In July 2010, in addition to several day trips from Edinburgh, I also went on a weekend trip to Hadrian’s Wall.
Scottish & English Border
I travelled from Edinburgh, Scotland to Hadrian’s Wall in England. This means I first had to cross the “border”. This is a border crossing without any administration. You can get out of the car to take a few pictures, but there are obviously no authorities to check your documentation.
Berwick-upon-Tweed
I figured it would be fitting to stay the night in Berwick-upon-Tweed. A town which is now in England, but has moved hands between Scotland and England a few times. You might remember my previous post about North Berwick, the reason it’s called North Berwick, was because Berwick-upon-Tweed was called South Berwick by the Scots.
Long story short, the town has cute town walls, which you can use to explore the town.
There are some informative signs along the walls and the views over the town are nice.
Alnwick
In Alnwick I visited Barter Books, one of the largest second-hand book shops in England, set in the town’s former railway station. The people who know me, know that I cannot ignore book shops, I am not a fan of second-hand books though so I didn’t buy anything but it was nice to browse anyway.
In Alnwick, I also visited the castle. I don’t remember much about this visit though and this is the only picture I have.
Hadrian’s Wall
I can’t recall the name of the section of the Wall I visited. This was just a short visit to get an impression, in the future I’d like to visit Hadrian’s Wall properly by driving from fort to fort. The section I visited wasn’t very spectacular but it was an hour well-spent.
Conclusion
My favourite thing to do when I’m traveling is to rent a car and drive away from the main city. This is especially applicable when you visit the same city a couple of times, like I did in Edinburgh. This way you explore so many areas you wouldn’t explore by public transportation. You could do this driving trip a couple of times a year and stop in new locations every time. Needless to say, it’s about time I make my way back there since many years have passed since 2010. I might even like to walk the whole section of the wall one day.
