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The Five-Day Crossing

This is the crossing for walkers who like a big day. It uses the same overnight stops as the Classic but drops Once Brewed, so the whole Whin Sill, from Chollerford over Sewingshields, Housesteads, Crag Lough, Winshield and Walltown to Gilsland, becomes one long, unbroken day on the crags. It is the finest single day of walking on the wall and the hardest. An arrival night in Newcastle lets you start fresh, and a final night at Bowness means you finish without a dash for a train. You can start from the east at Wallsend or the west at Bowness-on-Solway, at the same price.

Walking days
5
Nights
6
Distance
84 miles / 135 km
From
£719 pp

At a glance: The Five-Day Crossing is a self-guided walk from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway on Hadrian's Wall (84 miles / 135 km) in 5 walking days and 6 nights. Typical day: 14–20 miles. Hardest day: Day 3 of walking, Chollerford to Gilsland (20 miles over the crags). B&B with breakfast, daily luggage transfers and a trip pack and app are included, from £719 per person sharing or £1,195 in a single room.

Start from the east (Wallsend) or the west (Bowness-on-Solway), same price.

Booking now for 2026 and 2027

Check dates & get a firm price Read the day-by-day
The Five-Day Crossing, a self-guided Hadrian's Wall walking holiday from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway.

Your route & overnight stops

The dots mark where you sleep on this itinerary. Start from the east (Wallsend) or the west (Bowness-on-Solway), same price.

Solway Firth N Wallsend east end Heddon Chollerford Gilsland Carlisle Bowness west end
Overnight stop on this trip Walk east–to–west or west–to–east Original schematic, not to scale

Walk this trip day by day on the route map →

Is this the right itinerary for you?

Choose it if…

  • You regularly walk 18 to 20 miles in a day, including hill days, and recover well overnight.
  • You want to walk the whole crag section in one go, the way it reads best.
  • You have a working week, not a fortnight, and would rather spend it walking than resting.
  • You've done multi-day walks before and know how your legs behave on day four.

Think again if…

  • This is your first long-distance walk, the six-day Classic is already a proper test.
  • You want time inside Housesteads, Birdoswald or Vindolanda, this schedule has none to spare.
  • Twenty miles of repeated climbs followed by nineteen more the next day sounds like a punishment rather than a challenge.

Difficulty, honestly: Demanding, and we mean it. The two eastern days are long but flat. Then the crag day from Chollerford to Gilsland is about 20 miles with the trail's steepest ground packed into the middle, and the next morning you set off on the 19-mile stage to Carlisle. Either day alone is manageable for a fit walker; back to back, 20 then 19 miles, is the real test of this itinerary. Start from the west and the order reverses: the long lowland days come first and the crags arrive when you have some miles in your legs.

Day by day

Included: 6 nights in hotels or B&Bs, 6 breakfasts and 5 luggage transfers, shown day by day below. Distances are approximate; exact overnight stops depend on availability and are confirmed with your booking.

Day 1: Arrive in Newcastle

Walking:
None, arrival day
Feels like:
The calm before five big days
  • Hotel or B&B in Newcastle
  • Breakfast next morning

Travel up at your own pace and settle in. If you arrive in good time, Segedunum Roman Fort at Wallsend is worth an hour: its viewing tower shows you the layout of a wall fort from above, which helps everything you walk past this week make sense.

Otherwise, eat well and sleep early. Tomorrow is fifteen flat miles, one of the two gentlest days you will have.

Worth knowing: Direct trains to Newcastle from most of the country, and the Metro runs to Wallsend.

Day 2: Wallsend to Heddon-on-the-Wall

Distance:
≈15 miles / 24 km
Terrain:
Urban riverside paths, then field edges
Feels like:
Long but easy, flat almost throughout
  • Hotel or B&B in Heddon-on-the-Wall
  • Breakfast next morning
  • Luggage moved to Heddon-on-the-Wall

Start at Segedunum, where the wall once ran right down to the Tyne, and follow the river west on surfaced paths through Newcastle, under the bridges and along the quayside. Navigation is as simple as keeping the water on your left.

Beyond Newburn the path climbs gently away from the river into farmland. There is no visible wall yet, so treat the day as a chance to find a pace you can hold all week. Heddon-on-the-Wall greets you with the first substantial run of the real thing.

Worth knowing: Buy lunch in the city, options thin out fast after Newburn. Heddon has a pub and a village shop.

Day 3: Heddon-on-the-Wall to Chollerford

Distance:
≈16 miles / 25 km
Terrain:
Rolling farmland beside the old military road
Feels like:
Steady green miles, gentle rises
  • Hotel or B&B in Chollerford
  • Breakfast next morning
  • Luggage moved to Chollerford

Quiet farmland walking beside the Military Road, which sits on the wall's foundations for miles. The ditch and the vallum run either side of you, and by the afternoon you will be reading them in the fields without thinking.

Past the Portgate, where Dere Street crossed the wall, the land starts to rise and the lowlands fall behind. You drop into the North Tyne valley at Chollerford, with Chesters Roman Fort a short stroll from the bridge. Keep the evening easy: tomorrow is the big one.

Parkland and trees above the excavated barracks at Chesters Roman Fort.

Chesters Roman Fort

Cilurnum, the cavalry fort beside the River North Tyne.

Worth knowing: The Robin Hood Inn near East Wallhouses is the natural lunch stop, about six miles in. Little shade or shelter on this stretch.

Day 4: Chollerford to Gilsland

Distance:
≈20 miles / 32 km
Terrain:
Open moor and the full length of the Whin Sill crags
Feels like:
The hardest and finest day on the wall
  • Hotel or B&B in Gilsland
  • Breakfast next morning
  • Luggage moved to Gilsland

Out of the North Tyne valley past Black Carts turret and onto open moor, and at Sewingshields the Whin Sill begins. From here the wall rides the crag edge beside you through Housesteads, past Milecastle 37's arch and above Crag Lough's cliffs to where the Sycamore Gap tree stood, a rollercoaster of short, steep climbs and drops with views to Scotland.

Most itineraries stop halfway. You carry on over Winshield, at 345 m the highest point of the trail, along the knife-edge wall at Cawfields and across Walltown's crag-top masonry, before dropping past Thirlwall Castle to Gilsland. It is a long, magnificent day, and you will feel every one of its climbs by the end.

Hadrian's Wall and the crags near Housesteads under a big Northumberland sky.

Housesteads Roman Fort

The most complete Roman fort in Britain, high on the crags.

Hadrian's Wall climbing the crag beside the milecastle at Castle Nick, with Crag Lough below.

Steel Rigg

Hadrian's Wall at its most dramatic: Castle Nick and Crag Lough.

Hadrian's Wall running over the crags at Caw Gap in golden evening light.

Cawfields and Caw Gap

Crags, a quarry lake and big Northumberland skies.

Worth knowing: Start early and carry lunch, snacks and plenty of water: there is little between Chollerford and Housesteads, and the seasonal café at Cawfields cannot be relied on. This is the most exposed stage in bad weather, and the Military Road below the crags is the way off if you need it.

Day 5: Gilsland to Carlisle

Distance:
≈19 miles / 31 km
Terrain:
Irthing gorge, then long lowland pasture
Feels like:
Long, on legs that remember yesterday
  • Hotel or B&B in Carlisle
  • Breakfast next morning
  • Luggage moved to Carlisle

The morning after the crags. The longest continuous stretch of standing wall leads out of Gilsland past the Poltross Burn milecastle to Birdoswald fort, high above the Irthing gorge. Then the ground relents and the day becomes a long, low march through Cumbrian pasture and quiet lanes, the wall now a buried line, much of its stone carted off to build Lanercost Priory.

The path joins the River Eden for the final miles and brings you into Carlisle through Rickerby Park. Nineteen miles on tired legs is the real test of this itinerary, so pace it from the start rather than chasing the first few miles.

Worth knowing: Café at Birdoswald early on and a pub at Crosby-on-Eden later. Carlisle has every service, including pharmacies for blister repairs.

Day 6: Carlisle to Bowness-on-Solway

Distance:
≈14 miles / 23 km
Terrain:
River path, then flat marsh road
Feels like:
Flat and atmospheric, watch the tides
  • Hotel or B&B in Bowness-on-Solway
  • Breakfast next morning
  • Luggage moved to Bowness-on-Solway

Leave Carlisle along the Eden and head out onto the Solway Plain, wide-skied and completely different from the crags. Through Burgh-by-Sands, where Edward I died on the marshes, the path follows the estuary road across open saltmarsh with Scotland just across the water.

The trail ends at the little pavilion on the shore at Bowness-on-Solway, the site of the Roman fort of Maia. Sign the book at the King's Arms. Five walking days, 84 miles, done.

Worth knowing: Two short sections of the marsh road can flood at very high tides, check tide times before you set off. Accommodation at Bowness is limited, so your stop is confirmed at booking and may involve a short included transfer.

Day 7: Departure from Bowness-on-Solway

Walking:
None, travel day
Feels like:
Tired legs, well earned

Head home via Carlisle after breakfast, with rail connections in every direction. If your train allows, Carlisle's castle, cathedral and Tullie House museum are all close to the station.

Worth knowing: Buses from Bowness to Carlisle are limited, so check times before you travel; we can help arrange a taxi.

Questions walkers ask about this itinerary

Is five days realistic?

For strong, experienced walkers, yes. Every day is 14 miles or more, and the crag day and the Carlisle day come back to back at 20 and 19 miles. If you regularly walk hill days of that length and have done multi-day walks before, you will enjoy it. If not, the six-day Classic splits the crags at Once Brewed and is a much kinder schedule.

Can I start from the west end instead?

Yes, at the same price. Starting from Bowness-on-Solway reverses the stage order: Bowness to Carlisle, Carlisle to Gilsland, then the crags from Gilsland to Chollerford, and two long flat days to finish at Wallsend. The hard days fall in the middle either way, but walking west to east you meet the crags with more miles in your legs, and the prevailing westerly winds are at your back. For the west end, travel to Carlisle station and allow for the limited bus or a taxi out to Bowness; in the east, the Newcastle Metro runs to Wallsend. Haltwhistle station serves Gilsland, and Chollerford is reached by train to Hexham and a short taxi.

Why is the crag day so long?

Because we have taken out the Once Brewed night that splits it on the Classic. That is the whole point of this itinerary: the Whin Sill walked in one unbroken day, from Sewingshields to Walltown. It is about 20 miles with the steepest ground on the trail, so start early and carry everything you need.

Will I have time to visit the forts?

Not properly. Housesteads is right on the path and a quick look is possible, but on a 20-mile crag day an hour inside costs you daylight. If Chesters, Housesteads, Birdoswald and Vindolanda matter to you, the Explorer's Crossing is built for them.

What if I can't finish a day?

It happens, and on a schedule this big it is sensible to plan for it. Roads and bus routes run close to the trail, so a local taxi or bus can take you on to your accommodation and you can rejoin the trail next morning. Taxi costs are yours.