Our 8 Favourite North East Coastal Family Walks - worth braving the cold for even in winter and early spring

The Lake District may have taken top honours in the nation's top 100 walking hotspots recently revealed in ITV's 'Britain's Favourite Walks: Top 100' but we’ve picked out eight of our favourite coastal places in North East England, that are perfect for family walks in Winter, and early Spring ... or any season really!

The North East did feature though and the top 100 walks did though include walks around Durham Coastal Path, High Force, Hadrian’s Wall, Kielder and Alnmouth Beach and Warkworth, with the walk from Craster to Dunstanburgh Castle making the top 10.

Craster to Dunstanburgh and Durham Coastal Path both make it into our favourite 8 beach walks along with many other idyllic and stunning coastline of Northumberland including Bamburgh, Duridge Bay, Seaton Sluice, Longsands in Tynemouth, and Embleton Bay from Low Newton by the Sea.

8 Favourite North East Coastal Walks - perfect for walking any season - but worth braving the cold for even in winter or early spring.

For a bracing and beautiful coastal walk, the North East coastline along the shores of County Durham, North & South Tyneside and Northumberland is without compare. From stretches of hard, flat sand, sheltered coves and vast breaker-blasted expanses its is perfect for invigorating walks with the family or the dog. There are jolly seaside towns and villages to explore, as well as iconic castles that stand guard along the coast. There’s plenty of wildlife too and you can even find sea diamonds.

Late winter and early Spring is the perfect time to wrap up warm, throw on some boots or wellies and go for an invigorating walk. The North East coastline is stunning and also pretty quiet too.

Durham Coastal Path

Explore the colourful and dramatic landscape of Durham’s Heritage Coast with its beaches, rugged cliffs and imposing headlands. A truly stunning location, the Heritage Coast is recognised internationally for its rare plants and wildlife, having won the UK Landscape Award. It’s a 14km walk through a colourful mosaic of grasslands, wildflowers, flora and fauna, through areas of natural, historical and geological interest. Or you can just stop off at beaches along the way. We love collecting Sea Diamonds at Seaham beach!

Credit: Visit County Durham

The Leas & Souter Lighthouse

Located in between Sunderland and South Tyneside and stretching north from the National Trusts’ Souter Lighthouse, The Leas is two and a half miles of magnesian limestone cliffs, wave-cut foreshore and coastal grassland. The name 'Lea' means an area of farmland allowed to revert back to grassland and coastal formations, such as Marsden Rock and Trow Rocks, can be enjoyed from a cliff top walk.

Longsands to Cullercoats

Tynemouth Longsands is one of the many beautiful North East beaches with its stunning golden sands that stretch for a mile, as well as rocks, dunes and cliffs, offering great walks and views. When the tide is out its also possible to walk over the rocks to Cullercoats - a sandy bay enclosed by small piers.

Seaton Sluice

Seaton Sluice is a coastal village at the mouth of the Seaton Burn. It has a small, sleepy harbour and a magnificent wide, sandy beach complete with grassy sand dunes, which links Seaton Sluice to Blyth. It is also a good place to go fossil hunting! Fossils at Seaton Sluice are found mostly in the rocks and shale on the foreshore. The grey coloured non-marine rocks contain plant remains and bark, and the sandy orange coloured rocks contain the marine fossils such as corals and bivalves. Just behond the sand dunes is also a really good play park.

Craster to Dunstanburgh Castle

A family walk north from Craster brings you magnificent views of Dunstanburgh Castle from the south to enjoy, with a walk that starts in the fishing village of Craster, to the mighty ruins of the National Trusts Dunstanburgh Castle. The path takes you through farmland complete with animals with the rocky shoreline with rock pools also worth exploring. Craster used to be a busy fishing village, but now only a few boats moored in the harbour – but it still has its famous smoked kipper - L. Robson and Sons have been smoking fish there for nearly 100 years.

Low Newton By The Sea

The village of Low Newton-By-The-Sea is almost completely owned by the National Trust and has an open-ended square of beautiful cream-washed cottages looking out onto the glorious sandy beach. It’s off the beaten track and the glorious beach is often found empty, with a sheltered bay with rock pools and rocky outcrops. The walk along to Embleton Bay takes you to the winner of the Beach of the Year in BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards 2017. All along this walk, you get glorious views of Dunstanburgh Castle from the north as well as rock formations, wildlife, concrete bunkers from World War 2, and a golf course.

It’s also possible to combine these walks and do Craster to Low Newton or in reverse in one - simply carry on at Dunstanburgh Castle.

Duridge Bay

Druridge Bay is a magnificent seven mile-stretch of beach running from Cresswell to Amble. It has a glorious sweep of beach, with sand dunes and pools to explore and the 100-acre Ladyburn Lake fringed by woodland and meadows. Druridge Bay Country Park has all the amenities you will need to enjoy a day at the coast with toilets, cafe and children's play area. Teeming with wildlife it has several nature reserves tucked behind its dunes. It’s also a magnet for horse riders, as we saw on our recent visit.

Bamburgh Beach

Bamburgh in Northumberland, home to Bamburgh Castle, recently made the Village of the Year shortlist, and it has an amazing open expanse of a beach as well. With the brooding ramparts of one of the UK’s most iconic castles to one side and the world famous Farne Islands on the other, the vast swathe of dune-fringed sands of Bamburgh beach makes for a dramatic visit.

The dramatic and challenging shoreline was once feared by mariners and the first ever lifeboat was launched here.  Now you can go rock pooling around England’s most northerly land-based lighthouse at Bamburgh. Known as Stag Rocks, owing to a magnificent white-painted stag painted onto the rocks, and enjoy views of the Farne Islands and Holy Island from this viewpoint.

What to take with you?

It used to take us hours to get out of the house when the boys were little, it's not so bad now but I always seem to be rushing around looking for what to take with us from raincoats to snacks. Sam from Travelling With Our Kids has a handy list of things to take on a hike with children which is worth checking out!

Where is your favourite coastal walk?

Deb x

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