Coasts and Castles was Atalanta Adventure’s first tour of 2022; a tour that we have previously successfully organised as Total Womens Awesome Tours.
This tours starts on the coast in Tynemouth. As it heads north it hugs the spectacular Northumberland coast up to Berwick-Upon-Tweed before going inland over the English-Scottish border towards Galashiels and then onto the final destination of Edinburgh. The total distance is two hundred miles, cycled over four days.
Coasts and Castles like all of our tours are self-guided, but that doesn’t mean to say that you have to cycle alone. Self-guided means you have the option of cycling with the group, with a buddy or on your own and this gives you the flexibility, should you wish, to linger a little longer or speed on head. The routes that we choose are easy to navigate by map, national cycle network signs and GPS
Our first day of cycling was to Alnwick. A fairly flat route which was just over 40 miles.
Spectacular views out to sea could be seen along the well sign-posted NCN 1 cycle route.
Our first night was spent at The Hog’s Head Inn in Alnwick. A three star inn with restaurant, so no need to go looking for somewhere to eat after the day’s ride
Berwick Upon Tweed was our destination for the second day of the tour. On this day of the tour, if the timings of the tides are right, it’s possible to cycle across the causeway to Holy Island.
Along the way we stopped off at Craster for both the view and the smoked kippers and then popped in to Seahouses to scoff the best fish and chips in the area; there were of course other food options available.
Our second night was spent in the King’s Arm Hotel which is in the centre of Berwick-Upon-Tweed. As well as there being an Italian restaurant in the hotel, there were plenty of eating options nearby.
The first two days of the tour were fairly flat, the third day of the tour was slightly more undulating. The scenery changed from Coasts and Castles to the River Tweed, Castles and scenic countryside as we headed inland we crossed the border into Scotland and after cycling just over 40 miles we arrived at Dryburgh Abbey Hotel in Melrose early in the afternoon and chilled and relaxed in the beautiful grounds of the hotel.
Staying in hotels rather than camping gave us so much flexibility. The weather was end to end sunshine and the days were long and we took advantage of these favourable conditions by stopping and staring and taking in the spectacular views. We made the most of our last day of cycling and spent all of the day and a lot of the evening cycling to Edinburgh.
Day five was the last day of the tour and it was a relaxed Sunday in Edinburgh; a chance to leisurely look around the city whilst waiting for our trains.
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