First multi day trip .Route 72 Silloth Tynemouth

[teeonethousand]

I have never done a multi day trip on a push bike (lots on motorbike) but am thinking I will have a go at this spring 2025.

Loose plan is to:

train up to Newcastle then across to Carlisle then local train to Aspatria which is about 11 miles from Silloth....overnight.

Silloth to Brampton . About 40 miles...overnight

Brampton Corbridge...another 40
...overnight

Corbridge Tynemouth..about 30 then back to Newcastle station..train home

I can be flexible with exactly when which is great for trying to get the weather right but not great for pre booking stuff.Similarly I would prefer flexibility to ride more or less if I feel like it ..also not good for pre booking. Northern train take bikes but limited ...chances of getting 2 bikes on ?

My brother will probably join me (we ride together once a week ISH and he is younger, faster and more used to distance than me so will fit in with my constraints

I ride at least 30 and often over 40 hilly miles twice a week weather permitting ...I will probably increase that distance a bit in prep

I am used to packing light for motorbike trips and think I can go ultralight for these few days .I will get a rear rack and use a roll bag and rock straps

Backstop if we can't get on a train is take one vehicle to Aspatria and get a train there after we get back to recover it.

I think it's worth the travel and pre booking risk to get weather and keep flexibility.

Happy to hear any advice

 

[All uphill]

Good plan to choose days with good weather, and to stay flexible in your plans.

I'd suggest avoiding school holiday weeks.

Have a great time and post photos!

 

[annedonnelly]

Northern between Newcastle and Carlisle will be no bother getting bikes on - avoid the busiest trains first thing & at teatime. Northern staff have always been lovely whether I had a bike or not.

One conductor told me a few years ago that he'd had fourteen bikes on one train.

 

[OldShep]

I’ll echo what Anne says do not worry about getting bikes on that line and the staff are great. . Youve a very easy first day there and a few times I’ve done that leg I’ve had a howling west wind behind me and hit Carlisle in no time at all.

 

[teeonethousand]

Northern between Newcastle and Carlisle will be no bother getting bikes on - avoid the busiest trains first thing & at teatime. Northern staff have always been lovely whether I had a bike or not.

One conductor told me a few years ago that he'd had fourteen bikes on one train.

Great to hear...thanks

 

[geocycle]

That’s all very doable. I agree with the comments on Northern rail on those routes. They will try and make it work for you. Some of their trains are not the most comfortable and don’t expect a buffet car!

I like to book ahead as I prefer staying in pubs or villages where food is available in an evening. If you book in advance you can choose refundable deals in case the weather closes in. On a motorcycle you have more options to deviate from the route if places to stay are limited or the pub is shut. On a pedal cycle I like to know where I am staying and eating. Pubs in small places have a knack of being closed Sunday to Wednesday so check when booking.

it’s a nice route, not too hilly and lots to see on the way. With your mileage you will be riding about 4 hours a day so lots of time for sightseeing.

 

[AndyRM]

Newcastle to Carlisle is one of my favourite non coastal train routes. I didn't always appreciate it when I was commuting on it a couple of times a week but it's really picturesque.

As above, you won't have any bother getting a bike (or two) on. Depending on how you're feeling you could get off and cycle around places en route, Hexham is

 

[Lookrider]

Re northern trains
If you book early ( and it's not weeks ) in advance ...you can get train Newcastle to Carlisle for as little as £3 once the tickets are released about 2 months beforehand
You cannot book your bikes on
But if for some very unlikely reason the guard does not let you on you can tell him about your advance £3 ticket and he will contact the train guard behind him to let you on with that ticket
Northern also do a two together ticket for cheap travel
On your way back to Newcastle you are allowed 2 max bikes on the metro train into Newcastle although fir safety reasons you cannot travel underground so it means get off at manors then ride 5mins or so into central station
You may be predunt to search for mobile mechanics along the route just in case you need them as parts are very rural at times

 

[Lookrider]

And if your flexible looking for alternative sightseeing
Why not cycle under the Tyne via the cycle tunnel and use the new glass gondolas which takes you down/up
The tunnel is signposted but also has a large ventilation chimney you will see from afar
It brings you out in the south side some 200metrs from st Paul's church which has historic values as it was where the venerable Bede worked and wrote his scripts
The cycle path on south side takes you to south shields and the Roman fort on the coast
There's a ferry will take you to north side back to Tynemouth if your hotels booked there
Tynemouth is a fab small place to stay but so is south shields sea front which also has a metro to take you to Newcastle if you do wish

 

[teeonethousand]

And if your flexible looking for alternative sightseeing
Why not cycle under the Tyne via the cycle tunnel and use the new glass gondolas which takes you down/up
The tunnel is signposted but also has a large ventilation chimney you will see from afar
It brings you out in the south side some 200metrs from st Paul's church which has historic values as it was where the venerable Bede worked and wrote his scripts
The cycle path on south side takes you to south shields and the Roman fort on the coast
There's a ferry will take you to north side back to Tynemouth if your hotels booked there
Tynemouth is a fab small place to stay but so is south shields sea front which also has a metro to take you to Newcastle if you do wish

Thanks...I had read up on the cycle tunnel and part of the loose plan is to try it..either both ways or in order to stay at SS or as part of a plan C which is to cycle the 60 miles or so home (via at least 1 overnight )

Lots of options 😁 😁

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I rode Hadrian‘s Cycleway with a couple of others in 2010.

Train to Ravenglass.

Day 1 Ravenglass to Silloth
Day 2 Silloth to Twice Brewed YHA
Day 3 Twice Brewed YHA to South Tynemouth.

Then train back from Newcastle.

A walk up to Hadrians wall worth it the evening of day 2. I’d also visit Vindolanda Roman fort / museum if you have time in your schedule.

It is nice outing.

 

[Lookrider]

Another very worthwhile detour from the signposted route
At birdoswasld museum fort the rd route takes you slightly north and around to gisland
However you can push your bikes along the very exposed and definitive wall section there and down some manageable steps into the valley ...here the wall and a turret are very exposed and then some nice cycle able parts that bring you out at gisland to join the signposted route
There's a house there where the wall stops on the gable end ?? Fascinating to see
Then after the very steep climb out of greenhead there's another museum at walltown ...it's not on the official rd route but you can cycle around there and take a gravel track around more wall ruins
It comes out on the " Roman rd" and cross over to another track through a farm into haltwhistle to again join the main rd route
A lot of the Hadrian's way official rd route skirts the wall ( I guess for safety reasons ) and omitts housteads ( but routes through vindalonda )out as the route is on the stanegate slightly south and tracks the (busy) Roman rd
There is plans in hand for this Hadrian's route to be diverted to the proper Roman wall route
Once approached Newcastle your in the river side for safety reasons
The wall went through busy areas and housing estates etc and remains still there so this is why there plans for " new" route
The river route from stocksfiekd area to Newcastle is really nice anyways and goes past Stephenson house ( the railway engineer and father if the industrial revolution)

 

[annedonnelly]

The river route from stocksfiekd area to Newcastle is really nice anyways and goes past Stephenson house ( the railway engineer and father if the industrial revolution)

And much of the Newcastle to Tynemouth route is also nice (or was last time I was along). You don't always realise how urban it all is just to the other side of the hedges. And passes Segedunum, another Roman museum.

 

[BromleyBoy]

@teeonethousand - Late last June a couple of friends and I cycled from Aspatria to Newcastle along the Hadrian's Cycleway. We travelled up from London on the West Coast Line. Although we got the late running Carlisle to Aspatria train about 5.20pm - which was quite busy due to the rush hour - the guard was friendly and there was plenty of space for bikes (several commuters had their bikes on). Contrary to the itinerary I've attached, we stayed our first night in Silloth. Thankfully the rains had ended that afternoon, and we had an easy ride to the very pleasant Silloth in the evening sunshine. (We had no rain, despite threats of it, for the whole trip.) It's a pleasant and easy ride to Carlisle, but cycling through the city was a bit 'hairy' - even for someone like me, used to traffic in south London. After staying in a place just outside Carlisle (on the east side/Brampton side) we cycled to the YHA near Vindolanda. It was very hilly, and unpleasant on one short bit of the A6. We joined the guided tour at Vindolanda, which was okay. We felt the 2-hour guided tour at Birdoswald museum was better. There was an excavation that we entered and was due to end this year (I think), led by a characterful and informative archaeologist. The ride from Vindolanda to Corbridge was not so hilly, and quite genteel. From Corbridge to Newcastle was okayish, having to go beside A roads and motorways on cycle sharing paths on the outskirts of Newcastle. It was a bit of relief to get onto the riverside path.

 

[teeonethousand]

@BromleyBoy ......brilliant, many thanks. After everyone comments I am now relaxed about trains. We will travel east coast line up to Newcastle on Northern Trains (or whatever they might be called last/next week) and I think they are also cycle friendly and flexible.

Still undecided on pre booking but we will figure it out nearer the time.

Thx again