Typical Itinerary
Day 1 – Arrival
Our driver will be at your nominated collection point at the pre-agreed time to load your team and all of their kit. When you arrive at camp, just outside of Bowness-on-Solway, we’ll cook you a hearty meal, run through the plan for your Hadrian’s Wall adventure and then leave you and the team to it for the evening.
Day 2 – Bowness-on-Solway to Grinsdale
- Approx. 6hrs
- 19km/12mi
- 50m
Starting at Bowness-on-Solway, you are treated to the bird watching hotspot at the marsh banks of the River Eden and Solway estuary. You pass through Burgh by Sands with its Grade 1 listed church, St. Michael’s and Beaumont before coming to rest near Grinsdale for our second luxury camping spot.
Day 3 – Grinsdale to Irthington
- Approx. 6hrs
- 19km/12mi
- 90m
Day three begins by dipping into historic Carlisle before following the River Eden’s north easterly course towards Irthington for camp number three.
Day 4 – Irthington to Gilsland
- Approx. 6hrs
- 18km/11mi
- 230m
On day four you’ll start to really see the old infrastructure of the wall, including Hare Hill, Banks East Turret and the Pike Hill Signal Tower before stopping for the evening near Gilsland, on the banks of the River Irving.
Day 5 – Gilsland to Bardon Mill
- Approx. 6hrs
- 17km/11mi
- 380m
Today you pass by Thirwall Castle, which was built using stone from the wall during the 12th century, and Walltown Crags. After entering Northumberland National Park, Cawfield Quarry draws you toward Milecastle 42 – one of the best preserved Roman forts of the tour, and on to the famous Sycamore Gap, a must see for fans of Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, before reaching Bardon Mill, where we camp for the night.
Day 6 – Bardon Mill to Wall
- Approx. 6hrs
- 17km/11mi
- 260m
The most complete Roman fort of the Wall – Housesteads – marks the start of another triumphant day. At this point the wall itself becomes harder to spot! Don’t worry though – there’s still plenty of history to discover over the next few days. In Chollerford, Chesters Roman Bridge Abutment takes you over the Tyne for the first time, before you come to a halt near Wall.
Day 7 – Wall to Heddon on the Wall
- Approx. 6hrs
- 18km/11mi
- 110m
Shortly after setting out on day seven you’ll reach St. Oswald’s Church in Hexham. Built on the site of the 633 AD Battle of Heavenfield, it is still today the end point of an annual August 5th pilgrimage marking St Oswald’s Day. The last of the rolling Northumberland countryside sees you through to Heddon on the Wall, where we rest for the night.
Day 8 – Heddon on the Wall to Newcastle
- Approx. 6hrs
- 18km/11mi
- 70m
After leaving Heddon on the wall you will soon find yourself on the banks of the famous River Tyne, which will be your guide for the next two days. This will take you to the centre of the jewel of the north east – Newcastle Upon Tyne-with its bountiful treasure of Newcastle Castle, the Tyne Bridge, and the Gateshead Millennium Bridge (the world’s first tilting bridge!).
Day 9 – Newcastle to Tynemouth
- Approx. 6hrs
- 18km/11mi
- 110m
For the final day’s walk you’ll continue to hug the banks of the Tyne, beyond Wallsend and Segedunum Fort on to Tynemouth, our resting place this final evening.
Day 10 – Home
Feeling worse for wear after those celebratory pints of Newcastle Brown ale last night? Rest assured today you can have a well earned lie in while we prepare you a hot breakfast, cooked to your liking. When you are suitably recovered we will drive you to your nominated delivery point or straight home to your doorstep.
If you’d like to extend your Hadrian’s Wall adventure there are a couple of great kayaking/SUP spots along the route, fantastic national parks to explore and hundreds of other attractions along the route which you could call in at for a day. There are also lots of historic sights and lovely villages to take in too. Get in touch and we can talk through the options to extend your stay and personalise this basic itinerary.
What’s included?
- Transport for you, your luggage and kit from/to your front door
- 2 person support team, on call incase of incident or emergency at any point during your tour
- 3 meals per day. Chosen by you from an extensive menu of locally sourced, ethical ingredients and cooked fresh each evening over an open fire
- Freshly ground coffee and/or a choice of tea with meals
- Water bottles filled each morning
- Energy boosting snacks for the day
- Beautiful 5m canvas bell tents. Pre-pitched. Furnished with real beds and winter tog duvets and linen bedding
- Routes loaded into a GPS device for the nominated team navigator and added to a backup OS Landranger map too
- Routes available in GPX/KML format, viewable on Google Maps, Strava etc. for the rest of the team
- Devices charged overnight so you are juiced up
- A Nine Yards T-shirt for the lead booker and Nine Yards tote bags for the rest of the team
What’s not included
- Alcoholic/soft drinks other than water
- Personal equipment (bike, helmet, waterproof clothes etc) – We can arrange the hire of kit, if required
- Personal travel insurance
- Personal expenses for souvenirs, pub trips etc.
If you would like a guided tour, need to hire equipment or would like to otherwise personalise the tour with add-on excursions, diversions, or any other changes, we can do that. Just get in touch via our Personalised Adventure page.
Nine Yard Tours is a boutique holiday experience provider and as such we are strictly limited in our tour capacity. This means you receive a fully flexible personalised service from our dedicated crew from start to finish. It also means once a date is booked, it’s booked and our small but mighty team is unavailable for anyone else’s luxury adventure. We sell on a first come, first served basis, so Get in touch today so we can plan your most adventurous glamping experience to date
*All Preplanned Adventure routes are approximate and may vary slightly depending on campsite availability at the time of booking. We will confirm the final route when bookings are made. If there isn’t a campsite available at the end of any tour section, we will arrange transfers from the closest available site.
**Please note that all Preplanned Adventures are self-guided and participants are required to be proficient in their chosen tour method, be it cycling, hiking or paddling.
