Simonside Hills overlooking Coquetdale, Northumberland (Dave Head/Shutterstock)
Looking for some Great British adventure inspiration? You're in the right place. Here you'll get an independent, ad-free lowdown on Britain's top 50 adventure locations - the online yin to the paper yang of our Joyously Busy Great British Adventure Map.
Why Go To Northumberland?
Northumberland is so good it features twice on our top 50 British adventure locations. Here we're talking about the national park (click here for the Northumberland coast). Just some of things you can do in Northumberland national park that you can't do anywhere else...
Go off-grid in ‘England’s last great wilderness’, the least populated area of the country
Stargaze into the largest area of protected night sky in Europe
Hike up The Cheviot (815m)
Walk one of two national trails - St. Cuthbert's Way at the north or the Pennine Way running its entire length
Want to find out more? Read on for great photos, articles, videos, top tips and other content to fire up your adventure appetite. Got a question? Ask away.
Tell Me More
Labelled by some as ‘England’s last great wilderness’, Northumberland is mostly wide open moorland - a ‘black moor’ of heather and a ‘white moor’ of grassland, bounded by Hadrian's Wall to the south and stretching to the Scottish borders. Very tranquil, it's the least populated area of the country, and the largest area of protected night sky in Europe.
Highlights include Hangingstone Hill, Steel Rigg, Whin Sill, the waterfall at Linhope Spout, the views of Coquetdale from Lordenshaws hill fort, College Valley's views, and two national trails - St. Cuthbert's Way cutting through the northern reaches and the Pennine Way running its entire length, and which is a strong contender for Northumberland's essential journey.
Northumberland's highest point: the Cheviot (815m)...
Northumberland's amazing night sky...
Bouldering is big in Northumberland...
Getting To Northumberland, Maps & Guides
Getting there: 1 hr from Newcastle, 2 hrs from Edinburgh.
Travel times from where you are: See Northumberland on Google Maps.
Maps: Find the right Ordnance Survey maps and / or get a month's free subscription to their excellent OS Maps app.
Guidebooks: Bradt Northumberland Guide.
Walking route guidance: Visit Northumberland's walking guide.
Tourist board: Visit Northumberland.
Even More Northumberland Adventure Inspiration
A good intro from the Ordnance Survey's GetOutside blog.
Some top tips and insider's guides to Northumberland:
Pages on the Visit Northumberland site on the Cheviot hills and Stargazing.
DUP. coast ... https://twinsthattravel.com/twin-perspectives-podcast-episode-four/
Ramblings from the BBC - two episodes in Northumberland:
With Wanderlust editor Phoebe Smith on bothies
That night sky again...
Linhope Spout...
And finally... Northumberlandia, possibly the most remarkable bit of garden digging you'll ever see...
What Next?
Click here to see 49 other Great British adventure locations and tell us about your adventures, plans and suggestions for these pages.
Britain's Best Outdoorsy Bits... Mapped!
Liking what you see, but fancy keeping it old school with an actual paper map? Our Joyously Busy Great British Adventure Map features all of Britain's best outdoorsy bits (including the Top 50), plus some enjoyably random and vaguely useful stuff too. Available either as a 2-sided fold-out map or a framed wall map (office furniture and fake plants not included).
