Mickledore Travel Traveller Reviews

Our Hadrian Wall walk was exactly what we had hoped for. The accommodation organized by our tour operator (Mickledore) was amazing. We had 6 days walking in beautiful country and eating fantastic food. This was a great way to see the Wall.

Mickledore provided everything we needed to enjoy our walk. All of our accommodation was of a high quality, we especially liked that we generally stayed off the track. All contact with Mickledore was via email because we are on the other side of the world, they were always prompt in replying and helpful. The information pack for the walk was also very comprehensive.

The Northumberland Coast Path Cresswell to Berwick in 6 days X 7 Nights Walking Code: NC7 I am a seasoned Long Distance walker and have been doing the UK LD paths since 1995. My own country of Ireland is one of outstanding natural beauty and the same can also be said of England, Scotland and Wales. My latest adventure was along the Northumberland Coast Path. Both I and my two female companions flew into fabulous Edinburgh on May 20th of this year on the first stage of what was to be a memorable journey, and while I had done mountain and flat walking in Scotland, I had never been to Edinburgh. We spent a few hours ‘sight-seeing’ there before travelling by train to Morpeth for our 1st night’s stay at the Riverside Guest house. The Lady of the house was very welcoming and friendly and her house was very comfortable and cosy and apart from the information from Mickledore on where to eat etc., she recommended a delightful little place directly across from her house a ‘Wine bar restaurant’ which was superb with lovely fresh food in very relaxing surroundings and very soft background music. After a sumptuous breakfast next morning 21st we bade our goodbyes to our excellent host and we were ferried along with our luggage to Cresswell for our 1st days walking along the coastal path to Walkworth. It was an excellent day for walking with the sea breezes and glorious sunshine throughout the day and the scenic views approaching Walkworth were spectacular. We arrived at our 2nd nights BnB to be warmly greeted by our host for the day and invited out to the garden where we were made to relax with tea and cake before being shown to our rooms. The ancient village of Walkworth is very charming and only that we were walking to Berwick I would have loved to have stayed an extra day and explore. Our accommodation in the Old Post Office was superb and very comfortable, with a wide variety of breakfast food to choose from. We had a relaxing meal with wine in one of the hostelries before retiring and planning our next day’s walk to Dunstan village in Craster. Sadly, the next day 22nd was very wet and we decided that we would cut short our day and walk in the afternoon as the weather was to pick up which it did. We took a bus to Alnwick with the intention of doing some sightseeing, but were told by a bus driver that there was nothing of interest to see there, while in fact we missed the Alnwick Castle which was one of the best castles in the area, and as the weather was deteriorating further we decided to travel to Craster and have lunch there. The sun finally came out by the afternoon and we then walked on to our next accommodation the Cottage Inn in Dunstan. Dunstan is a pleasant little place and the cottage inn was fine and adequate in that we did not have to go out again to eat, so we could relax for the evening and eat later. Our evening meal was bar food which was fine and with a few glasses of wine we were made up for the night. Breakfast here was. Overall our stay here was very comfortable and so after breakfast on the 23rd we set off Seahouses. We had a fine days walk to Seahouses (which I thought was a big disappointment) The Links hotel was fine and our evening meal here was excellent and the staff were very pleasant. The village or town wasn’t great with none of the ‘old World charm of Walkworth’, however, it does have an excellent very cheap drapery store in the main street. Our breakfast next day 24th was a disaster in comparison to the three previous days. So onward we set once again to our next destination in Belford. On our way into Belford we passed through the village of Bamburgh with its super castle which was enormous and described as the ‘King of all Castles’, we didn’t have time to explore it but we stopped in the village for an excellent lunch. The day was fine but overcast and very chilly, and after lunch we set off again for Belford. The afternoon was fine until we were about 3 miles from Belford when the rain returned and we got not only another soaking but blisters as well, eventually arriving in the charming village. We arrived wet and miserable at the door of the Old Vicarage where we were to stay in what I can only describe as 5 star accommodation. We were warmly greeted by our hosts Keith and Annette for the day and shown to our rooms. This young couple moved in to the vicarage in the 1990’s and did a massive makeover but leaving it in its original state. It was full of antiques and I was greatly impressed with the atmosphere in the house. My bedroom consisted of a large double bed (I’m 6’6”) with a big leather settee at the end of the bed. Also there were tea making facilities and scrumptious biscuits and a bottle of fresh water with a little fridge for the milk, and as it was en-suite it was excellently furnished throughout. Another advantage for our pleasure was a little room with complimentary drinks (Sherry and Mead) and we were told to just help ourselves. In all of my travels on the LD walks over the years I have never experienced anything like this in a bed and breakfast, I was just gobsmacked with the hospitality. After relaxing and showered we dined in the excellent Blue Bell hotel which was approximately 100’ from the vicarage. If we had known about this accommodation beforehand we would have stayed here for an extra day and explore. (Earlier on we had decided that we weren’t going to walk to Fenwick but instead we were going to try to get to Holy Island. It wasn’t to be as we still had badly blistered feet and one of my companions had bruising on one of her feet and she was limping). Next day on the 25th after a sumptuous breakfast we explained our situation to Keith and Annette who were so helpful in that they tried to contact Mr and Mrs Turner of Aidenfield guest House in Fenwick, our next night’s B and B to no avail. So Keith drove us to the farm shop in the other side of the village and later at 12.30 pm he brought us to the Lindisfarne Inn at Beal where we had lunch and at 3 pm we were able to contact our hosts. We would have loved to have stayed longer in Belford, but as I explained earlier it wasn’t to be, and I would not hesitate to say the Old Vicarage in Belford is the best kept secret in Northumberland and to further say to anyone else doing the coastal path, please make it to Belford and the experience the hospitality of Keith & Annette in the Old Vicarage. Aidenfield B & B was very pleasant, a modern newly built house in the little hamlet of Fenwick. Gerald Turner the gentleman of the house collected us from the Lindisfarne Inn and brought us to our 2nd last night’s stay. After being welcomed by our hostess Mavis, we were made to feel at home in this very spacious beautiful house. The rooms were very spacious and gave superb views of the Islands and the surrounding countryside. Earlier, we had enjoyed an excellent lunch a relaxing few hours in the Lindisfarne Inn at Beal, and so we had plenty of time to attend to relax. After breakfast we bade our goodbyes to our hosts and proceeded to Holy Island. We never made it to the island due to the problem with the tide etc. The information that we received was that even if we did manage to get there we would have had to wait until after 5pm to leave which would have meant getting to Alannah House in Berwick much later. When we left Aidanfield we took our time in getting to Beal and so we were in time for early lunch and so we just relaxed with our blistered feet and my friend’s bruised foot and we decided to take a taxi to Berwick. On arrival at Alannah House we were greeted with a ‘Céad Míle Fáilte’ by our very happy and smiling host Lynn and her husband who gave us the tour of the house and showed us to our very spacious rooms with everything provided for our comfort. Berwick is a pleasant enough town and we had glorious sunshine from Fenwick onwards to Berwick although it was also a bit chilly. On our last night in England, we wined and dined in Foxton’s, which was recommended by our host Lynn and is a very popular place to eat, so we gave it a try. It was ok; however I wasn’t greatly impressed with it (food-wise). After a sumptuous breakfast and on another glorious sunny day, we said our goodbyes to Lynn and Steve we boarded our train and travelled to Scotland and our journey home. Over all, we had another great adventure in wonderful England where there is so much to see and do. Thank you Mickledore for arranging our Bed & breakfast houses for us. When we walked on the Isle of Wight with a much larger group we stayed in the one guest house in Shankllin and were brought out to the start of each days walk and collected in the evening by the proprietor of the house in a mini-bus, and I was also offered this facility by the proprietor of the Old Station Master’s House in Kendal, so this is what we may do on our next big adventure in the UK. One great advantage of the Northumberland path is the excellent bus service along the majority of the route. All of our accommodation was comfortable and clean.

Mickledore did a first class job in organising our walk and accommodation for us on the Northumberland Coastal Path. The baggage carriers were excellent.

Long walk in beautiful countryside. Fine pubs and good food. However, weather was appalling and rained heavily every day!

Gave a good service.

Excellent service before starting my tour

excellent information, excellent operation and transaction

We walked for 4 days from Newcastle to Carlisle - about 15 miles a day. We stayed at excellent B&Bs, had a fabulous 4 days walking - despite the hills on days 2 & 3, and saw spectacular views.

Mickledore were great. Planning excellent, execution flawless. Great value for money.

Despite a couple of days of rain we had a great walk in abeeautiful part of our loveley country. Thanks to Mickledore everything went smoothly and all but one of the places we stayed in were very good, the warm welcomes after a days walking were much appreciated. The response we had from Mickledore about our few negative comments has been appropriate and friendly, we will almost certainly be booking our next organized wlking holiday with them.

Micledore have gained our confidence in their ability to organise a special walking holidy experience. They responed to all queries in a friendly and efficient way and when I had forgotten to send off the final payment their reminder was just as good!!

We loved the B&B's Mickeldore selected; the proprietors almost all were extremely friendly and professional. All the B&B's were spotless and clean. And of course, these two walks are through some of the world's most scenic areas.

This was our second booking with Mickeldore. We have booked the Coast to Coast Trail and now West Highland Way. The lodgings, especially B&B's, are top notch. Mickeldore has answered our questiones timely and provided excellent advice and recommendations. We would not hesitate to use them again on any walking holidays in the UK.

I am a keen walker from Norway . I have always been walking in the Norwegian mountains , but now I am totally in love with walking Britain. The South Downs Way from Winchester forest and beautiful bluebells , landscape opens up more and more until we reached the magic coastline and The Seven Sisters. Friendly and charming people! I have already ordered my next walking holiday!

Friendly and helpful advices, good walking Maps, guide book, useful information about cafe, restaurants, village shops, opening times, information bus and train , what to expect and how to find our excellent B&B, luggage transport service was perfect. Everything was planned and taken care of from Mickledore - so we could just keep on walking and enjoy our holiday! Perfect for busy ladies !

We really enjoyed the walk with out friends in the North Lakes. The views were stunning and we loved the area and variety of the walk. The accommodation was good, some was excellent. Mickledore managed to find us some great rooms despite it being Easter and very busy everywhere. The luggage transfer and packed lunches worked really well. The booking and payment process was easy and efficient. This is our second Mickledore holiday and we would definitely travel with them again.

Receptive, efficient, very good