What is this 10-day itinerary?
Ten days is the Hadrian's Wall Path taken in the smallest pieces we publish. Grindon, between Chollerford and Once Brewed, turns the switchback and Housesteads into a short day, and Boustead Hill still breaks the Solway. The walk that stays long is the paved Tyne, from Segedunum out to Heddon-on-the-Wall.
Read the Hadrian's Wall Path guide for the whole trail.
Will this 10-day split work for you?
- The slowest plan: the switchback is its own short day, and the Solway is split.
- Walkers who want Grindon between Chollerford and Once Brewed, so Housesteads is not paired with a long approach.
- The paved Tyne out of Wallsend stays one day. Everything after Heddon is cut finer than on the nine-day plan.
Fitness & effort
The easiest week of the set, as long as you are happy to keep walking for ten days. Climbs are the short switchback after Grindon and the Windshields day that follows, both with little shade and both finished by lunchtime if you start promptly. The Military Road and the marshes are already split. A map is still worth having, and the central section can have no signal. The long walk is the city pavement at the start, which is tiring on the feet rather than on the hills.
Your 10-day route on the map
Guidebook direction
Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway in 10 days
East to west, Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway, the way the official guidebook is written. On-trail distances from our geometry. The walk from the path to the door is not included.
| Day | Stage | Distance | Overnight / destination |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 Longest | Wallsend → Heddon-on-the-Wall | 14.7 mi (23.6 km) | Heddon Lodge |
| Day 2 | Heddon-on-the-Wall → East Wallhouses | 7.4 mi (12.0 km) | Wallhouses South Farm Cottage (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 3 | East Wallhouses → Chollerford | 9.0 mi (14.4 km) | George Hotel (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 4 | Chollerford → Grindon | 7.0 mi (11.2 km) | Grindon Farm (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 5 | Grindon → Once Brewed | 5.0 mi (8.1 km) | Vallum Lodge Hotel (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 6 | Once Brewed → Gilsland | 8.6 mi (13.8 km) | Dacre House (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 7 | Gilsland → Brampton | 7.4 mi (12.0 km) | Scotch Arms Mews B&B/Holiday Home (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 8 | Brampton → Carlisle | 10.9 mi (17.5 km) | Carlisle Station Hotel | Sure Collection by Best Western (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 9 | Carlisle → Boustead Hill | 9.3 mi (15.0 km) | Croft House B&B Boustead Hill |
| Day 10 | Boustead Hill → Bowness-on-Solway | 6.1 mi (9.9 km) | Hadrian's Wall Path Finish |
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Day 1 Longest
Wallsend to Heddon-on-the-Wall
14.7 mi (23.6 km) ↑ 290 m (950 ft) ↓ 230 m (750 ft)
The long day of the ten, and it is pavement. Segedunum, the Tyne quayside, the Baltic and the bridges, with coal-boat ribs in the mud at low tide. Stephenson's cottage is half a mile off the Wylam Waggonway. Heddon is the first village. Every later day on this plan is a piece of something the shorter plans walk whole, so look after your feet here and expect the week to ease off.
Example stay Heddon Lodge
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Day 2
Heddon-on-the-Wall to East Wallhouses
7.4 mi (12.0 km) ↑ 240 m (800 ft) ↓ 160 m (500 ft)
Field edges on the Military Road, the ditch north of the B6318, the Wall under the tarmac, little climb. East Wallhouses is the stop, a short way off the path, and it halves the road the seven-day plan walks in one go. Ten days keeps that split. Tomorrow finishes the road at Chesters.
Example stay Wallhouses South Farm Cottage (opens in a new tab)
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Day 3
East Wallhouses to Chollerford
9.0 mi (14.4 km) ↑ 200 m (650 ft) ↓ 300 m (1,000 ft)
The rest of Wade's road: same ditch, same fields, a Roman stone in the bank if you watch for it, traffic never far off. Chesters marks Chollerford. The switchback is not tomorrow's problem. Tomorrow leaves the path at Grindon, still on the higher pasture, and the crags wait for the day after.
Example stay George Hotel (opens in a new tab)
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Day 4
Chollerford to Grindon
7.0 mi (11.2 km) ↑ 280 m (900 ft) ↓ 110 m (350 ft)
The ground starts to lift after Chesters. Unimproved pasture, wide views, the Vallum and the north ditch easy to follow. You turn off for Grindon before the switchback, and the bed is off the path, so the day ends after you leave the Wall. This night is what makes the crags a short day. Nine days walks on to Once Brewed instead.
Example stay Grindon Farm (opens in a new tab)
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Day 5
Grindon to Once Brewed
5.0 mi (8.1 km) ↑ 370 m (1,200 ft) ↓ 350 m (1,150 ft)
The short crag day. Housesteads on the escarpment, then the switchback, tougher than it looks and thin of shade, and then you are done. Once Brewed has the beds. Steel Rigg is a car park just beyond. Windshields, the highest point, is tomorrow morning, which is the second half of what nine days walks in one.
Example stay Vallum Lodge Hotel (opens in a new tab)
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Day 6
Once Brewed to Gilsland
8.6 mi (13.8 km) ↑ 430 m (1,400 ft) ↓ 560 m (1,850 ft)
Windshields Crags, 1,131 ft (345 m), and the upland view from Walltown: Scotland, the Pennines, Bowness on a clear day. Greenhead is the food stop. Standing Wall underfoot, and Gilsland at the end. Because yesterday took Housesteads, this day is the high point and the descent, not the whole crag section.
Example stay Dacre House (opens in a new tab)
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Day 7
Gilsland to Brampton
7.4 mi (12.0 km) ↑ 210 m (700 ft) ↓ 280 m (900 ft)
Birdoswald, then Hare Hill, the last standing Wall walking west, then the turn off to Brampton. The market town is off the path. Ten days keeps the break the six-day plan refuses. Few beds sit at the turn itself, so the night is the town, and the walk back to the Wall is tomorrow.
Example stay Scotch Arms Mews B&B/Holiday Home (opens in a new tab)
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Day 8
Brampton to Carlisle
10.9 mi (17.5 km) ↑ 160 m (500 ft) ↓ 190 m (600 ft)
Gentle fields near sea level, ditch and ridge, a little woodland, the Eden into Carlisle. The quiet half of the old Gilsland day, after the turn off to Brampton and back. Eat well in the city and buy for the marshes, which have little. Two short tidal mornings follow, the first only as far as Boustead Hill.
Example stay Carlisle Station Hotel | Sure Collection by Best Western (opens in a new tab)
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Day 9
Carlisle to Boustead Hill
9.3 mi (15.0 km) ↑ 160 m (500 ft) ↓ 170 m (550 ft)
The Eden out to the Solway, Scotland across the water, flat going. Boustead Hill is the night, and it sits where the path between Dykesfield and Drumburgh can flood. A Silloth tide of 9 metres or more is the one to avoid, for an hour either side. Check in Carlisle before you leave. The stamp at Bowness is one short morning away.
Example stay Croft House B&B Boustead Hill
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Day 10
Boustead Hill to Bowness-on-Solway
6.1 mi (9.9 km) ↑ 40 m (150 ft) ↓ 30 m (100 ft)
A short flat finish. The flood may still be with you until Drumburgh, and it returns from Port Carlisle into Bowness on the same 9 metre tide, so check once more at the hamlet. Scotland stays across the water. The King's Arms in Bowness has the last passport stamp, and the week ends on the estuary rather than in the city.
Finish Hadrian's Wall Path Finish
Cross-check: National Trails route description . The walking on this page follows that description. Distances on the cards are measured on our line.
Weather behind you
Bowness-on-Solway to Wallsend in 10 days
Same nights, starting at Bowness-on-Solway. The weather usually sits behind you, and the crags face the other way. The last walking day ends at Wallsend.
| Day | Stage | Distance | Overnight / destination |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Bowness-on-Solway → Boustead Hill | 6.1 mi (9.9 km) | Croft House B&B Boustead Hill |
| Day 2 | Boustead Hill → Carlisle | 9.3 mi (15.0 km) | Carlisle Station Hotel | Sure Collection by Best Western (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 3 | Carlisle → Brampton | 10.9 mi (17.5 km) | Scotch Arms Mews B&B/Holiday Home (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 4 | Brampton → Gilsland | 7.4 mi (12.0 km) | Dacre House (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 5 | Gilsland → Once Brewed | 8.6 mi (13.8 km) | Vallum Lodge Hotel (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 6 | Once Brewed → Grindon | 5.0 mi (8.1 km) | Grindon Farm (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 7 | Grindon → Chollerford | 7.0 mi (11.2 km) | George Hotel (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 8 | Chollerford → East Wallhouses | 9.0 mi (14.4 km) | Wallhouses South Farm Cottage (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 9 | East Wallhouses → Heddon-on-the-Wall | 7.4 mi (12.0 km) | Heddon Lodge |
| Day 10 Longest | Heddon-on-the-Wall → Wallsend | 14.7 mi (23.6 km) | Wallsend |
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Day 1
Bowness-on-Solway to Boustead Hill
6.1 mi (9.9 km) ↑ 30 m (100 ft) ↓ 40 m (150 ft)
Leave Bowness with the tide in mind: the path back through Port Carlisle, and on to Drumburgh, can flood, so give a high tide an hour either side. The marshes are flat, with Scotland across the water. Boustead Hill is the break, and Carlisle waits until the next day.
Example stay Croft House B&B Boustead Hill
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Day 2
Boustead Hill to Carlisle
9.3 mi (15.0 km) ↑ 170 m (550 ft) ↓ 160 m (500 ft)
Back along the marshes toward the city. The Dykesfield stretch can still be under water, so check the tide before you start, and stay clear for an hour either side of a high tide. The Eden brings you into Carlisle. Little climb.
Example stay Carlisle Station Hotel | Sure Collection by Best Western (opens in a new tab)
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Day 3
Carlisle to Brampton
10.9 mi (17.5 km) ↑ 190 m (600 ft) ↓ 160 m (500 ft)
The Eden first, out of the city, then field paths and the buried line. Gentle, with a little woodland. You leave the path again for Brampton, the market town, before the day reaches the last standing Wall at Hare Hill.
Example stay Scotch Arms Mews B&B/Holiday Home (opens in a new tab)
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Day 4
Brampton to Gilsland
7.4 mi (12.0 km) ↑ 280 m (900 ft) ↓ 210 m (700 ft)
A walk back up to the Wall from the market town, then Hare Hill and Birdoswald, so the last standing stones and the fort come at the end. The day is short. The crags begin once you are through Gilsland.
Example stay Dacre House (opens in a new tab)
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Day 5
Gilsland to Once Brewed
8.6 mi (13.8 km) ↑ 560 m (1,850 ft) ↓ 430 m (1,400 ft)
Walltown's view comes first on a clear day: Scotland, the Pennines, and the Solway. Then the pull up to Windshields, so the highest point is at the end of the day. Once Brewed is the hamlet by Steel Rigg. Keep something in the legs for that last climb.
Example stay Vallum Lodge Hotel (opens in a new tab)
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Day 6
Once Brewed to Grindon
5.0 mi (8.1 km) ↑ 350 m (1,150 ft) ↓ 370 m (1,200 ft)
The switchback first, then Housesteads on its escarpment, the short climbs now running downhill. Little shade if the day is bright. A short walk. Grindon lies off the path, so the day ends after you leave the Wall.
Example stay Grindon Farm (opens in a new tab)
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Day 7
Grindon to Chollerford
7.0 mi (11.2 km) ↑ 110 m (350 ft) ↓ 280 m (900 ft)
Pasture and the Vallum take you down toward Chesters, with the switchback already behind you. The climbs are done. The morning starts off the path, then joins the Wall for the walk down. Chesters is the fort at the end of the day.
Example stay George Hotel (opens in a new tab)
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Day 8
Chollerford to East Wallhouses
9.0 mi (14.4 km) ↑ 300 m (1,000 ft) ↓ 200 m (650 ft)
Leave Chesters and join the Military Road toward Newcastle. The Wall is under the road. The ditch on the north side and the ridge in the fields are what you follow, on gentle farm edges. East Wallhouses breaks that road stretch, with Heddon still to come.
Example stay Wallhouses South Farm Cottage (opens in a new tab)
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Day 9
East Wallhouses to Heddon-on-the-Wall
7.4 mi (12.0 km) ↑ 160 m (500 ft) ↓ 240 m (800 ft)
Still the field edges, still the ditch on the north side of the Military Road, and still almost no Wall above ground. Little climb, and the traffic stays with you. Heddon is the village at the end, the last one before the path becomes the city and the Tyne.
Example stay Heddon Lodge
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Day 10 Longest
Heddon-on-the-Wall to Wallsend
14.7 mi (23.6 km) ↑ 230 m (750 ft) ↓ 290 m (950 ft)
The Wylam Waggonway comes first, with George Stephenson's cottage half a mile off, and then the path turns to pavement. Newcastle arrives as the quayside, the bridges, and the Baltic. The day ends at Segedunum. If the tide is out, the ribs of the old coal boats are in the Tyne mud.
Finish Wallsend
10-day itinerary FAQ
Why stop at Grindon?
It splits the day from Chollerford to Once Brewed. Housesteads and the switchback become a short day, and Windshields is the morning after. The bed is off the path. Nine days walks that ground in one day.
Which day is the long one?
The first. Wallsend to Heddon-on-the-Wall stays a full paved day along the Tyne, while the road, the crags and the Solway are all split. It is tiring underfoot, and it is the day to start steadily.
When do I check the tide?
On the last two mornings. Boustead Hill is on the Dykesfield to Drumburgh stretch, which floods when the Silloth tide is 9 metres or more. The path from Port Carlisle into Bowness floods on the same tide. Allow an hour either side.
Can I download a GPX for the 10-day Hadrian's Wall Path?
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