Howick Hall Gardens & Arboretum · Photo: John Nicholson
Roam the woodland and riverside paths of the Grey family's gardens and arboretum, following the burn path towards the sea, then lunch in Craster at a smokehouse that has cured kippers since the 1800s. Finish back in Alnwick at the old-station bookshop for its afternoon ice cream counter.
Woodland, arboretum and the burn-side path towards the sea; under-5s free.
The gardens and large arboretum of the Grey family estate near the coast, where Earl Grey tea is said to have been first blended. Families can roam woodland and riverside paths, and a burn-side path heads down towards the sea at Howick; the Earl Grey Tea House serves garden visitors.
Lunch or a snack at the harbour smokehouse restaurant (hours unconfirmed).
A family smokehouse in Craster village that has been curing kippers in the same smokehouses since the 1800s, with a shop and restaurant by the harbour. It makes a natural lunch or snack stop before or after the coastal walk to Dunstanburgh Castle.
A huge second-hand bookshop inside Alnwick's old Victorian railway station, with open fires, reading nooks and a model train running along the top of the shelves. There is a buffet cafe in the old station rooms and a seasonal ice cream counter, so it works as a free indoor stop between the castle and the garden.
