The area

Six day trips from Blyth: castles, coast and the National Park

Honister Way · Blyth, Northumberland

If you're in Blyth for a few weeks rather than a few nights, the weekends are the part nobody plans for. The good news is that Blyth sits at the bottom corner of one of the best-stocked counties in England for a day out — castles, empty beaches, Roman forts and a National Park — and almost all of it is within an easy drive.

Here are six, roughly in order of how far you have to go. Drive times are approximate and assume a reasonable run — add a bit on a summer Saturday.

1. Tynemouth — about 20 minutes

The nearest proper day out, straight down the coast. The priory and castle ruins sit on the headland above the harbour mouth, Longsands is a wide surfing beach below, and Front Street is full of independent shops, bakeries and pubs. The weekend market under the glass roof of the Metro station is the local institution — go hungry. If you'd rather not drive, the Metro from Northumberland Park gets you there without a car park.

2. Alnwick — about 40 minutes

Straight up the A1. Alnwick Castle is the obvious draw, and if you have children with you the Harry Potter association does most of the persuading for you. The Alnwick Garden next door is a separate ticket and worth it for the cascade alone. But the quiet highlight is Barter Books, a secondhand bookshop in the town's old Victorian railway station, with open fires, a model railway running above the shelves and a station buffet that does a proper breakfast. Easy to lose two hours.

3. Bamburgh and Seahouses — about an hour

Bamburgh Castle is the one on every Northumberland postcard, sitting on a whinstone crag above miles of pale sand, and it looks even better in person than it does in the photograph. The village itself is small and pleasant, and the beach below the castle is enormous even on a busy day. A couple of miles south, Seahouses harbour is the departure point for boat trips out to the Farne Islands to see the seals and seabirds — check what's running and whether landings are permitted before you build a day around it, as arrangements have changed in recent years.

4. Holy Island (Lindisfarne) — about an hour and a quarter

A tidal island reached by a causeway across the sands: priory ruins, a small castle on a rock, a working village and a lot of sky. It is genuinely one of the most atmospheric places in England, particularly out of season.

One rule, and it matters. The causeway floods twice a day and the tide comes in fast. Check the published safe crossing times before you set off, allow yourself a margin at both ends, and never chance it because the road still looks passable — cars get written off on that causeway every single year. Northumberland County Council publishes the official crossing times; check them the morning you travel, not the week before.

5. Hadrian's Wall — about an hour and a quarter

West along the A69 and the landscape changes completely: open moor, big skies and the Wall running along the crags. Housesteads is the most complete Roman fort on the Wall and the one to pick if you only do one. Vindolanda, a little further on, is an active excavation with a museum of astonishing everyday objects — letters, shoes, jewellery — dug out of the waterlogged ground. Wear boots; it's exposed up there and the weather does what it likes.

6. Kielder Water & Forest Park — about an hour and a half

The furthest of the six and the biggest change of scene: a huge reservoir ringed by forest, with walking and cycling trails, art installations in the woods and water sports on the lake. Kielder sits inside the Northumberland International Dark Sky Park, awarded Gold Tier status in 2013 and, at nearly 580 square miles, the largest area of protected night sky in Europe. If you're here in the darker months, book something at Kielder Observatory well in advance — the sessions sell out, and on a clear night you'll see more stars than you thought were up there.

And if you'd rather not drive at all

Blyth to Newcastle is around 30 minutes by road, or you can pick up the Metro at Northumberland Park for the city, the coast and the Quayside. For a shorter afternoon, the beach huts and pier at Blyth South Beach and the wildlife reserve at Newsham Pond are both close enough to walk to — we've written about the beach and the pond separately.

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