THE HADRIAN,S WALL TREK - 18th September - 25th September 2022

the hadrian's wall trek 2022

Due to the success of our first Hadrian's Wall Trek, we're thrilled to bring it back for 2022 so more Dream Challengers can experience the legend!

Hike alongside Hadrian’s Wall on this enthralling time warp of a trek. Following the rustic rural trail from Solway to Wallsend, we’ll roam alongside the sea, before winding inland through fields and forest on the line of the ancient Roman landmark.

Little more than a rise in the ground level to start with, whispers of the wall grow ever more prevalent as we hike on. Prepare to encounter incredible sites lying on the trail, including the remains of the 12th Century Thirlwall and Motte Bailey Castle, the well-preserved stretch of wall at Walltown Crags and the spectacular Housesteads Roman Fort.

Gazing out upon a sea of lush green fields from the edge of the Roman Empire, we’ll escape to the ancient era that shaped British history, discover the remains of a Roman hospital and barracks and gain captivating insight into the AD138 century lifestyle.

As we draw nearer to Newcastle, we’ll jump on the chances to visit the magnificent forts at Chesters and Vindolanda.

This hike isn’t all about the history! Our six-day trek will treat us to exquisite natural scenery with rolling open farmland, chocolate box villages, enchanting woodland and river-side paths. If skies are clear enough, we could also see over the border to Scotland.

All this leads to a triumphant finish at Wallsend, with a celebration and night spent in Newcastle, the most metropolitan city of the North East, which throws us right back into the 21st century!

pay in full and save 5% on your challenge costs

You can get a 5% discount on your challenge costs if you pay in full by the 15th of March! 

Any money you pay towards your challenge will remain protected by ATOL and ABTOT. Simply call us on 01590 646410 (Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm) when you're ready to pay and we will deduct your discount from your challenge balance.

your itinerary

Previous

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Next

day 1

carlisle

Our challenge will begin bright and early tomorrow, so we’re staying in the area tonight. This way, you have all day to travel to Carlisle and will benefit from a good night’s sleep at our accommodation.

Please make your own way to our accommodation and check-in to the hotel room we have arranged for you. We first meet as a group this evening with a welcome dinner and an exciting briefing from our challenge leader.

We’ll send you all the accommodation and parking details as the challenge draws closer; but rest assured that parking throughout our trek is included in your challenge costs. If you choose to drive. Carlisle also has fantastic public transport connections for non-drivers.

day 2

carlisle – bowness-on-solway – carlisle | approx. 22km/14 miles

Waking to an early breakfast at our accommodation, we transfer to our starting point at the beautiful Bowness-on-Solway, an ancient seaside village at the western end of Hadrian’s Wall. Built on the site of the Roman Fort Maia, this pretty village is bedecked in history and we can still see Roman stones in several of its buildings, including the Norman church of St Michael.

As such, it makes the perfect place to commence our trek and we start off hiking along the coast. Today, we enjoy an idyllic, fairly flat route, with sandy shores and the sea to one side and lush countryside to the other. We’re also in for a spot of wildlife watching, as the nearby reserves and fantastic natural landscapes provide a home for oystercatchers, curlew, golden and grey plovers and many other birds.

We see no above-ground remains of Hadrian’s Wall today, but we glimpse whispers of the great landmark on the stretches of turf walls, signalling where the Wall once stood.

Hiking inland, we follow quiet roads and tracks through the countryside and patches of woodland, stopping to visit the fascinating local landmark of Dumburgh Castle along the way. This medieval castle has stood in the little village since 1518, but the site on which it stands dates way back to the reign of the Roman emperor, Hadrian, as a tower on Hadrian’s Wall. We take a few moments here to explore the site, before pressing on to the bustle of Carlisle.

We finish our day’s hike at Carlisle Castle in the heart of the city. Declared a Scheduled Ancient Monument, this captivating, red sandstone castle has been at the centre of several wars and episodes of British history, including the famous Jacobite Rising of 1745–6.

Fortunately, we find the area at peace today and we find our accommodation for dinner and a good night’s sleep.

day 3

carlisle – lanercost | approx. 22.4km/14 miles

After breakfast at our hotel, we head east out of the city and leave the inner-city buzz for another stretch of rural walking. The trail leads us along the edge of a pretty park and follows the River Eden for a short time to Crosby.

We spend the rest of the day following the ghosts of the Wall through charming farmland. Trekking along tranquil country lanes, rustic footpaths and trails across lush fields on fairly even terrain, we may spot a few sheep or cows enjoying the ample grass for grazing.

Having seen few remains of the ancient barrier so far, we now find the line of the buried Wall, its ditch and vallum as we reach Oldwall and continue to Newton. We hike through some beautiful woodland and cross the river to Walton, with a short road stretch to the picturesque Dovecote Bridge. Here, we catch our first sight of the remains of the Wall’s turret and we enjoy views of the remains as we continue to Haytongate.

Reaching the village of Lanercost, we pass the majestic English Heritage site of Lanercost Priory. Although clearly not Roman, this tranquil monument has played its own significant part in history, having suffered several attacks in the Anglo-Saxon wars.

We end our day tucking into a well-deserved dinner at our accommodation.

day 4

lanercost – once brewed | approx. 25km/15.5 miles

With two days behind us, our hike picks up today with tough climbs and better-preserved sections of Hadrian’s Wall ahead. We leave Lanercost after breakfast, tackling the long, but rewarding Hare’s Hill, which takes us back onto the Wall path and treats us to incredible panoramas of the rural landscape.

Before long, we reach Gisland and continue through the rolling countryside and across the Tipalt Burn River to the remains of the 12th Century Thirlwall and Motte Bailey Castle. Although strengthened by stones from Hadrian’s Wall, the castle began to fall in the 17th and a lot of it has even fallen into the river. Its decrepit remains now hold a ghostly air on the grassy banks beside the water.

Crossing the river, we press on through the sprawling, green Northumberland National Park, tackling some steep climbs along the way. We follow the line of the wall until we reach its magnificent remains at Walltown Crags, one of the best-preserved sections of the monument.

Here, surrounded by seemingly endless lush grassland, Hadrian’s Wall makes an incredible spectacle, winding down over the crags of the Whin Sill, with strips of rustic stones dotted here and there along its snaking line. On a clear day, we may be lucky enough to see Southern Scotland and the north Pennines.

We now follow visible remains of the wall through more undulating terrain, enjoying extraordinary views of the remaining stones and the expansive fields beyond. The monument grows only more extraordinary as we reach the highest point of the wall, Winshield’s Wall.

We proceed to the famous Sycamore Gap, featured in a significant scene in the 1991 film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Here, a lone sycamore tree stands alongside the Wall in a shallow dip. Then, it’s all down-hill to our accommodation at Once Brewed, where we end our day.

day 5

once brewed – chollerford | approx.20km/12.5 miles

We’re in for more challenging terrain today, as we continue to follow Hadrian’s Wall up and down through the countryside. Although our legs are starting to fatigue, the ancient monument keeps us captivated and we soon reach the Wall’s flagship site of Housesteads Roman Fort. Here, we can stand on the edge of the Roman Empire and marvel at the panoramas, along with the remains of an ancient hospital and barracks. We may even see the Roman toilets!

Leaving the site, we enjoy another day of walking mostly alongside the remains of the Wall through a sea of grass. With nothing but green on either side, the Wall stands out clearly, snaking into the distance and marking our trail alongside it. What’s more, after our tasty, packed lunch, our second half of the day is all down-hill!

Trekking on, the lush expanse of fields meets the Roman road of Stanegate, which we follow to Tower Tyne and down to the awesome Chesters Roman Fort and Museum, where we can learn loads about the fort’s fascinating history.

We then tackle the final stretch to Chollerford, where we settle down for dinner and a great night’s rest.

day 6

chollerford – heddon-on-the-wall | approx. 25km/15.5 miles

After breakfast at our accommodation, we begin our penultimate day following the Roman road we met yesterday afternoon. Hiking south east, we soon encounter