Newcastle – Edinburgh

Personal welcome briefing in the morning. Your journey starts by cycling along the Newcastle quayside past the Millennium Bridge as you head eastwards along the River Tyne to the coast. Tynemouth is a great place for a late morning coffee or to stock up on snacks for the miles ahead. The next point of interest is the stunning Druridge Bay. With its seven mile sandy beach, nature reserve and some of Northumberland’s biggest sand dunes it is a real treat. Next comes Warkworth, where you will spend this evening.

Your first stop this morning is the prety village of Alnmouth. After stopping for a quick cup of tea your route takes you towards the impressive medieval castles of Dunstanburgh and Bamburgh, as and the attractive coastal village of Craster. At Bamburgh, as well as the castle in its dramatic setting on a rock outcrop, there is the Grace Darling museum, a famous heroine of the lifeboats.

Just up the coast from Bamburgh you come to Lindisfarne, otherwise known as Holy Island, a key site in early Christianity and the place where the Lindisfarne Gospels were created in the 8th century. If the tide and time allows, it’s worth a visit by crossing the tidal causeway. From Holy Island, it’s on to the Elizabethan border town of Berwick upon Tweed, with its complex defences built up over the years of border wars, and your stopping place for the night.

From Berwick, it’s inland, along the Tweed valley to Melrose. On the way you’ll cross the border into Scotland, then back into England over the famous Union Suspension Bridge, that spans the River Tweed between Horncliffe in Northumberland and Fishwick in the Scottish Borders. At the Chainbridge Honey Farm, you can get a cup of tea and feast yourselves on yummy cakes and enjoy them on an old London red double decker bus! As the name implies, you can buy lots of honey there too. A few miles on you cross back into Scotland at Norham Castle, and on to Kelso, with the impressive Floors Castle and your first night spent over the border!

This morning you head to Melrose, famed for its impressive Gothic-style abbey, which is thought to be the burial place of Robert the Bruce’s heart! Leaving Melrose, you continue along the increasingly deep Tweed Valley, surrounded by forested hills and following the course of this famous salmon river to Innerleithen, passing Traquair House, reputedly the oldest continually inhabited house in Scotland. The busy little town of Innerleithen is well known for its mountain biking scene, and no doubt, you will see armoured and full face helmeted riders around the town.

You leave Innerleithen heading north and cycle over the Moorfoot Hills. Downhill through Dalkeith and Musselburgh to Edinburgh. Then late afternoon transfer back to Newcastle.