The Coast and Castles Cycle Route is a breathtakingly beautiful and historically rich cycling trail that stretches along the eastern coast of England and Scotland. Spanning approximately 200 miles (320 kilometers), this scenic route takes cyclists on an unforgettable journey through picturesque landscapes, charming coastal towns, and majestic castles. Oh, and it’s also super flat! This meant it was a great tour to ease our way back into longer cycles, loaded with bags. And thank you King Charles for the bank holiday!
We started in the vibrant city of Newcastle upon Tyne in England – the route winds its way northward, tracing the rugged coastline and offering stunning views of the North Sea. As we pedalled along, we encountered quaint fishing villages, sandy beaches, and dramatic cliffs left us in awe of the natural wonders that unfolded before our eyes.
We began our journey from Manchester, so our first stop was the train station. We wanted to start bright and early to give us plenty of cycling time on our first day and so we booked an 8 30 am train to Newcastle. I was dreading the early start, but did manage to make it to the station with 15 minutes to spare. Unfortunately, the train decided not to show up at all… Transpennine trains had cancelled the 8 30 am to Newcastle. After a short chat with the ticket man at the station, we concluded that our best option was to catch the 9 am train to York, and once we arrive in York we can figure out what train to catch for our onwards to journey to Newcastle. And so it was that around 12 30 pm we arrived in Newcastle…
We decided that we would try to cycle around 60 km(ish) each day of our trip, so we inspected the map on komoot to see where 60 km from Newcastle train station would take us. That’s how we decided that our first stop would be Cresswell, a small seaside village along the Northumberland coast. We inspected the map and there were a couple of holiday home sites so we thought that if we got there we could see if they have camping facilities.
The route began with us cycling along the river Tyne until we got to the coast. This part was mostly a shared path with pedestrians. Eventually we hit the coast line. Again, a lot of the initial part of the route was shared with pedestrians along the pavement, but we mostly decided to stay on the road. It’s generally faster on the road, and drivers are more aware than pedestrians so it feels safer to me.
The weather was dull, but dry and not too windy – a nice day to start the tour. I didn’t really care what the weather was going to be like, I planned to cycle the route either way! But still, I always appreciate a dry day and not having to get the rain gear out.
We made it to Cresswell about 5 pm, just in time to check out the caravan/camp site that I had been eyeing up on the map. I had cycled ahead of Penny to make it to the site before reception closed (usually 5 pm). Around 4 pm I had called the site to see if we could pitch up our tent there but the lady on the phone had such a strong geordie accent I had no idea what she was saying. She was a lot easier to understand face to face (I apologised and claimed the line was bad earlier when I had called). I really felt confident that they would have an area for us to pitch up our tents given the location along the coast and that I am used to finding a camp site when I need one. Alas, we were out of luck. They site was full of those mobile home type things and they did not have shared facilities (toilet, shower). Never mind! I asked the lady if she knew where the nearest camp site was. “I don’t know, but I can tell you where I see people camp…” she said. Woop woop, please be my guest! “I see tents popping up in the dunes up the road.” she told us. And so it was decided – we would roam the tents and try and find a decent, hidden spot where we can put up our tents for the night.
… easier said than done…! We couldn’t really find a spot out of the way where no one would spot us, so eventually we decided to just find some quietish area that is nice and flat and not too sandy and put up our tents. You want to know what the best thing about all this was, though? Where we pitched up was a 3 minute walk from the chippy, which was also right next to a cafe. Dinner and breakfast (and toilet!!!) sorted!
