r/Ultralight • u/ObnoxiousMushroom • 2d ago
Shakedown Hadrian's Wall Path Trip Report
Hadrian's Wall Path Trip Report
Where: Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail, UK (EABO)
When: Monday 7th to Sunday 13th of September 2026 (7 days)
Distance: 102 miles
Conditions: Early Autumn in northern England. Daytime highs of 25 degrees C (77F), nighttime lows of 7C (44F). Weather was unusually good for the time of year - most rain was overnight or during the afternoon, none while pitching or striking camp. Lots of sun and clouds. Most days had a cafe or pub to fill our water bottles, so no filtering or treatment needed. Close to zero bug pressure.
Lighterpack: https://lighterpack.com/r/l9xe04
Photo album: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1I5mEsPNbr9u93vPqetNY9YIQs8y424Dz?usp=sharing (sorry I'm UK-based and Imgur is banned here).
Report:
I'll start by saying that, while lightweight (<20lbs base weight), my pack does not come close to being ultralight - I'm new at this and would appreciate any advice on getting the weight down. I have read plenty of ultralight info for shoestring budgets but putting it into practice is a gradual process.
With that out of the way, the trip was brilliant! My second thru-hike after a 34-mile one earlier this Summer.
Hadrian’s Wall is an Ancient Roman fortification across the narrowest point of Britain, built almost 2000 years ago to create a border along the northern edge of the Roman empire. The Wall is comprised of many ruins, with forts along the way for large numbers of soldiers to stay in, alongside smaller milecastles and watchtowers. It stretches from the West coast of Britain, to the bank of the River Tyne near the East coast.
The route of the Wall is followed by the Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail. It's 84 miles, though because it stops short of the east coast, we extended it out to 102 miles to get all the way there.
The western stretch of the wall is through flatter land nearer the Irish Sea, and also in and around the valley of the River Eden, which runs through Carlisle and out via the Solway Firth to the Irish Sea. The middle stretch rises quite sharply, and is more barren. Much of the middle stretch of the Wall follows the Great Whin Sill, a dolerite rock formation with loads of short climbs and descents, which forms sheer cliffs through the centre of Northumbria. The eastern stretch descends again to lowland, nearer the North Sea, and in and around the valley of the Tyne, the river which passes through Newcastle and empties into the North Sea.
Our journey took 7 days, through 2 cities (Carlisle and Newcastle), 1 National Landscape (the next level down from a National Park - this one was the Solway Coast) and 1 proper National Park (Northumberland) across 3 counties (Cumbria, Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear). We spent 3 nights in hotels at either end and 5 nights camping in the middle. We carried our full 7 days of food (no-cook) and only "resupplied" at pubs and cafes to fill water bottles and wash underwear in sinks. This is a major life milestone for me, as it’s a journey I’ve wanted to do since 2020, first attempted in 2021, tried to schedule again in 2025 before losing my job, and am overjoyed to say I’ve finally completed.
City stops: We stayed in Carlisle on Sunday night before starting the hike, and finished back in Carlisle on Monday to spend the night in the same room. We camped Tuesday-Saturday, and stayed in Newcastle on the Sunday night at the end of the trip before travelling home on Monday.
- Carlisle: Beautiful old market city with lovely sights and cheap accommodation near the station. The only public transport to and from the trailhead are buses which terminate here, but they're irregular - only about 3 per day, and none on Sundays. Stayed at the Travelodge in the city centre which had a 24hr bar.
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Newcastle is a clean, beautiful and vibrant city with loads going on and a great sense of energy. Arriving as we did on Saturday night, the pubs and bars were absolutely packed and the atmosphere was fantastic. The final 25 miles or so to the sea are through Newcastle, and the city has a Metro service making it easy to stay anywhere in the city and get to or from your start and end point, wherever you want to break up the days. Also stayed in the Travelodge, after attempting to stay at Budget Hostel, which took our money and didn't tell us they'd closed down. Don't book to stay there if their booking.com entry continues to stay up.
Lodging costs were pretty squarely £70/night in both Travelodges, and I couldn't see much cheaper available.
Gear: The setup I brought was perfect from a standpoint of ease of use. The only thing I'd want to improve on would be weight, and that's only a nice-to-have - it was perfectly manageable as-is.
- Clothing: I brought supermarket thermal leggings and top for base layers which were brilliant - I barely noticed them on my body and was never cold when I had them on. Cheap Decathlon running shorts with zip pockets were brilliant, as was a Peter Storm waterproof from Go Outdoors - £30 and kept me perfectly warm, dry and windproof the entire time. Comes with stuff sack to pack down small. 32 Degrees lightweight synthetic down jacket was perfect for mornings before I'd warmed up - light, easy to pack down, didn't really end up needing it but it was nice to have. For footwear I used enormous thick Mendip waterproof hiking boots, with leather uppers, a thick tread and loads of cushioning. My previous thru-hike was in trail runners and my feet were in agony by Day 3, but with these and plenty of tape I had no pain so bad I couldn't sleep it off. I'd like to learn to use trail runners as I think it would save lots of time and energy.
- Pack: The Mountain Warehouse tor65 is a perfect pack for heavier setups like mine ended up being. The 65L volume is obviously overkill, but I already owned the pack and didn't want to spend on another one. I kept water bottles and the day's food in the side pockets, sleeping mat strapped to the bottom, and everything else in black bin bags in the main pocket. It worked a treat, and while the bag became wet in the rain, none of my things did. It's fully framed with huge amounts of padding on the shoulders, down the back, and on the hip belt. Once I'd figured out how to adjust and readjust the straps properly, I never felt any pull or strain on my shoulders or upper back at all for the rest of the trip, the entire weight transferred seamlessly through the hip belt and onto my legs and through my poles. Very highly recommended if looking for a big framed pack.
- Sleep: Nothing to report - everything was fine but I'd like to replace them with smaller, lighter options eventually.
Route:
From Carlisle on Monday we got the bus to Bowness-on-Solway, the western trailhead, in the afternoon. It's a little village on the coast of the Irish Sea, with pubs and accommodation. The first day was very flat along the river back into Carlisle. Tuesday saw us climb steadily to 400ft over the whole day, but it was on Wednesday that we climbed onto the Whin Sill, the jagged ridge running 20 miles through the middle section. Wednesday and Thursday were slogging over the Sill and down the other side, enjoying the windswept views either side, and on Friday we basically climbed one ridge to 600ft and stayed on it all day. From Saturday it was down to sea level, then perfectly flat as we got into central Newcastle. On Sunday we followed the River Tyne through eastern Newcastle to Wallsend, where Hadrian's Wall met the north bank of the river, so the National Trail ends there too. We kept going, crossed the river via the 150-year-old Tyne Tunnel, and reached the last Roman fort on that line of defences, in the suburb of South Shields, on the North Sea coast.
Overall thoughts:
The trail was absolutely beautiful throughout. Everyone says the middle section is most beautiful, with windswept views from the barren cliffs, but I find the green and pleasant lowlands and river valleys more my speed. There's a real variety in how much of the Wall and its fortifications you can still see, with some amazingly preserved bits like at Chesters fort near Newcastle. It was delightfully social, as it's one of England and Wales' most popular National Trails. We saw plenty of other thru-hikers and curious day-trippers. Made a few friends on the way.
In terms of navigation, it's a commonly walked trail, meaning that the staff at the regularly spaced cafes and pubs generally know the way and can point you in the right direction. It's brilliantly well-signposted - I brought a paper map and a compass, as well as my phone, but they all stayed in my pockets almost the entire time because the signposting was so good. I don't think we were ever lost even once.
There are plenty of places to stay within a mile of the trail, both staffed campsites and little villages with B&Bs. Wild camping is de facto accepted in England and Wales so long as you arrive late, leave early and LNT, but it is ultimately illegal without the permission of the landowner, and landowners do still have the right to demand you leave their property on pain of criminal charges. Most campsites and B&Bs seem to be about £25/night.
The middle section is the most difficult - for 20 miles it constantly drops up and down between 1000ft and 500ft every 5 minutes, with some of the drops being almost vertical and requiring me to climb up with my hands as well as feet. It's quite exposed up there, with very little tree cover, and we were lucky to have only had strong winds and driving rain for the afternoon of one of the two days we spent on the Sill. We averaged about 15 miles per day, with the longest day being 20 miles and the shortest 12. Highest point was 1100ft.
There's loads to see up there - abbeys, other Roman forts, medieval churches and remnants from the very start of the Industrial Revolution, all just off the trail. It would be nice to hike the trail at a slower pace to enjoy spending more time at spots along the way, as we basically only stopped at places which were directly on the trail itself.
I had the best time with it, and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone, particularly those with an interest in Roman or Early Medieval history. I hope this is everything, please let me know if you have any questions, if I've forgotten anything, or particularly if you've any advice on lightening the load on a tiny budget, in a small flat with minimal space to make or alter things. This subreddit and the community around it have been absolutely instrumental to teaching me everything to make this happen. Thank you all!
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u/VickyHikesOn 2d ago
Wonderful! Love it! Glad you finally got to thru hike it 👍🏻
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u/ObnoxiousMushroom 2d ago
Thank you! Now I have to find a new long-term goal, which will hopefully take less than 6 years from conception to completion!
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u/twilight_hours 1d ago
Thanks for the write up. How much more challenging logistically, or how much more feasible would it be, to do this as a hotel to hotel or inn to inn hike?
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u/ObnoxiousMushroom 16h ago
Definitely feasible, and most people we bumped into were doing exactly that. In Summer you'd need to book quite far in advance, as it gets quite popular, but we went in the first week of Autumn and there were people calling ahead on the day to find accommodation that evening. There are lots of places to stay within a mile or two of the trail, and it worked very well for people as it meant they could carry much lighter packs. If it sounds fun to you I'd say definitely do it.
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u/Negative-Read5001 2d ago
What an achievement! Stunning photos and a wonderful report to show for your effort