EXPLORE NORTHUMBERLAND
Amble and Druridge Bay
Our cottages are located in Amble ‘The Friendliest Port’. Amble is a bustling fishing town and working port and was voted ‘Britain’s Best Coastal High Street 2015. In 2019 Amble was was voted in the top 10 places to live by the sea by the Sunday Times. It is on the Coastal Route through Northumberland and boasts a fantastic range of small, mostly independent shops, including a fantastic artisan bakery, excellent butchers, Italian restaurant, award-winning seafood restaurants and one of the best traditional fish and chip shops in the North East.
There is popular local Sunday market held each Sunday on the Harbour and the “Harbour Pods” are home to 15 independent retailers with a wide variety of businesses from local art, jewellery, food and drink and gifts. From the quayside there are spectacular views of the estuary, Warkworth Castle, Coquet Island and the beautiful coastline, and a huge variety of places to eat and drink. Lying just one mile off the coast of Amble is the RSPB nature reserve of Coquet Island. It is a safe haven for over 30,000 pairs of seabirds and is protected under European Law.
Coquet Island has been a place of sanctuary since St. Cuthbert, an early Northumbrian saint who landed there in AD684. The Duke of Northumberland owns the island including its unusual square-towered lighthouse, which was built in 1841. There are regular boat trips leaving from the Harbour including the ever popular “puffin cruise”.
More information for Amble and Druridge Bay can be found here:
https://www.ambleharbourvillage.co.uk
https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/projects/coquet-island-seabird-sanctuary/
Druridge Bay Country Park
Druridge Bay is a short 10 minute drive or hour and half walk from our cottages and boasts some of the best beaches in Northumberland. The bay is a stunningly beautiful seven mile stretch of sand running from Amble down to Cresswell and is a popular place to ride, cycle, walk, paddle and surf.
Within the park you will also find a series of smaller nature reserves home to everything from a resident herd of swans to rare birds like the Golden Eye Snipe. Druridge Bay Country Park has all the amenities you will need to enjoy a day at the coast with toilets, cafe and children’s play area.
The park is centred on a lake with surrounding meadows and woods which has been restored from an old opencast coal mine and is maturing into a very pleasant landscape for walks and picnics. In addition, over 7 miles of high-quality beach and sand-dunes offer ample space to get away from it all.
Facilities include a visitor centre with information on the park and surrounding area, toilets, a cafe and gift shop (open most weekends and school holidays), activities, water sports, bird-watching, walks, orienteering and cycling.
More information for Druridge Bay Country Park can be found here:
Warkworth
Warkworth, with its Historic Castle, Medieval Hermitage and Church is only a mile north up the road from Amble and is a lovely walk along the beautiful Coquet Estuary. There is an abundance of wildlife as the Coquet river turns into the sea, as well as several herons, otters can sometimes be seen and often you can see seals chasing the salmon up-river.
Warkworth has a fantastic selection of pubs and restaurants, an Art Gallery, gift shops and a wonderful quiet beach.
More information on the Castle, Hermitage and Church can be found here:
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/warkworth-castle-and-hermitage/
Alnmouth
Alnmouth is 3.5 miles north of Warkworth, along the coast and there is a great cycle route from Alnmouth to Warkworth which is very popular with cyclists and walkers alike. Alnmouth village is almost ‘picture-postcard’ perfect with its colourful cottages and fabulous beach.
There is a lovely variety of restaurants, pubs, coffee shops, boutique-style gift shops and art galleries, and a golf course for visitors to enjoy. Huge and sandy, the beach at Alnmouth is popular with walkers, families and pets. With the Aln Estuary flowing into the sea here, the ‘fresh water’ beach is often preferred by dogs walkers. There are beautiful, far reaching views of the Heritage coastline in both directions.
More information for Alnmouth can be found here:
Alnwick, Castle and Gardens
Alnwick is host to tiny twisting cobbled streets with an amazing collection of individual shops, pubs and restaurants.
Whether it’s rifling through the shelves of Barter Books; one of the UK’s largest second hand bookshops housed in the town’s old railway station, or catching a performance at Alnwick Playhouse, toe-tapping to live music in a lively local Inn or exploring the Balifgate Museum which brings to life the people and places of Northumberland, there’s always something to do in Alnwick.
More information for Alnwick can be found here:
https://www.visitalnwick.org.uk
Alnwick Castle - often dubbed the Windsor of the North, was the location for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films. It is home to the Percy family and Dukes of Northumberland since 1309.
More information on Alnwick Castle can be found here:
The Alnwick Garden is a stunning garden created by the Duchess of Northumberland’s and is home to the stunning Treehouse - opened in 2005 the Treehouse is spread across 6000 sq. ft of complex building, linked by suspended walkways.
More information on the Alnwick Garden and Treehouse can be found here:
Kielder and the National Park
Kielder and the National Park brings together Kielder Water, Kielder Observatory and the Northumberland National Park – it’s nature on a grand scale! The views are bigger, the night sky brighter, the sports wilder and the smiles wider.
Home to the biggest man-made lake in Northern Europe and, at over 250 square miles, the largest working forest in England. There are 3 visitor centres, Tower Knowe, Leaplish and Kielder Castle.
More information for Kielder can be found here:
Bamburgh, Beadnell and Seahouses
Bamburgh is one of the most well known villages in Northumberland and is home to Bamburgh castle at the bottom of the village, overlooking the stunning coastline and golden sandy beach.
Steeped in history, the village is also the birthplace of Grace Darling, the sea heroine who rescued survivors from a stormy ship wreck.
Bamburgh is a very pretty village in every season and is home to some lovely shops and restaurants.
More information for Bamburgh can be found here:
Beadnell is a lovely coastal village and is well known as one of the best equipped places in Northumberland for watersports, with the beach lending itself well to surfing, kitesurfing, windsurfing, sailing, scuba diving.
More information for Breadnell can be found here:
http://www.aboutbritain.com/towns/beadnell.asp
Seahouses is most famous for the wonderful harbour, sandy beach and boat trips to the Farne Islands and an abundance of fish and chip shops.
This colourful fishing village has a bustling harbour front and an Aladdins cave of interesting little independent shops in this popular seaside holiday resort. Very popular with families and young children, but there is something for everyone at Seahouses.
More information for Seahouses can be found here:
Holy Island and Lindisfarne Castle
Holy Island of Lindisfarne is one of Northumberland’s biggest attractions to tourists visiting the county. Located off the east coast of Northumberland and only a 45 minute drive from Amble, Holy Island has an ancient spiritual heritage stretching back to the 6th century.
More information for Lindisfarne can be found here: