Regional Guide
Hadrian’s Wall: Forts, the Walk & Sycamore Gap
Nearly nineteen centuries after the Romans began building it, Hadrian’s Wall remains the North East’s most extraordinary sight — a UNESCO World Heritage Site running right across the country. The very best of it lies in Northumberland, where the Wall rides the crags of the Whin Sill past some of Roman Britain’s finest forts. Here is how to make the most of a visit.
The great Roman forts
The frontier’s best-preserved forts, museums and Roman towns.
Housesteads Roman Fort
central section, near Bardon Mill
The most complete fort on the Wall
Perched high on the Whin Sill escarpment with vast views over the frontier, Housesteads is the best-preserved Roman fort in Britain. You can walk the barracks, granaries, hospital and the famous communal Roman latrines, and it sits right on the most dramatic stretch of the Wall.
Base yourself in Hexham→Vindolanda
near Bardon Mill
The writing tablets · live digs
One of Europe's most important Roman sites, and home to Britain's 'Top Treasure' — the Vindolanda writing tablets, wafer-thin wooden letters that record everyday frontier life, including a soldier's birthday invitation. Live excavations run every summer, and the museum is superb.
Chesters Roman Fort
Chollerford, near Hexham
Cavalry fort · Roman bath house
The most complete Roman cavalry fort in Britain, set in a peaceful bend of the North Tyne six miles from Hexham. Its riverside bath house is remarkably well preserved — one of the best places to picture how Roman soldiers actually lived.
Base yourself in Hexham→Corbridge Roman Town
Corbridge, Tyne Valley
A Roman town, not just a fort
A different, more domestic side of the frontier: at Corbridge you can walk the main street of a Roman garrison town, flanked by the remains of granaries, a fountain house, workshops, markets and temples, with a museum of remarkable finds.
Birdoswald Roman Fort
the Cumbria end
Longest surviving stretch of Wall
Toward the western end, Birdoswald stands beside the longest continuous surviving stretch of the Wall itself. An exhibition, artefacts and a model help make sense of the frontier — and there's a welcome tearoom for after the walk.
Roman Army Museum
near Greenhead & Walltown
Life as a Roman soldier
Beside the dramatic Walltown Crags, this immersive museum brings the daily life of the frontier garrison to life — a good all-weather companion to the open-air forts, and a fine introduction for first-time visitors.
Walking the Wall
The Hadrian’s Wall Path is an 84-mile National Trail running coast to coast, from Wallsend on the Tyne to Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria. You needn’t walk it all: the dramatic central section between Steel Rigg and Housesteads packs in the best of the scenery, with the Wall striding along the volcanic crags of the Whin Sill above the little lake of Crag Lough. Further west, Walltown Crags offers another of the Wall’s most photogenic stretches. These are proper hill walks — a switchback of short, steep climbs — so take boots and give yourself longer than the mileage suggests.
Sycamore Gap
The single sycamore that stood in a dip beside the Wall was one of the most photographed trees in the country until it was illegally felled in 2023 — a loss felt across the region and beyond. The story since has been more hopeful: the stump is alive and has put out fresh shoots in each growing season, the National Trust has raised saplings grown from its seed, and a memorial artwork is planned. The walk to the spot from Steel Rigg is as beautiful as ever, and it remains a place of quiet pilgrimage.
Planning your visit
Hexham is the natural base — a handsome market town with its own railway station, from which the seasonal AD122 Hadrian’s Wall bus links the main sites. The car parks at Steel Rigg and Housesteads give the quickest access to the best walking. Allow a full day for a fort and a stretch of the Wall, and check seasonal opening times before you go.
More North East guides
Make more of the trip with our guides to the region’s market towns (Hexham is the gateway to the Wall), castles and best days out, or see what’s on this weekend.