Hadrian's Wall

Hello

As much some may wish it otherwise, Hadrian's Wall runs from Carlisle, in England, to Wallsend, Newcastle, also in England. A joke here is when some English people say Hadrian's Wall be rebuilt is we get free land.

Best place is probably the England forum

There are a number of recent threads on the forum with lots of detailed advice on the subject. Hexham and Haltwhistle are the two towns you are wanting to consider.
You get off the Edinburgh to London train at Newcastle and there are two trains an hour to Haltwhistle (and a third to Hexham).
You use the AD122 bus to explore the wall (yes, it has that number on purpose)- links the two towns with all key sites on the wall.
It is cheapest to book a through advance fare from Edinburgh, and then a through advance fare to London.
At present it is showing the winter timetable for the AD122. That should become hourly from Easter (it always has done), although I am surprised that seasonal change isn't showing in the list of changes at Go North East on 26 March. I checked earlier tonight for someone else on this forum to whom an update was promised.
Bus- https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/ad122/

As long as you're here , the closest places to access a major area of the wall are Haltwhistle and Bardon Mill ( both in England , as MC mentioned ) I'll be visiting in September and staying in Brampton , a bit to the west of Haltwhistle . I'll have a car so transportation isn't an issue . However , having booked accommodation only about two weeks ago for mid September , there were already very ;limited choices , so I would move fast on your plans

I felt Haltwhistle was very convenient and used public transport for most of our visit. We did hire Peter Carney as a guide one day and were glad we did.
https://www.hadrianswall-walk.com/

I liked staying in Haltwhistle. Unfortunately, the excellent b&b I stayed at was sold and no longer a b&b

Bardon Mill is a railway station on the same line but isn't on the AD122 route.
The same applies to Brampton, except that there the station is also about a mile out of town in the middle of fields. While I'd love to see someone tour the wall from there it's rather sub-optimal for someone with only 2 days using transit.

Haltwhistle is your best place to stop. It is about 1.5 miles south of the wall. The AD122 bus will take you from Haltwhistle to all the main sites on the wall. ( isn31 has alreasdy given you the link). Alternatively there is a lovely walk up Haltwhistle Burn to Cawfields Crag picnic site which gives access to Hadrian's Wall. Walk east from here for one of the best stretches of the wall with 360˚ views.

Other sites worth visiting include Housesteads Roman Fort and Vindfolanda which was a civilian settlement just south of the wall with a very good museum.

Try the Old School House in Haltwhistle for accommodation.

The Milecastle Inn on the B6318 is recommended as a pit stop for beer and food!

Gail, let us know how it works out. I Googled and found some tour companies where you hike a section and then stay in a hotel or B&B, and they transport your luggage from one place to the next. Looks like fun if the weather isn't too bad.

I know "Gail" won't "fail." I just made that up!

In early spring of’19 I stayed at the Samson Inn in Gilsland which is very close to Haltwhistle. I was without a car and it put me right on the wall so I got a day and a half of walking it in each direction. It was perfect for my needs, and a very nice Inn with a pub/restaurant.

The Samson has been closed since November 2022

Update- the AD122 bus is remaining on a 2 hourly schedule for this summer- it is NOT being enhanced to hourly this year.

stephen, what about calling the people who bought the B&B and seeing if they will accept customers on a limited basis? It never hurts to ask.