Walk St Oswald’s Way

Itinerary

Day 1 Heavenfield to Kirkwhelpington – 17.5 miles
Day 2 Kirkwhelpington to Rothbury – 15 miles
Day 3 Rothbury to Warkworth – 18 miles
Day 4 Warkworth to Craster – 13.5 miles
Day 5 Craster to Seahouses – 10 miles
Day 6 Seahouses to Belford – 11 miles
Day 7 Belford to Holy Island – 12 miles

The most popular direction to do this walk is from South to North, but if you would prefer to go from North to South then this can be easily arranged. Both ends of the walk are near train stations in Hexham (for Heavenfield) and Berwick-upon-Tweed (for Holy Island), although a taxi ride will also be required to get you to and from the actual start and finish points.

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A path from Heavenfield on Hadrian’s Wall to Holy Island (Lindisfarne). Oswald was the King of Northumbria in the 7th-Century, and the walk starts on Hadrian’s Wall next to the site of the Battle of Heavenfield. It passes through the beautiful Northumberland landscape before coming to the coast at Walkworth with its magnificent castle. The path then continues up the coast to Holy Island.

The St Oswald’s Way terrain is moderate, with the highest point on the path only 1000 ft high on the Simonside Hills, near Rothbury. For much of its length, the path is reasonably level. The path is well signposted with the St Oswald’s Way raven symbol. There are some ascents and descents on the first two days as far as Rothbury, with the path being more or less level the rest of the way.

Price

The price for a holiday walking St Oswald’s Way is from £925 per person (based upon 2 people sharing). This includes:

Personalised itinerary for walking St Oswald’s Way on a self-guided basis over 7 days
8 nights’ bed & breakfast accommodation on a double or twin room basis (this includes B&B for the night before you start and the day you finish)
Taxis for drop-off/pick-up where the B&B is not within easy walking distance of the path
Baggage transfer for one bag per person between each night’s B&B
Advice on travel arrangements to and from the start and finish points
Ordnance Survey Explorer maps which can be downloaded onto the OS App
Harvey Waterproof Map for St Oswald’s Way
Kit checklist – covering boots & socks, clothes & waterproofs, and other useful kit
Helpline – you can call us at any time

If you are a solo traveller, then the price is £1250. This is because most B&Bs do not have single rooms and so will charge almost as much for one person as for two.

Key Information

Time of Year: this walk can be done at any time of year, although if you choose to go between November and March then you will have to contend with winter weather conditions and shorter daylight hours. Therefore, we would suggest that the best time to go is between April and October.
Terrain: The terrain is moderate. For much of its length, the path is relatively level. The walking surfaces are generally good, but can be muddy in places depending upon the time of year.
Waymarking: The route is well signposted with the St Oswald’s Way raven symbol.
Bed & Breakfast: We always aim to book good quality B&B accommodation as near as possible to the path. Despite the fact that St Oswald’s Way is a popular long-distance walk, there are not a huge number of B&Bs actually on the path itself or within easy walking distance. This means that sometimes the only option is to book B&Bs that are away from the path and arrange pick-up/drop-offs by taxi.
Refreshments: Compared with some other routes, this walk is actually quite good for places en route where you can get a cup of coffee (and maybe even a bacon butty or cake!) while not having to deviate from the path. Whether these will be open depends upon the time of year, day of week and time you happen to be passing.