Durham to Edinburgh via Alnwick

On this touring route you'll pick you way up the Northumberland coast before turning inland to the Scottish Borders and on to the Scottish capital, Edinburgh.

This has always been a turbulent region where some of Britain's most ferocious battles have been fought.
It's a land of castles, the more heavily fortified they are the closer to the Scottish border you get. But there's a softer side.
Among the main attractions are three of the most atmospheric abbey ruins in all Britain. Dryburgh, Melrose and Kelso . .  all within a relatively close range of each other. Just offshore is the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, the birthplace of British Christianity.
You can look in on several houses of the rich and famous - Cragside, the home of inventor William Armstrong; Abbotsford, home of novelist Sir Walter Scott and Mellerstain, arguably the finest example of the work of architectural genius, Robert Adam.
And for Harry Potter fans, there's Alnwick Castle which featured in the first two films of the series. They'll even give you broomstick-flying lessons.