UKH

Ok, what would be the highlights for a visitor to Northumberland - both climbing and non climbing.

Bowden Doors - good for solo or better off at Kyloe for bouldering?

Bamburgh Castle - worth a walk round or worth the extra to pay to get in?

Best beaches?

Best pubs / restaurants

Best bike routes - MTB/road/CX?

Why should one go to Northumberland for a week?

Non climby-

If you've National Trust membership, Cragside House and Gardens (near RothBury), and Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island which also has beaches, abbey and other touristy stuff. Check tide times for causeway opening. There's also Dunstanborough Castle which is a pleasant easy walk up the coast from Craster, 

Alnwick Gardens and Castle

Warkworth Castle (English heritage) is good with a river next to it for a bit boating. There's Belsay Castle and gardens also Eng Heritage.

Druridge Bay, lots of scenery.

Yours

Mark

Bowden might be the big one but most of the Northumberland crags are absolute gems. Back Bowden, Great Whanney, Drake Stone, Corbies, Goat Crag and Berryhill are all worth a visit for even a modest soloist. You'd need incredibly strong arms to climb there for a week though.

The Cheviot end of the Pennines are great but I've only ever been up there clogged in. 

Dunstanburgh is the castle to see.

Seahouses for traditional seaside atmosphere.

Farne Island boat ride if you can afford it.

Etal light railway.

Anwick book shop in the old train station.

Lindisfarne for a novelty island.

The beaches all look great but are the coldest, windiest places if not truly Polar.

Bowden is best for leading really and I'd go to Doveholes before Kyloe in unless you can boulder above 7a. There are nice walks around Doveholes as well but the wood that Kylie is in is nice too. Look out for mushrooms.

The beach on the mainland just South of Holy Island is nice but there are loads of nice beaches there. The one by Low Newton by the sea is good because you can have a pint in the excellent pub there afterwards.

The second hand bookshop in Alnwick is worth visiting if you like books. It's massive.

Castles - Alnwick castle would get my vote over bamburgh, which is only good for the view, but you can get that for free from outside.

Farne Island trips are only £15 - £20 and well worth it, but I'd watch out for the weather this time of year. If you think its exposed on the beaches, then it can be particularly challenging on the water. The boatmen are all ex (or even current) fishermen and dont really mind about a bit of a swell. You may think differently.......

Beaches; subject to the wind direction, all are bloody brilliant from Blyth up to Berwick. Embleton bay with dunstanburgh castle in the background is pretty special. And empty. Then go to Ross sands, which will be emptier. 

Pubs / restaurants everywhere, especially pubs. Greys Inn at Embleton gets my vote for beer and hearty meals if on the coast (its a bit of a weekend local, so I'm a bit biased) , and the cheviot inn in Bellingham if near Kielder for exactly the same reasons.

Climbing - what the others have said. 

Biking - theres a cycle path gores all the way down the coast, which is really nice, and mainly off road. Or go inland to Kielder reservoir, and fill your boots in the forest. 

Why go for a week? Try all the above, then book another week to go do it all again. 

If you arent familiar with the lansdcape, have a look at the "Hidden Northumberland " facebook page.

And the Heavy Horse centre just up the road: https://www.hayfarmheavies.co.uk/hay-farm

Druridge bay is an absolute winner. 

Hadrian

Surfing

Housteads (NT) and Vindolanda amongst many Roman sites along Hadrians Wall.

Mark

If you have a warm wetsuit Harkness Rock Pools are great with the added bonus of the stunning view of the beach and Bamburgh Castle.

the town walls of Berwick are worth an amble, the town centre is a bit down at heel but the architecture and history is excellent. museums are good, and there's some interesting bits down by the water.

Coldingham beach - just over the border in Scotlandshire - is excellent: free parking, beach cafe, rocks and headlands to explore, sheltered beach.

Wooler is a nice little town, good for a mooch.

Yeavering bell (and Yeavering) good for history buffs - religious site and iron age, and post Roman, fort for the Kings of Bernicia and Northumbria.

Lindisfarne is worth an explore, as is Bamburgh castle - Alnwick is nice, castle is expensive, but the town is pretty, interesting and has nice shops.

Rothbury and the Simonside hills are very pretty - lovely little town, very pleasant walking.

College Valley - north Cheviot. secluded valley, very quiet and scenic. lots of easy walking.

Another vote for Cragside, amazing house and gardens...

Seahouses - nice beaches

bamburgh castle

beadnell bay

Looks great from the outside, not really worth paying to get in IMO - it's mostly full of Victorian tat from the era when it was used as a home for convalescing gentlemen or something.

Lindisfarne castle is more worthwhile, although again it's for the high-Edwardian arts and crafts decor that it was refurnished with rather than old military stuff. Lindisfarne generally is nice. There's a lovely bookshop in Alnwick. It's worth trying to find some Peel Towers (medieval fortified houses) to look at, too. 

Hadrians Wall is obviously good, although it's quite a trek from the North East of the county.

The Victorian tat is probably the same junk you get at Cragside since it was owned by the same bloke.  I think he was a bit of an engineer, or something.

I haven't been to Cragside, but I'm guessing that it's a bit more like a complete and paintakingly preserved / re-assembled Victorian domestic interior, and less like a series of big, open medieval halls, each with a few bits of furniture and some fancy plates feeling out of context at one end...

It's been a couple of years since we were there so I might be exaggerating, but I do remember feeling like it was a bit of a let down compared to the amazing exterior of the place.

Got to admit I haven't been in myself  just assumed it would be his stuff you were referring to.

you can't miss out Otterburn Training Area, a great place for cold rice pud in mess tins

I was wondering why no-one had suggested Beamish as I remember going when we went up there and thinking it was brilliant, I've looked on the map and now realise its because its not in Northumberland! If you go near it on the way up or down its well worth a diversion.