Northern pleasures

VISITNORTHUMBERLAND.COM is flagging up the delights to be found in England’s most northerly county: history, wild countryside, jaw-dropping coastline and sea birds on off-shore islands.

National walking trails (including the 84-mile Hadrian’s Wall footpath) and cycle ways snake their way across the Northumberland National Park and along the coast.

Lucky visitors on their way to the Farne Islands might see dolphins.

There’s 250 square miles of open air adventure at Kielder Water and Forest Park. Try flying down a mountain bike track, a family cycle ride (cycles are available for hire), horse riding or water sports on northern Europe’s largest man-made lake.

Bamburgh Castle – on a plateau 125ft above sea level offers unmatched views across the coast and the unspoilt beach below – attracts 125,000 visitors a year. For many hundreds of years its dominating presence has stood resolute in the face of everything that has been thrown at it – from the harsh East winds to marauding Scots and Vikings. The castle is open daily from February until November 1.

More must-see castles include the dramatic ruins of Dunstanburgh, accessible by a coastal walk from nearby Craster, and Alnwick.

Lindisfarne Priory – cut off from the world on Holy Island – was the original home of the Lindisfarne Gospels and one of the most important centres of early Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England.

Going even further back in time, holidaymakers absolutely must see Hadrian’s Wall and its best known Roman fort, Housesteads, where the empire’s soldiers were based for 300 years. It is the most complete Roman fort in Britain. Chesters Roman Fort on the wall has the best preserved cavalry fort, and the best preserved Roman bathhouse in Britain.

www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk
www.visitkielder.com
www.bamburghcastle.com
www.english-heritage.org.uk/lindisfarne
www.english-heritage.org.uk/dunstanburgh
www.alnwickcastle.com
www.english-heritage.org.uk/hadrianswall
www.visitnorthumberland.com

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Picture Credit: "Bamburgh Castle" by xlibber via Wikimedia Commons;