Directions will be given in a future trip letter to our B&B in the seaside resort suburb of Whitley Bay.  Check into our rooms starting at 3:00 PM.  Trip orientation at 5:00 PM, then dinner, our first trip meal, at a local favorite restaurant.  We stay here for 2 nights.  D

After breakfast at our B&B, we'll have a leisurely coastal walk to the North Shields Ferry.  A short ferry ride takes us to South Shields where we continue on to Arbeia Roman Fort.  This fort protected the mouth of the River Tyne for the transport of men and materials to build the wall.  Everything passed through here.  Next we go to the shore for the ceremonial toe-dipping in the North Sea.  Return to our B&B via public transportation.  B, D  

Start the day with a Metro train ride to Segedunum Roman Fort at Wallsend.  This was where the Wall began and we'll be able to see a restored section of the original wall as well as the reconstructed bathhouse and museum.  This is also the beginning of the Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail where passports are available for stamping our progress along the route.  The first part of the trail along the River Tyne allows us to follow the history of Newcastle past old shipyards and defunct coal works, sophisticated cosmopolitan architecture, modern business enterprises, through suburbs to the village of Newburn for the night.  Our route is flat and does not follow the line of the Wall as the city of Newcastle has been built on top of it.  B, D

Leaving the river, our route starts climbing up to the Wall where extensive sections are exposed at Heddon-on-Wall.  Before the Wall was begun there were already a line of forts stretching across the country.  Spaced 5 miles apart, the Wall was built near and sometimes through these forts.  They have not all been excavated and today we'll explore the site of Vindobala Roman Fort.  We'll see Wall stones re-purposed into a substantial barn as we hike beside the military road that connected the forts.  Our path undulates through this pastoral area to our overnight stop at East Wallhouses.  B, D 

We learn more about the design of the Wall as we walk along the vallum, the wide, deep ditch built along the south side of the wall as well as the ditch built north of the Wall, both clearly evident on our route today.  We pass the Onnum Roman Fort site and visit an historic church of St. Oswald.  Near Chollerford we'll see our first turret, guard stations housing 3 or 4 soldiers built every third of a mile along the Wall.  We stay in an historic hotel in Chollerford.  B, D

Right out of Chollerford we'll visit Chesters Roman Fort and Museum.  This fort has the best reconstructed Roman bathhouse.  The museum was originally started by John Clayton and we'll learn how he nearly single-handedly saved the Wall in the 19th century.  The museum features extensive artifacts and various dated and carved wall stones and markers collected by Clayton.  From Chesters the route gets more rugged as we hike along longer sections of wall.  We'll see milecastles, larger installations built every mile along the Wall, turrets, and pre-Christian religious sites.  Our climbs get longer and steeper until we reach Houseteads Roman Fort.  We take the AD 122 bus from this remote outpost to our lodgings for the next 2 nights.  B, D

We return to Housesteads by bus to explore the best excavated fort along the Wall, with the dubious distinction of having the best excavated latrine.  After taking the morning to visit the fort and museum we'll move on to Vindolanda Roman Fort set a short distance from the Wall.  In addition to the fort excavation, the vicus, or civilian village next to the fort, is also being excavated and current archaeological digs continue every summer.  The museum is full of shoes, jewelry, and most famously writing tablets that have been unearthed here.  In the evening we'll bus to Haltwhistle for dinner at the Center of Britain Hotel, purportedly built on the exact center of the British Isle.  B, D

Again we bus back to Housesteads to resume our walk.  Many short, steep climbs today almost entirely along the Wall with stops at Steel Rigg, Sycamore Gap (where until very recently the iconic lone sycamore tree once proudly stood but now sadly gone), and the Whin Sill cliffs.  Coming down to the Walltown Crags we finish at the Roman Army Museum at Greenhead.  The museum looks at the military aspect of the Wall and offers a taste of life for soldiers serving here with its excellent film.  A short walk brings us to our historic hotel for the night.  B, D

See the original stone abutments of the Roman bridge across the River Irthing on the way to Birdoswald Roman Fort, last of the well-excavated Wall forts.  This is our last day of seeing milecastles and turrets before the stone wall becomes a turf wall.  Then we descend into the rolling hills of Lanercost Priory.  Built in the 12th century of pilfered Wall stones, it became the court of King Edward I for 6 months when he became ill in 1306.  We'll be transported to the town of Brampton for the night.  B, D

After transport back to Lanercost Priory we continue on as Wall segments become fewer.  We'll be able to see a short section of preserved turf wall as we come into farms and pastureland, but even here the vallum and wall ditch is clearly visible.  Coming into Carlisle the walk gets flatter and easier, finishing at our B&B's for 3 nights.  B, D

Today we learn about Carlisle's 2000 year history.  Being close to the Scottish border, there have been incursions by both sides through all that time.  Carlisle Castle has the dubious distinction of being Britain's most besieged fortification and was a prison for the Jacobites in the 18th century.  The Tullie Museum is built on the site of the original Roman fort with its Roman Gallery showcasing relics of that era.  The Carlisle Cathedral is an architectural wonder despite its flip-flopping ownership between the English and Scots.  There never seems to be enough time to see all that Carlisle has to offer.  B, D

An easy day walking out of the city through flat farmland and nearly forgotten hamlets.  We'll visit 12th century St. Michael's Church outside of Burgh-by-Sands built with pilfered Wall stones and where King Edward I lay in state in 1307 after his death.  We'll lunch by the King Edward I statue before transport back to Carlisle.  Dinner at one of its excellent restaurants.  B, D

A lovely walk through farmland and wetlands with the last couple of miles along Solway Firth with Scotland on the other side.  This is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty renowned for its birds and botanical diversity.  The National Trail ends at Bowness-on-Solway at the Banks Promenade, a gazebo-like structure celebrating the end/beginning of the trail.  It's right on the shore for the ceremonial dipping of the toes in the Irish Sea.  Our last night is in charming B&Bs.  B, D

Breakfast at our B&Bs before catching the late morning bus back to Carlisle, about an hour drive.  The bus station is an easy walking distance to the Carlisle train depot.  B