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Can we do Hadrians Wall from York as day trip by train or bus?

I'm working on a rough plan for spending 3-4 weeks next summer in England. I've got Rick's excellent book, so I know a few must see sites would include York and Hadrian's Wall, for sure. I don't want to have to hassle with driving on the left and trying to see stuff at the same time, and I'm adept at train travel, so using trains and buses is the way we'll do it. I'd like to hear from seasoned travelers and/or locals about how sensible it might be, if we used York as our base for 2-3 nights, to try to use either public transport or tours to see at least a bit of Hadrian's Wall. The alternative might be to check out of a York hotel, train to Durham, check in there, do Hadrian's Wall from there using public transport, and then stay in Durham for the night. Any and all opinions gratefully welcome! Thanks in advance. Tom

Posted by
3719 posts

Here is the link to Hadrian's Wall Bus: http://www.hadrians-wall.org/page.aspx/Interactive-Map/Hadrian%27s-Wall-Country-Bus You will find much of the info you need here. Housesteads and Vindolanda were the most interesting points to me. We walked certain parts of the wall; hope to go back in the near future and walk the entire length of the wall. You will need to take the train from York to Newcastle Central Station and catch the Hadrian's Wall Bus there. Travel west on the bus, when you come to one of the places on the wall you'd like to see, get off, stay for an hour or so, then get back on the bus and travel along the wall to the next place of interest. Take the Bus going east to return to Newcastle Central Station. This can be done in one day. If you'd like to stay longer in the Hadrian's Wall area, I'd suggest spending one night in an inn or pub with rooms somewhere along the wall. Many villages just south of the wall have inns and B&B's.

Posted by
5678 posts

BTW Durham is a great place to visit. The city is on loop in the river and the Cathedral is amazing. The Venerable Bede's tomb is there. He was an historian and scholar from the 8th Century. Pam

Posted by
30 posts

I visited York, Durham and Hadrian's Wall this past summer. I think you could do the Wall as a day trip from York. It's only one hour by train from York to Newcastle, but there is only one AD122 bus leaving Newcastle for the Wall so you would have to be sure you made it. That's the 2012 service anyway - you would have to check back for next summer. You could take the Wall Bus to the Houseteads car park - that's a pretty good place to begin a day on the wall. You could visit the fort, then walk west toward Once Brewed. That's a nice stretch of wall remains, and nice scenery including the Robin Hood tree. A bit strenuous with the up-and-downs but not terribly bad. We stayed in Haltwhistle for two nights which I think worked well. The first day we checked in to the B&B, then walked up to the wall, and then west to the Roman Army Museum. We took the bus back to Haltwhistle from there. The next day we took the bus to Once Brewed visitors center, walked the wall east to Houseteads, then walked to Vindolanda. We caught the bus from Vindolanda back to Haltwhistle. A couple of words of caution - get a good map of where you plan to walk. You can do this in advance, or you can also get maps at either Houseteads or Once Brewed. Keep in mind it does take a while to cover any distance on the wall - even though the Roman miles are a tenth shorter, it's definitely not like walking a mile through a city. Our first day out we did not have a great map, and it took us a while to get to the Roman Army musuem. Finally, I second the comment that Durham is itself well worth a visit. Especially if you have the luxury of 3-4 weeks. If you are at all interested in cathedrals, Durham is really quite a superb one. We stayed one night there, at Durham castle, which was a lot of fun, cheap, and had a decent breakfast. Have a great trip!