Caravan club sites in Northumberland

Northumberland has the emptiest roads in England and some of the best coastline, and it is chronically under-visited compared with the Lakes an hour and a half west. For anyone towing, that combination is hard to beat.

Where the sites are

The coastal strip between Alnmouth, Beadnell, Bamburgh and Berwick holds the main cluster — dune beaches, castles and the puffin boats out of Seahouses. Inland, sites gather along the Hadrian's Wall corridor near Haltwhistle, Hexham and Bardon Mill. Kielder Water and Forest has a further group, remote and outstanding for dark skies. Coquetdale around Rothbury is quieter still.

Getting there

The A1 is the spine. It is dual carriageway as far as Alnwick and single carriageway for much of the run north to Berwick, with overtaking sections that work well enough. The A69 crosses west to Carlisle and is fast. The A68 from Darlington is the scenic approach and worth knowing about: it undulates sharply over a series of blind crests north of Corbridge, which is entertaining unladen and considerably less so with two tonnes pushing you.

Local notes

The B6318 Military Road runs alongside Hadrian's Wall and does the same thing as the A68, only more so — long straights with steep dips and crests where you cannot see oncoming traffic. Fine at a sensible speed, no road to hurry.

The Holy Island causeway floods twice daily and the published safe crossing times are not advisory. Vehicles are recovered from it most years. Check the tide table, leave the caravan on your pitch and cross in the car with a full margin either side of the window.

Roads into Kielder are single carriageway forestry routes with few passing difficulties and almost no fuel. Fill up in Bellingham or Otterburn.

The season runs late March to the end of October. The coast is busy in August but nothing like Cornwall, and a pitch a fortnight out is usually achievable.