What is this 9-day itinerary?
Nine days gives the Hadrian's Wall Path a night on the marshes. Boustead Hill breaks Carlisle to Bowness-on-Solway, so the tide is checked on two mornings instead of at the end of one long finish. East Wallhouses still halves the Military Road, Brampton still sits before Carlisle, and Windshields still has a day to itself.
Read the Hadrian's Wall Path guide for the whole trail.
Will this 9-day split work for you?
- Walkers who want the Solway in two mornings, with a night at Boustead Hill.
- The Military Road is already split at East Wallhouses, and Brampton still sits between Gilsland and Carlisle.
- The crags from Once Brewed to Gilsland stay one day. Ten days is the plan that also splits them, at Grindon.
Fitness & effort
This is the gentler shape. No day walks the whole Military Road, and the Solway is split, so the effort left in the middle is the switchback: short climbs, little shade, spread over the day into Once Brewed and the day over Windshields. Reasonably fit covers it. Carry a map. The phone fades on the central section. Both marsh mornings can flood, which is a timing problem, not a fitness one.
Your 9-day route on the map
Guidebook direction
Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway in 9 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 → Once Brewed | 12.0 mi (19.3 km) | Vallum Lodge Hotel (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 5 | Once Brewed → Gilsland | 8.6 mi (13.8 km) | Dacre House (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 6 | Gilsland → Brampton | 7.4 mi (12.0 km) | Scotch Arms Mews B&B/Holiday Home (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 7 | Brampton → Carlisle | 10.9 mi (17.5 km) | Carlisle Station Hotel | Sure Collection by Best Western (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 8 | Carlisle → Boustead Hill | 9.3 mi (15.0 km) | Croft House B&B Boustead Hill |
| Day 9 | Boustead Hill → Bowness-on-Solway | 6.1 mi (9.9 km) | Hadrian's Wall Path Finish |
-
Day 1 Longest
Wallsend to Heddon-on-the-Wall
14.7 mi (23.6 km) ↑ 290 m (950 ft) ↓ 230 m (750 ft)
Segedunum and the paved Tyne: quayside, Baltic, bridges, coal-boat ribs in the mud at low tide, and Stephenson's cottage half a mile off the Wylam Waggonway. Heddon ends the city. Nine days does its extra splitting later, at East Wallhouses and again at Boustead Hill. This opening day stays as long as on the shorter plans.
Example stay Heddon Lodge
-
Day 2
Heddon-on-the-Wall to East Wallhouses
7.4 mi (12.0 km) ↑ 240 m (800 ft) ↓ 160 m (500 ft)
The first half of the Military Road. Field edges, little climb, the ditch north of the B6318, and the Wall under General Wade's 18th century road. You turn off for East Wallhouses, a short walk from the path. The seven-day plan continues to Chollerford. This one stops, which is what keeps the road from being a single long day.
Example stay Wallhouses South Farm Cottage (opens in a new tab)
-
Day 3
East Wallhouses to Chollerford
9.0 mi (14.4 km) ↑ 200 m (650 ft) ↓ 300 m (1,000 ft)
Back onto the same road for the second half: ditch, field ridge, the odd Roman stone in the bank, traffic alongside. Chesters is the fort at Chollerford. Tomorrow the ground lifts and the switchback starts, and nine days leaves that approach as one day. Grindon, which would cut it, waits for the ten-day plan.
Example stay George Hotel (opens in a new tab)
-
Day 4
Chollerford to Once Brewed
12.0 mi (19.3 km) ↑ 650 m (2,150 ft) ↓ 460 m (1,500 ft)
Higher pasture, the Vallum and the north ditch easy to see, then the switchback. Tougher than it looks, and exposed when the sun is out. Housesteads stands on the escarpment, so leave time. Once Brewed is the hamlet with the beds. Steel Rigg, just beyond, is a car park. Windshields is tomorrow. The climbing on nine days sits here. The paved start covers more miles.
Example stay Vallum Lodge Hotel (opens in a new tab)
-
Day 5
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), with the upland feel the height does not suggest. Walltown on a clear day shows Scotland, the Pennines and Bowness-on-Solway. Greenhead has food. The Wall here is standing stone, and Gilsland keeps the high crags as their own day, the same job they have on the seven-day and eight-day plans.
Example stay Dacre House (opens in a new tab)
-
Day 6
Gilsland to Brampton
7.4 mi (12.0 km) ↑ 210 m (700 ft) ↓ 280 m (900 ft)
Birdoswald just west of Gilsland, then Hare Hill, the last standing piece of Wall when you walk west. After that you leave the path for Brampton, the market town, and the bed is off the line. Nine days keeps this town. The hamlet at the turn has very few beds. The six-day plan is the one that skips the turn and walks on to Carlisle.
Example stay Scotch Arms Mews B&B/Holiday Home (opens in a new tab)
-
Day 7
Brampton to Carlisle
10.9 mi (17.5 km) ↑ 160 m (500 ft) ↓ 190 m (600 ft)
Sea-level fields, the buried line as a ditch and a ridge, a little woodland, and the Eden into Carlisle. Gentle after the detour from Brampton. Stock up. Tomorrow starts the marshes and stops at Boustead Hill, and the morning after that has even less to buy before Bowness.
Example stay Carlisle Station Hotel | Sure Collection by Best Western (opens in a new tab)
-
Day 8
Carlisle to Boustead Hill
9.3 mi (15.0 km) ↑ 160 m (500 ft) ↓ 170 m (550 ft)
Out of Carlisle along the Eden until the Solway opens, Scotland across the water, barely a climb. The new night is Boustead Hill, inside the stretch from Dykesfield to Drumburgh that floods when the Silloth tide is 9 metres or more. Check before you leave the city, and allow an hour either side. Bowness, and the second flood between Port Carlisle and the village, is tomorrow.
Example stay Croft House B&B Boustead Hill
-
Day 9
Boustead Hill to Bowness-on-Solway
6.1 mi (9.9 km) ↑ 40 m (150 ft) ↓ 30 m (100 ft)
The last of the estuary, short and flat, with Scotland still across the water. You may still be on the Dykesfield to Drumburgh flood at the start, and the path from Port Carlisle into Bowness floods on the same 9 metre tide. Check again before you leave the hamlet. The King's Arms in Bowness has the last passport stamp.
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 9 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 → Chollerford | 12.0 mi (19.3 km) | George Hotel (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 7 | Chollerford → East Wallhouses | 9.0 mi (14.4 km) | Wallhouses South Farm Cottage (opens in a new tab) |
| Day 8 | East Wallhouses → Heddon-on-the-Wall | 7.4 mi (12.0 km) | Heddon Lodge |
| Day 9 Longest | Heddon-on-the-Wall → Wallsend | 14.7 mi (23.6 km) | Wallsend |
-
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
-
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)
-
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)
-
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)
-
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)
-
Day 6
Once Brewed to Chollerford
12.0 mi (19.3 km) ↑ 460 m (1,500 ft) ↓ 650 m (2,150 ft)
The switchback and Housesteads come first, the short climbs now falling toward Chesters. The pasture eases, and the Vallum stays easy to see. A bright day is still exposed. Chesters is the fort where this high ground runs out.
Example stay George Hotel (opens in a new tab)
-
Day 7
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)
-
Day 8
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
-
Day 9 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
9-day itinerary FAQ
What does Boustead Hill change?
Only the finish. Nine days walks the Military Road, the crags and Brampton as the eight-day plan does, then stops at Boustead Hill so Carlisle to Bowness-on-Solway is two days. Both of those mornings can flood.
Which morning needs the tide times?
Both marsh days. Boustead Hill sits on the stretch from Dykesfield to Drumburgh, so the walk in from Carlisle can flood. The walk on to Bowness floods again between Port Carlisle and the village. A Silloth tide of 9 metres or more is the threshold. Allow an hour either side.
Where is the effort on nine days?
The climbing is the day from Chollerford to Once Brewed, the switchback and Housesteads, and the shorter day over Windshields after that. The most miles are the paved Tyne on day one. Ten days splits the Chollerford day as well, at Grindon.
Can I download a GPX for the 9-day Hadrian's Wall Path?
Yes. Open this itinerary in the planner (free, no account). Download a full-route GPX or per-day files for Garmin, Komoot, or your phone. You can export the preset unchanged or edit overnight stops first.
Personalise this itinerary
This 9-day itinerary is ready as it stands. Open it in the planner to keep these stops, or change where you sleep, then download the GPX for your watch or phone.
Open in planner Back to the comparison
Full-trip and per-day GPX files. Free, no account.
Explore
