Hadrian's Wall Day Trip

Hi Jeff, Probably the closest Roman fort outside the city of Newcastle is at Corbridge: http://bit.ly/PYW1Qy Not officially part of HW, I don't think, but it's just as impressive (we walked the Wall in 2006 and visited all the forts). The link above has bus info; otherwise you could probably hire a taxi from the Newcastle train station. Pricey, maybe, but you'd get to see something you want to see!

Stacy,thanks for the tip. That looks interesting-I'll need to check the bus schedules-and the taxi fares. Jeff

Try the Traveline for local bus times.

I know this thread is a little old - but Jeff if you are still checking it, a website I found helpful for a recent trip was http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=4194 Also, even though there is only one AD122 from Newcastle each day, there are fairly frequent trains between Newcastle and Hexham and Haltwhistle. I think there is at least one per hour but you should check National Rail for the schedule. Hope that helps!

I have similar time constraints as Jeff. I plan to leave York on an early train and arrive to Hexham around 9:30am and need to be back on a train to Edinburgh by 12:45pm. My plan was to get a taxi to take me to the closest Roman fort (Chesters) from the Hexham train station, then hike the wall heading West for awhile until I get to Vindolando Roman Fort, where I will catch the 11:48am AD122 bus back to the Hexham train station and onto Edinburgh. Will 2 hours be enough to see that small section of the wall?

Just thought I'd post an . We arrived in Newcastle-u-T by train and were picked up by Enterprise Rental Cars. The car rental was reasonable-about 47 pounds including the optional insurance which I took because it was my first UK driving. My Visa card would have covered me,too, but we'd have had to waive all the local insurance,so I didn't. The rental folks were very friendly, but the had NO CITY MAPS (the train station was sold out, too) and THEY GIVE REALLY BAD DIRECTIONS! We got seriously lost trying to get out of the city, but we did make it safely to Housesteads, walked the wall and toured the fort. It was raining and cold-no problem, it was what we expected and we were prepared. The countryside is beautiful. Driving back, the director of the site had printed us some directions, which were slightly helpful. We took the Military Road which was infinitely better that the M highway we'd traveled out on. Of course, we had NO DIRECTIONS for returning the car, but managed to get close, filled up with fuel and asked some locals for the route which got us the last 10 blocks to where we recognized the big building next to the car agency. We got the car back in time,safely, and they gave us a ride back to the train station for our connection to Edinburgh-although traffic was so gnarly that we got out and walked the last two blocks to the train. So, even with the car mess up and the limited time we had-further limited by getting lost, and the weather, so we only made it to Housesteads, it was a fantastic day and a great trip and we'd do it again in a heartbeat. (Oh,and we're in our 60's, but felt like kids again).

Hey Jeff, thanks for letting us know how it worked. Now we know to advise people to bring a map with them! ; ) I usually bring one, but hadn't thought to tell you so. I will next time. Pam

Pam,we had very good maps of the area and Enterprise gave us an atlas, but there was No City Map. In my past rental car experience, they always give you a map showing where you are and how to get back. Next time, I will know.