Newcastle to Edinburgh - or the other way round?

[aberal]

Have fun.

 

[ufkacbln]

Here you go. Try this site. I'm thinking of doing this next year so I'll be interested to hear how folks get on. If it's anything like the Coast 2 Coast the signposting will be good. I don't know about the Scottish section but the stretch from Berwick to Druridge is beautiful.
And yes, definitely visit Lindisfarne but do take note of the tide times. The little hut on stilts is not just to look cute!

Lindisfarne is one of those places that has an alter ego

Visit during the day and it is a busy tourist spot, but stay overnight and sitting on the ridge around the ruins watching the birds wheeling across the mudflats in total isolation is magical

 

[Wardy]

Hi Sara. I did the route from south to north in 2009. The biggest climb is the one over the Moorfoots, but it's a gradual one and I found I could plug away comfortably in the right gear - I had a 48/38/28 chainset and 14-34 7-speed cassette. The route from the north seemed shorter but steeper by comparison. There's a steep climb from the A1 to the northern outskirts of Belford which I walked. I camped at the site in Dunstan - the route goes right past the entrance. There's also a good Camping & Caravan Club site (no non-membership fee for cyclists) on the unclassified road between Dunstan and Embleton and just west of the C&C route. Neither campsite had much in the way of a shop though. The campsite at Beachcomber looked ok (certainly big enough) and is also right beside the route. I also stayed at Melrose youth hostel. There's an off-road bit between Beal and Beachcomber but I was fine on the bike's 700 x 38c tyres. I did the trip on a heavy hybrid (but with a good range of gears) with full front and rear panniers and probably far too much stuff.
If I was to do the trip again I would give the route thru Blyth a miss and use the B1329/A193 instead. Signposting was generally good and I didn't have to use the map a lot although I seemed to lose my way a bit in Dalkeith.
The continuation of the route to Aberdeen is well recommended too.
Have a super trip and enjoy yourself!

 

[aberal]

If I was to do the trip again I would give the route thru Blyth a miss and use the B1329/A193 instead. Signposting was generally good and I didn't have to use the map a lot although I seemed to lose my way a bit in Dalkeith.

I live in Dalkeith and even I found reading the directions here confusing. It's way too convoluted and doesn't really offer a sensible way into Edinburgh. I'd avoid that. If I were to offer advice to anyone about that section, it would be "from Carrington, head due north towards the B704 leading into Bonnyrigg, then follow the B6392 all the way through to Eskbank and then follow the Gilmerton Road all the way into Edinburgh". Check that out on Google maps and it will make perfect sense.

 

[HLaB]

No idea how good it is, as I've never actually done it , but I looked at this route before, to go from Newcastle to just north of Edinburgh.

 

[middleagecyclist]

About 40 mins from Edinburgh and the start of my 3 day Coast and Castles mini tour. I'll report how it went. Later!

 

[Proud2Push]

We did the Coasts & Castles in May, Edinburgh to Newcastle. There was a prevailing south-westerly wind, gale force at times, that made parts of the Edinburgh-Innerleithen stretch uncycleable. From Innerleithen to Berwick it was almost a tail-wind, then travelling south to Newcastle it became a sidewind. Either direction it would have been difficult at times.

We took the sleeper to Edinburgh arriving at 7am, so spent the morning exploring the city. Our first night was at Tweedside Campsite, Innerleithen. After that we couldn't find any campsites along the Tweed so headed for Hume, hear Kelso, where we thought we'd find a wild camp spot. A nice lady let us camp in her garden. Also, we planned to stay at the Beachcomber House Campsite, Goswick, near Berwick, but changed our minds when we got there (nuff said). There is a campsite at Beal Barn just up the road from the Lindisfarne causeway. We didn't stay there but it looked very nice (we didn't see it until the next day and ended up staying in the picnic field of Beal service station on the A1!) Next stop was Springhill Farm near Seahouses - brilliant campsite where we also checked into their bunkhouse to sit out 125mph winds. Last camping night was among the dunes on Druridge Bay. Spent our last night at a Travelodge in North Shields. I'm writing the trip up for CGOAB but haven't got very far yet.

It is a really good cycle route - the roads are empty, the scenery is beautiful and the beaches are spectacular. We can really recommend it as one of the most enjoyable rides we've done.