National Trail: Northeast England/Cumbria
Wallsend, Newcastle to Bowness-on-Solway 134.5km/84 miles
Hadrian’s Wall was built under the orders of Emperor Hadrian in AD 122 to mark the northern limit of the Roman empire. Although much of the Wall has since disappeared it is inscribed as a World Heritage Site. Tracing the line of the wall has long been popular with walkers, and became a National Trail in May 2003 with many new sections of path following the wall itself.
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Walking Advice | Accommodation and Practical Info | Maps, Books, Links
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Walking Advice
The walk is a mix of rural walking with sections of urban paths, sometimes surfaced, through Newcastle and Carlisle. West of Hexham, in Northumberland National Park, the Wall is high and exposed, and wet/warm weather clothing will be necessary for most of the year. Walking boots are recommended at all times except on purely urban sections of the walk, since conditions underfoot are often rough.
Remember that the Wall is a fragile and irreplaceable ancient monument. Please take great care to follow the Country Code and in particular bear in mind the following advice
- Avoid retracing your steps: start and finish your walk at different points, or follow a circular route.
- Use public transport wherever you can
- Avoid walking along the wall in the wet winter months when the ground is waterlogged and the risk of damage greatest
- Stick to public footpaths and permitted routes, as shown on the ground by coloured arrows, and never climb up or walk on the Wall itself.
- Keep dogs on a lead: this is compulsory on National Trust land.
The Trail is particularly vulnerable in the winter months. Please try to avoid walking it in large groups between November and Easter.
For more advice on how to help conserve the wall, ask for the Every footstep counts leaflet from Hadrian's Wall Tourism Partnership (see below).
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Accommodation and practical information
There are B&Bs along the wall and within easy distance, many of which are welcoming to walkers, but booking ahead is advisable especially in summer. You can search for B&B accommodation along the route in our database using the link below. A comprehensive list, which also includes campsites, is available on the Hadrian's Wall Tourism Partnership website or from the contacts below. There are youth hostels in Acomb, Carlisle, Greenhead, Newcastle and Once Brewed: contact the YHA.
Click here to find bed & breakfast accommodation on this path.
Tourist Information Centres and Hadrian's Wall Tourism Partnership (see below) should also be able to assist with accommodation details, and some TICs can make bookings.
- Brampton (seasonal) 016977 3433
- Carlisle 01228 625600
- Haltwhistle 01434 322002
- Hexham 01434 652220
- Newcastle 0191 261 0610
- Once Brewed (seasonal) 01434 344396
Luggage transfer and accommodation booking
Holiday providers
include Ramblers Holidays, Celtic Trails, Contours, Discovery, Explore Britain, Mickledore, Sherpa, YHA.
Transport
- Rail: Newcastle and Carlisle are both on major railway lines between London and Scotland, the West Coast and the East Coast main lines respectively. Carlisle is additionally on the scenic Settle and Carlisle line to Leeds. A branch line running parallel to the Wall connects Carlisle and Newcastle via Haltwhistle and Hexham.
- Bus: A special bus service - the Hadrian’s Wall Bus - operates daily along most of the length of the Wall throughout summer, and on Sundays and bank holidays in winter, stopping at all the key locations (including Vindolanda, Birdoswald, Chesters, Once Brewed and Housesteads). Some other local buses also serve sections of the Wall. For further details from the information line below. [11/04]
For more on finding out about public transport, see Public Transport for Walkers.
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Maps, guides and contacts
OL43,
314,
315,
316 Landranger maps 85, 86, 87, 88
The route will be shown on future editions of these maps.
Strip maps
- Hadrian's Wall Path, water-resistant map of whole route with additional route information, ISBN 1 85137 405 1. Harvey £9.95 + p&p. Order here!
- Glyndŵr's Way Explorer digital map on CD-ROM. memory-map £49.95.
Publications
All these publications are available by mail order from the information line (see below).
- Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail Guide by Anthony Burton, ISBN 1 85410 893 X. Aurum £12.99 + p&p. Order here!
Official guide including 1:25 000 OS map extracts, detailed route descriptions and notes on history and nature. [2003] - Hadrian's Wall Accommodation Guide. Free listing. Order here!
- The Essential Guide to Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail by David McGlade, ISBN 0 9547342 0 3. Additional information on walking the Trail, including transport, facilities, suggested itineraries, conservation notes and frequently asked questions. £3.95 + p&p: Order here! [2004]
- Hadrian's Wall Path Two-Way National Trail Description by Mark Richards, ISBN 1 85284 392 6. Cicerone £12.95.
Alternative guidebook describing the Trail in both directions, with additional practical information, background, clear colour maps and an extensive appendix on the Hadrian's Wall Bus. [2004] - Hadrian's Wall Path by Henry Stedman, ISBN 1 873756 85 2. Trailblazer Publications £9.99.
Detailed compact publication with route description, extensive background notes, sketch maps, accommodation suggestions, public transport information. Forthcoming April 2006. [2006] - Exploring Hadrian's Way: 5 routes linking with the Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail, leaflet pack £3.50.
Clear and colourful leaflets describing circular walks and a longer linear route using Hadrian's Way through central Newcastle. Walks are: Hadrian's Way Segedunum Roman Fort to Tyne Riverside Country Park via central Newcastle (20km/12 miles); The Lower Ouseburn Valley and Jesmond Vale (7km/4.5 miles); Lord Armstrong's Back Garden: Jesmond Dene (4.5km/3 miles); Bridges and Quaysides (7km/4.5 miles); Around the Town Walls (5km/3 miles). - Tyne Valley Train Trails East, leaflet pack, £2.95
Five linear walks between stations on the Tyne Valley Railway: can be interlinked to create longer linear or circular walks.
Prudhoe to Wylam via Tyne Riverside Country Park (4.5km/3 miles); Wylam to Prudhoe via Horsley (6.5km/4 miles); Prudhoe to Stocksfield via Eltringham (4.5km/3 miles); Prudhoe to Stocksfield via Ovington (6km/4 miles); Stocksfield to Riding Mill (5km/3.25 miles) - Tyne Valley Train Trails West, leaflet pack, £2.95
Five linear walks between stations on the Tyne Valley Railway: can be interlinked to create longer walks.
Riding Mill to Corbrige via Dipton Wood (10km/6.25 miles); Corbridge to Hexham via Dilston (9km/5.5 miles); Hexham to Haydon Bridge via Warden Hill (17km/10.5 miles); Haydon Bridge to Bardon Mill via Allen Banks (8.5km/5.25 miles); Bardon Mill to Haltwhistle via Henshaw (9.5km/6 miles) - 5 Circular Walks Around Hadrian's Wall, circular walks leaflet pack, £3.95. Leaflets also available separately at £1 each. Each A5 leaflet is illustrated with clear and colourful maps and includes notes on places along the route.
The walks are: Gilsand and Walltown (11km/7 miles); Greenhead and Blenkinsopp Common (8km/5 miles); Once Brewed, Vindolanda and Housesteads (12km/7.5 miles); Bardon Mill and Thorngrafton Common (8km/5 miles); Wall Village and Fallowfield Fell (5.5km/3.5 miles). - From Oxen to Opencast: 5 more walks exploring the historic landscape of Hadrian's Wall circular walks leaflet pack, £3.95. Leaflets also available separately at £1 each. Each A5 leaflet is illustrated with clear and colourful maps and includes notes on places along the route.
The walks are: Humshaugh and Haughton (7.5km/4.5 miles); Haltonchesters (3.5km/2 miles); Corbridge and Aydon Castle (9km.5.5 miles); Stamfordham and Heugh (5.5km/3.5 miles) and Heddon-on-the-Wall (6.5km/4 miles) - The Haltwhistle Rings. Pack of 22 walks cards exploring the historic parishes of Haltwhistle, graded easy and moderate, 4km/2.5 miles to 14.5km/9 miles. £5.00 + £2.50 p&p from the Haltwhistle Partnership (see below).
- Walking Around Hadrian's Wall in East Cumbria, leaflet series £1 each. Each leaflet has several different options using figure-of-eight walks, alternative routes and shortcuts so you can match the walk to your preferences and abilities. Six leaflets: Banks Turret, Wallholme and Low Row (up to 9km/6 miles); Brampton - Banks Turret via Lanercost Priory (up to 7.5km/5 miles); Combcrag Wood, Chapel Burn and Wallholme (up to 9km/6 miles); Gilsland and Birdoswald (up to 11km/7 miles); Newtown, Irthington and Walton (up to 13km/8 miles); Walton Village and Friar Waingate's Bridge (up to 10.5km/6.5 miles).
- Walking around Hadrian's Wall: Carlisle City and Rickerby Park, leaflet £1. An urban and parkland circular walk of up to 8km/5 miles.
- Solway Coast Rambles: five circular walks around the Roman Frontier, booklet £5.
Colourful, well-illustrated and informative booklet of five walks: Solway Wilderness (14.5km/9 miles from Bowness on Solway); Forts and Ports (6km/3.5 miles around Port Carlisle); The Archbishop and the King (9.5km/5.75 miles from Drumburgh); the Eden Estuary Trail (12km/7.5 miles from Burgh By Sands) and the Solway Villages Trail (10km/6.25 miles from Burgh By Sands via Thurstonfield and Moorhouse). - Hadrian's Wall Path Passport. Free: collect a complete set of stamps at the six stamping points along the Trail, and send it off with £2.95 to claim a completion badge.
Contacts
- Hadrian's Wall National Trail Officer Countryside Agency Northeast Regional Office, Cross House, Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4XX, tel 0191 269 1600
www.nationaltrail.co.uk/hadrianswall - Hadrian's Wall Tourism Partnership 14b Gilesgate, Hexham NE46 3NJ, tel 01434 322002
www.hadrians-wall.org - Hadrian's Wall Path Trust: trail user group, c/o National Trail Officer
- English Heritage Hadrian's Wall Unit
- Haltwhistle Partnership Westbourne House, Main Street, Haltwhistle NE49 0AZ. tel 01434 321242
www.haltwhistle.org - National Trust Northumbria Regional Office
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