Best beaches in Northumberland
Northumberland's coastline delivers some of England's most spectacular beaches, from castle-crowned stretches of golden sand to wild frontier shores along the Scottish border. This dramatic 64-mile coast combines medieval fortresses, pristine nature reserves, and authentic fishing villages with consistently excellent swimming conditions and endless opportunities for coastal walks, wildlife watching, and pure seaside magic.
Backed by Bamburgh Castle with views to the Farne Islands, on a coast Which? has named the UK's best seaside destination four years running.
The working harbour town neighbouring Bamburgh, where real boat trips still set out for the Farne Islands.
A genuine estuary village on the River Aln, its colourful houses and real birdlife overlooking sand at the river mouth.
A horseshoe bay with its own natural harbour, and Northumberland's main watersports spot — windsurfing and kitesurfing just south of Bamburgh and Seahouses.
Sits beneath Warkworth Castle, a genuinely well-preserved medieval ruin overlooking the sand, a few miles down the coast from Alnmouth.
Dunstanburgh Castle's ruins dominate the skyline above the sand, on one of this coast's least crowded beaches.
A stretch of pale, genuinely white sand near Longhoughton, quiet enough that its local name — Howdiemont Sands — surprises most visitors.
Vast basalt rock pools within the Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve, a quiet, little-known beach on this remote stretch of coast.