Northumberland Coast Path - Berwick-Upon-Tweed to Bamburgh (★★★★☆)

I have lived in the North East for a number of years, but while I have explored the North Yorkshire Moors and a lot of the coastline around that area, I had not explored much of the coast beyond this immediate area.

However, stumbling across the Northumberland Coast Path, I found a route that looked particularly interesting, passing through Lindisfarne and Bamburgh. It is possible to do some segments of this route with the aid of buses either heading down from Berwick-Upon-Tweed or up from Alnmouth - but my plan on this walk was to make things easier, by simply taking the train to Berwick-Upon-Tweed, walking down to Bamburgh to stay over - and then walking on to Alnmouth the following day.

This route made the best use of the easy train links at each end, and also provided a chance to see the Northumberland coast in one long stretch (albeit missing the last section of the Nothumberland Coast Path further south). This lower section - however - I could return to when they opened the new train line to Ashington - creating an easier passage to / from the base of this trail.

And so it is 8am, and I find myself on the banks of the Tweed, having come up on the early train of the day.

The Royal Border Bridge

Berwick-Upon-Tweed is a place of slightly conflicted identity. The town is firmly in England, but - as far as I can tell - believes itself to be Scottish. To be fair to the town, it has changed hands between the Scottish and English 13 times in its history - but with no changes having happened for a very long time. I'm not sure exactly what happens here when England play Scotland in the football, but maybe don't bring your England shirt to be safe if you come here to watch that game.

The towns itself carries a lot of history - and it certainly looks like it would be a tricky town to invade - despite the frequent ownership changes, and it pleasant to walk along the edge of the Tweed and look about the town.

View crossing over the Tweed

A painting of Berwick-Upon-Tweed in the mid 1700s (the prior photo would be on the far side of the Tweed)

Having crossed over Berwick Bridge, the path turns right where I pass some people out for an early morning walk discussing sightings of dolphins around the harbor (sadly none to be seen today though).

Having passed round the Harbor, the route heads past what was, to me, an unexpected beach, before climbing up onto the cliffs beyond.

The cliffs along this route are not quite the cliffs you see elsewhere, and for those who don't like walking along the top of massive drops there is relief here, because these are fairly gentle and not very tall cliffs - that feel very comfortable to be walking along.

View from the cliffs just past Berwick-Upon-Tweed

Here the path is also very good for walking and more of a track than a footpath. As I reach the house in the above photo, the path turns into a road that has joined from the side - but this is a very quiet road, and the only real people using it are those driving down to go for a walk on the beach ahead.

Following the road you pass Cocklawburn Beach, where the road turns into a bit of a car park and then it is back onto a track heading on along the coastline.

Back onto a track

Following this track, the cyclists soon get sent off to the right to head inland, while the path itself bends left into the dunes - with the odd sight of a golfer to the right hand side - as the route passes Cheswick Sands. 

Along this stretch, there is beach to the side and I popped up to the top of the dunes to take a look out in a few places and there are some odd huts and viewing stations to find along this stretch. The beach itself - however - is a nature reserve and so along this stretch off coastline it is important to check where you are walking, as some areas are off limits to provide a safe and undisturbed habitat for the birds.

Cutting inland, you head past a few lonely houses out in the dunes - and turning left to pass alongside these homes, you eventually reach the end of their line and continue on through increasingly marshy land.

I could not find the name of this marsh, but fortunately the path through it is not too bad and this marsh is a sign that we are coming up towards Lindisfarne.

The marshes - the monks really didn't want it to be too easy for people to just pop by

Crossing over the bigger flows of water, the path heads round to Beal Point and it is here that best initial views of (a very small and distant) Lindisfarne are possible.

I would quite like to do a walk where I head out from Berwick, walk out to Lindisfarne, stay over and then return the next day - and there is a footpath heading out which can be used, so long as you get your timings right with the tide. For tips on crossing to Lindisfarne see here Safe walking to Holy Island Explore the Beautiful Northumberland Coastline

As it is, I will not be heading out - and indeed for now nor will most people - as although the tide is still in, there is already a queue of cars that have turned up a little bit early for a drive across to the island. Of those stuck in the queue is an Ocado van, which definitely makes me wonder how they wouldn't know the right time to be here - and someone will be running late with their deliveries for the day.

As it is, a few cars are feeling brave and head out to the front of the queue to weigh up a drive across. As they head out we are all watching, and whilst part of us is very much keen to see that they stay safe and okay, there is another part of us that hopes to see them go somewhat astray, as going out so early really is definitely a display of impatience.

And so we watch on - we ooh when it gets deeper, we aah when the bow wave gets up to lick to the top of the car and if we are honest we all sigh with a bit of disappointment when the car makes it across okay 😭.

Following the success of a few cars, a few more decide to venture out, but most sensibly wait and enjoy an ice cream from the van similarly stuck in the queue. Putting in traffic lights would probably help encourage people to hold off until the designated time, and I'm sure there are endless numbers of cars ruined along this stretch of road.

Lindisfarne itself is quite a distance out, and so it is hard to get good pictures from here - so I cross over the road and head on following the coast line round, but having got in line with the southern end of Lindisfarne, I finally have enough of a picture to get a photo.

The island is quite far away, but I did my best to get you all the best possible photo 😇

The next stretch continues on, round the edge of Fenham Flats, with it all having the feeling of being very much in the middle of nowhere. 

Not too far on, there is a split in the path and there is a route that can only be walked in certain months (I can't for the life of me find information - but there was information as I was on the walk at the split point as to when you can walk the more coastal route). 

Since I was (just) at the right time for the coastal route, I gave this a go but since it is not well walked the path essentially disappeared before too long and so I gave up and headed for the more inland route - which does involve a lot of road walking.

Having returned to the split point, I head off through a field of cows - which kindly decided to run circles round me a few times, before heading off to another field. 

This takes you down to the road - and here there is a chunk of road following, and some of the official paths are also overgrown and impassable - so I ended up with additional road following. Note that some of these roads are fairly fast, so it is best to stay alert through this section.

Eventually though, I did rejoin up with the path and found myself once again off the road, heading along a footpath to Warren Mill. Sadly here there is another (short) chunk of road walking to clear, before you get released back onto footpaths for the last time before Bamburgh. The views here are very good so it is has all become worthwhile in the end.

Rounding Budle Point

From here it is a very pleasant stroll along the dunes - and these will take you past the fairly ugly looking Bamburgh Lighthouse, and then round to Bamburgh itself. From here you can just as easily take the beach as the official route and I was on into Bamburgh to stay over for the night - having had a bit of a look around the castle on the way.

Bamburgh Castle - pretty impressive for such a small village

Bamburgh has a few different options for places to stay and I chose the Victoria Inn - which was a very welcoming and very relaxed place to be staying over. As a spot to stay over Bamburgh is highly recommended.

Click here to see the route writeup for day two - Bamburgh to Alnmouth

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ★ / 5

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 75 OS Landranger map - while there is also a Northumberland Coast Path guidebook (covers Newcastle to Berwick-Upon-Tweed) which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked.