We stayed at the Castle Hotel which was absolutely fine (nothing fancy but room was clean, everything worked properly, etc.). Because we brought our dog we were more limited in where we could stay- for example there is also a Premier Inn in Berwick but they are not dog friendly. Good luck with the rest of your planning!

Hi Cat,

Thanks so much for reporting back! That is very helpful. Especially helpful to hear the the public transportation worked well. I'm pretty good at advance planning on transportation so it seems like it should work well for us also. And I am totally fine with using an occasional taxi or private driver.

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. Walking to Lindisfarne sounds really cool. What were the places you enjoyed eating at in Berwick upon Tweed?

Katie

Just adding into the discussion a book suggestion I loved that has Berwick upon Tweed as a focal point: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. Came out about 10 years ago I believe. Really good!

Hi Katie, glad this is helpful! In Berwick, we had really nice meals at Audela (local and seasonal so a small menu, but excellent), Amran's (very good Indian, and has many dishes beyond the usual ones you always see), and Atelier (wine/charcuterie bar with sharing plates that are big enough for a full dinner).

If you are feeling up to it, walking to Lindisfarne is a wonderful experience. There's more info here: https://www.northumberlandcoastpath.org/the-route/the-pilgrims-way/

Basically you just use the tide info online to work out when low tide is (which is directly in the middle of the "safe crossing" period) and you start walking at least two hours before that. It's only 3 miles and including stopping for photos we walked it in just over an hour. It's wet so it's recommended to do it barefoot, tho you can also do it in waterproof shoes, and it can get a bit slippery in places so a walking pole could be helpful. There are a series of big wooden poles marking the way so it's easy to see where you are going.

I've got a Cicerone guidebook - Walking St Oswald's Way- (from Heavenfield, near Hexham to Warkworth then up the coast to Berwick via Lindisfarne. It's very good for pointing out the things you might miss, such as all the old WW2 stuff up the coast from the Causeway.
It's a nice little book you can put in your pocket but packed with information.

Katie, after reading Cat's nice mini trip report, I was wondering about Berwick, and whether that would not be a better base than Morpeth. It has the advantage of being on the sea, and it's closer to some of the really wonderful places like Holy Island, Seahouses and Bamburgh, etc.

Plus as Cat mentioned, public transport is good. I would also imagine there are more lodging options there. Definitely something to think about.

Hi Mardee,

Yes, I was wondering that also. I'm going to take a look at Berwick on Tweed again. Good thing I've got lots of time to think about this trip and work out the details. And I'm having a lot of fun doing the research.

Katie