Hadrian’s Wall Day 1 – Bowness-on-Solway to Carlisle

Visit the main page for Hadrian’s Wall to read out advice on walking the wall.

10 hours walking time from Bowness-on-Solway to Carlisle

28.7 km walked – this was a bit of an error on our part, I would recommend splitting this into two days.
(walking time includes stops for breakfast/lunch, rest breaks, and some exploration of cool things we found along the way)

Accommodations: Pinegrove Hotel, Carlisle
We booked this place for the nights of Oct 5 & 6, and took a taxi to our starting destination on Day 1, as Bowness-on-Solway is quite small and everything in that area was booked up.

This is a draft outline; we’ll flesh it out soon!

NOTE: We thought this would be fine to do over one day, but if I had it to do over, I think we’d have preferred to do it in two. It was a long walk, and in blustery weather, with a few diversions due to issues with the path flooding. Even if the weather had been perfect, it probably would have been a challenge.

Taxi to from Carlisle to Bowness-on-Solway

Started at The King’s Arms Inn

Walking the path along the ocean channel, and along the River Eden

Very rainy, windy day

Cows on the path

St Michael’s Church had a good water refill station

Stopping for lunch at the Greyhound Inn (fireplace)

Path closure and diversion through Beaumont because the footpath was falling into the river

Friendly white kitty

Field with sheep

Path underpass submerged, had to climb up over some fences and across a busy roadway

Darkness was falling as we got on the final path along the River Eden to Carlisle

When we were finally in Carlisle, we tried to find a place to eat, but the one we picked had their kitchen closed, so we ended up ordering a pizza for delivery.

Our journey on Hadrian’s Wall

‘Walking time’ includes stopping for lunch and breaks throughout the day; we were slower on Hadrian’s Wall than we were on the Camino, in part because the terrain and weather is very different (some of these days were on easy paths, some were up over rocky hills with lots of climbing, some sunny days, some in driving rain and wind), and in part because all of our accommodations were pre-booked, and so we could take our time along the way. There are places along the way to explore, or to take a quick detour into – finding the phallus at the base of the Roman bridge, or finding a little community-run cafe with delicious tea and scones that you want to linger over – so it’s worth factoring in a little extra time.

Visit the main page for Hadrian’s Wall to read out advice on walking the wall.

Landing in Edinburgh
Day 1 – Bowness-on-Solway to Carlisle – 10 hours walking time, 28.7 km walked – this was a bit of an error on our part, I would recommend splitting this into two days. (You are here)
Day 2 – Carlisle to Banks – 10 hours walking time, 23.1 km walked
Day 3 – Banks to Once Brewed – 9 hours walking time, 14.5 km walked
Day 4 – Once Brewed to Chollerford – 9 hours walking time, 12.3 km walked
Day 5 – Chollerford to East Wallhouses – 8.5 hours walking time, 20.2 km walked
Day 6 – East Wallhouses to Newburn – 6 hours walking time, 18.1 km walked
Day 7 – Newburn to Wallsend (Newcastle-on-Tyne) – 10 hours walking time, 9.3 km walked
Travel back to Edinburgh