Congratulations on signing up to hike the Hadrian’s Wall trail. Now, if this isn’t you and you’re still making your initial enquiries about the walk–you should head on over to this post: Hadrian’s Wall Hike – Your Questions Answered, for more preliminary information. For the rest, booked in and ready to rumble, forward ho! Let’s talk about some things to expect on your Hadrian’s Wall walk. Namely, the things that despite reading two different guide books and a number or online resources, I still didn’t know and had to learn the hard way so you don’t have to.
Communication breakdown
Hadrian’s Wall isn’t the only ancient thing in Northern England. Travellers, especially Millenials and Gen Z, will be frustrated with the seemingly archaic methods of communication available along the Hadrian’s Wallt.
In recent years, I’ve found it most convenient and cost effective to purchase a local eSIM when I travel. It has largely been a great success and something I recommend to others—see my full guide to eSIMs. For those not yet familiar, having an eSIM means you have access to plenty of inexpensive data, but not calls This means you use free, instant messaging services such as Whatsapp, Viber and Messenger to communicate. Even, or especially, in developing countries many tourism businesses rely on these free, data-based services to communicate with customers. A good example was our recent trip to Costa Rica.
However, not in Northern England. When I had to communicate with transfer drivers, B&B owners, taxi services (no there’s no Uber or Lyft), this became an issue because they don’t make use of these services. Calling a driver to let them know we’d be late to our pick-up, or getting a local cab, became a very tiresome affair. So, this is one occasion/destination where I recommend you getting yourself a regular SIM card, or at least one within your travel party.
Hailing a ride
Taxis
Taxis are still the dominant mode of transport in this part of England if you don’t have a car. They even take care of the school runs, instead of a school bus. If you need to get to or from the tor just want to skip a section (shhh, I won’t tell anyone), then you will likely take a taxi. There is a bus along the most popular section of Hadrian’s Wall trail, which I will address in a moment. If you need a taxi there are two things to note.
One is that they are expensive and there are few options, again there is no Lyft or Uber or similar rideshare service. To highlight this point, one café staff member actually offered to drive us to our accommodation when her shift was done, after we asked if she could call us a cab (see above about communication). This sweet lady was concerned about the potential cost of a short ride to the next town. Take this into consideration and make sure you support Greenhead Tea Room, they go above and beyond for their customers!
Two is booking in advance where possible. Due to local taxis also taking care of school runs, it can be difficult to get one during certain before and after school hours, when you’re most likely to want a ride. Call the day before and arrange a time if you know you’ll need a ride in advance.
Public transport
The AD122 bus, is the main form of public transport along the most popular part of the Hadrian’s Wall trail, between Walltown Quarry and Hexham. This is an efficient and cost-effective way to get between some of the key sites and towns along the middle section of Wall. Unfortunately, the service starts quite late in the morning. So, if you want to get started early, make sure you book choose another transport option. See the bus timetable here.
Navigation and signage
All my reading prior to the walking Hadrian’s Wall trail suggested that the path was well signed and little navigation was required. This is mostly true, just look out for the acorn symbols. However, we found that sometimes there was too much distance between acorns, and we needed a sign to reassure us our direction was correct. This was particularly so where there were a number of social paths, or other trails intersecting Hadrian’s Wall Path, creating some uncertainty.
Also, some acorn signs were easy to miss, having become overgrown by trees or hedges. If you aren’t vigilant and have your head down grinding it out or trying not to take a slide in the mud, you can easily overlook a vital sign. I found GoogleMaps to be the easiest way to see if I was on target. Note, there is sparing cell service on parts of the trail and you need to download the map to be accessible offline before departing wifi. Here are Google’s simple instructions for downloading a map to use offline for both iPhone and Android.
A physical map is a good backup. I don’t like hauling around the weight of a guidebook. Unless you need the extra wayfinding instructions of a guidebook, get yourself a lightweight, possibly weatherproof map. For instance, this Harvey Maps version is waterproof and only weighs 44-g (3.6-oz). You can buy it new or used on Amazon/AbeBooks, and other secondhand copies on eBay.
Tip: Distances on trail signs are in miles – a bane to the 95% that use metric.
Don’t miss the dark sky
Star gazers rejoice! Just don’t do as I did. Remember that gorgeous aurora (Northern and Southern Lights) that seemingly everyone on your Facebook or Instagram was posting photos of in May 2024. I could not have been in a better position to see that aurora, being in the section of the Hadrian’s Wall walk that is in Northumberland National Park—also recognised as an International Dark Sky Park.
Problem: We were so absorbed in our Hadrian’s Wall walk, we had no idea the aurora-inducing solar storm was taking place until it was too late! {Insert wah wah waaaaaah trombone sound here}.
If this is your jam, there are a number of smartphone apps that offer a calendar of astronomical events and news alerts for unpredictable events like, say a solar storm. Here’s a few suggestsions by space.com. There’s also an aurora specific app for the UK, created and maintained by a Space and Planetary Physics group at Lancaster University. The app called AuroraWatch UK is available in both Google Play and Apple App stores.
Opening hours
Re-iterating something I said in this post to consider when planning your itinerary, is the limited opening hours of sights along the trail. Many of the Roman forts and archaeological sites are only open from 10am-4pm, depending on the season. This means if a leg of the walk takes longer than anticipated, and you planned to visit a fort in the afternoon, you might miss out. Make sure you check those opening hours and time your schedule accordingly.
Tip: Remember to reassess after your first day or two of hiking, making some adjustments to suit your real (versus projected) walking pace.
Packed lunches and snack shacks
There are almost no instances where a real feed is available en route. There are convenient snack stalls that village residents maintain along the trail using an honesty system. Also, the occasional but unreliable coffee van in a trail car park. But for a pub lunch or afternoon tea and scones, you will likely have to walk a mile or two off trail.
Depending how energetic you are feeling or how much time you have, this might not be an option. Taking a packed lunch is a better way to travel. Most accommodation offer packed lunches as an added service, given they have enough notice from you. Also, there are local cafes that will provide “hikers’ lunches” packed to-go.
We set out the first few days with snacks only. Soon it became evident that those extra couple of miles to duck off-trail and grab a bite were a little too much added distance to our daily total. From there we took a packed lunch and picnicked on-trail. It’s also worth mentioning, that we experienced mostly warm, sunny weather and eating outdoors wasn’t uncomfortable. This might not always be the case.
Shelter and shade
This brings me to preparing for the weather. While all Hadrian’s Wall resources will warn you about wind and rain, very few talk about conditions when it’s warm and sunny. The fact is, very little of the trail has any shade. You’re peregrination is through open marshes, grazing land and elevated spots on the Whin Sill. There are only tiny fragments of forest here and there. If the weather looks like it will be warm and sunny, be prepared with adequate sun protection and extra water.
Hopefully these tips and hard-learnt lessons will help you somewhere along your Hadrian’s Wall walk. If you have anything to add, please share with us in the comments below so others can benefit. Lastly, you can find my Hadrian’s Wall spring packing list right here.
Peace, love & inspiring travel,
Madam ZoZo
