kriskate

We'll be traveling through Scotland, and hubby REALLY wants to jaunt south for a day to see Hadrian's Wall (or what's left of it - he's a big history buff). Would it be doable as a day trip from Edinburgh or Glasgow, or should we plan a night in Carlisle before heading back to Scotland? Is there a particular section of the wall that is worth seeing, or a visitors center? Anything else particularly nice in the area (castles, nice towns for lunch, etc)?

Thanks,
Kris

janisj

&quot;<i>or what's left of it</i>&quot; - There is an awfully lot left of it. A history buff could easily spend a couple of days along the wall and barely scratch the surface.

It is a bit of a drive from both Edinburgh and Glasgow - a looooong but doable day trip.

But I'd recommend something differtent than Carlisle. I'd leave from Edinburgh in the a.m. and tour around the Borders (melrose, dryburgh, jedburgh, a few great castles and stately homes, maybe St Abbs Head). Stay the night in Jedburgh and early the next morning head south and spend the whole day exploring the wall/forts/museums. Then late afternoon/early evening head back to Edinburgh - or to where ever the next part of your itinerary takes you.

Pausanias

Probably the most spectacular stretch of the wall is near Housesteads Roman fort near Hexham. If you can, park at Steel Rigg and hike a bit down to the fort, then grab a bus back. There are many other Roman ruins in the vicinity. It's worth at least a day.

If you can't make it, you can always visit the Antonine Wall in Scotland proper, not too far from Edinburgh.

cw

Take a look at http://www.hadrians-wall.org. We spent one and a half days there, and found we could have spent longer.

I recommend Housesteads, Vindolanda, and Corbridge. Hexham is an attractive town to explore.

The countryside is amazing and it's worth spending some time walking along the wall. Be careful of the sheep/cow droppings! Much of the wall is through pasture land.

cw

emvic

I would love to go see Vindolanda, near Hadrian's Wall, next time we go to England. My 9-year old has been taking Latin this year using a curriculum based on the archeological excavations there. They also have a Roman Army Museum. See www.vindolanda.com

cw

The earliest known writing in England was found at Vindolanda. They are small wooden postcard size tablets. Vindolanda has the copies, and the originals are in the British Museum. Great to see if you'll be in London as well.

alanRow

From Edinburgh or Glasgow expect a 3 hour trip EACH WAY to any of the decent parts of the Wall.

I'd be tempted to overnight somewhere like Haltwhistle or Hexham both of which are convenient to good sections of the Wall.

Just follow the links already posted ot just google it, there's tonnes of information about the Wall

wasleys

As others have said the most spectacular (and busiest) stretch of the wall is from Steel Rigg to Housesteads. The tallest bit is at Walltown.

Barbara

AlanRow, I know what you mean by a three hour trip to the Wall (on the A68 which has those nasty speed cameras all over the place!), but some of us in the US make three hour one-way trips to things frequently, so it's not such a big deal to us.

nytraveler

We toured Housesteads on the way from York to Edinburgh. Don;t recall how long it took - but really - 3 hours is hardly a reason not to go somewhere.

wasleys

<i>3 hours is hardly a reason not to go somewhere</i>

Surely this depends on how badly you want to go there and whether those six hours spent travelling could have been better used doing other things.

Marsha

I agree that a trip to Hadrian's Wall is an overnight excursion from Edinburgh. And it is VERY worth it. The Wall, Housesteads and Vindolanda were the favorites of my whole family - me, my husband, 7 year old, and 12 year old. That's saying a lot. The museum at Vindolanda has incredible artifacts retrieved from the Roman garrison's garbage dump - everything from barely used sandals to unbroken china. The countryside also is amazing - you can imagine that the Romans stationed there thought they were at the end of the earth!
We stayed the night at the Twice-brewed Inn, not far from the wall. It is a hikers' hostel. If you enjoy deluxe accomodations, I wouldn't recommend it, but it served the purpose for us.

nytraveler

wasleys

Yes - but obviusly this is a really important part of the trip for the OP. And a 3 hour drive isn't - or 6 hours RT is easily doable - if you want to see only part of the wall. If you're going to see several parts - then you do need to do an overnight.

And perhaps this is a US thing (my father thought nothing of doing a 3/4 hour drive - each way - on Sundays after lunch in the summer). And my mother told me her father (in the 1920's when they were first building scenic parkways) would do the same - church, lunch, long drive and dinner on the way back).

vickidempsey

My husband and I just returned from a 2 week trip to Scotland, 4 days of which we toured Hadrian's Wall. We used a wonderful personal tour guide, Micheal Binns, who is a Latin scholar and expert on Roman army sites. We stayed at a B&amp;B outside Hexham, and he drove us to all the best bits and explained it in detail. He could translate all the Latin grave and monument inscriptions. It was wonderful. I agree that Vindolanda is a must see. South Shields, Chesters, and Corbridge are all worthwhile too. We found Micheal through the Hadrian's Wall website under tour guides.

rogerdodger

I am an up early type of guy and would have no problem in heading out from Scotland around 6:00am. You could spend several hours seeing sites, then a return in time for dinner. Now, having said that, I would rather stay at a great b&amp;b in Haltwhistle and not be as rushed. It depends on what fits your style.

bigtyke

Ashcroft Guest House, Haltwhistle, Northumberland NE49 0DA phone 01434-320213

is a very nice B&amp;B near Housesteads. Great place to see the wall.

If you want a good 10 km walk along the wall, start west from Houseteads and walk until you come to a big tree right in the middle of the wall, then walk back.