Discover our countryside

Northumberland offers many celebrated views. Its coast is blessed with miles of sandy beaches interspersed with rugged outcrops of volcanic rock, spectacularly girt in places with castles that breathe the very air of romance. Our inland scenery boasts sweeping vistas of moors and mountains, with lush pastoral valleys nestling within them. Everywhere there are acres of space and room to breath, with peace and tranquillity to restore stressed spirits.

While our beautiful coast is enhanced by spectacular castles – Bamburgh, Lindisfarne and the ruined Dustanburgh are endlessly admired and photographed – some of our finest inland viewpoints offer clear evidence of how highly our ancestors in the Bronze age valued those same sweeping landscapes as we do today. Standing next to burial cairns or rocks carved with cup and ring motifs, we can sense the presence of the people who made them, and recognise in the monuments they left us their desire to see these special places celebrated throughout time. Lordenshaw and the Simonside ridge, Old Bewick hill fort and the more remote Roughting Linn are, for those who seek them out, amongst the most memorable and evocative places in the county.