![\"Part](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778395999_269_0_Low-Newton-by-the-Sea.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFrom castles and coastlines to moorland views, we drove the Northumberland 250 in an electric car to see how easy it was to manage the rural route<\/p>\n
Octavia Lillywhite Acting beauty and wellness editor<\/p>\n
07:30, 10 May 2026<\/p>\n
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Possibly the most beautiful road trip in the country, with amazing views all along the route(Image: Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/p>\n
‘We’re driving the Northumberland 250,’ I told my husband. He looked at me cautiously.<\/p>\n
‘It’s the most spectacular route in England, past more than 20 castles, up the Northumberland coast and over the Lindisfarne causeway \u2013 which you can only drive at low tide. Then it nips over to Scotland, to a town where Mary Queen of Scots stayed, and back down through England’s biggest forest and the UK Dark Sky Reserve, and along Hadrian’s Wall.’<\/p>\n
‘That does actually sound brilliant,’ he said.<\/p>\n
‘We’re doing it in an electric car so we can see how easy it is.’<\/p>\n
‘Oh no,’ he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Bamburgh](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778396000_669_0_UK-England-Northumberland-Bamburgh-Castle-on-hill-near-beach.jpg\")
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The Northumberland coastline is rife with beautiful beaches and staggering castles(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
With petrol prices rocketing, a road trip feels like a luxury too far at the moment, and I liked the environmental appeal of not bringing our exhaust fumes all the way north with us. But we don’t actually have an electric car so – confident that we would find enough charging points – we borrowed one.<\/p>\n
Our \u0160koda Enyaq was a nippy SUV, that made short work of brine-soaked causeways, forest track off-roading and 20% hills, even with junctions at the top (oh, hill starts with an electric engine \u2013 where have you been all my life?). It promised as much as 300 miles on a full charge but, bearing in mind that most road trips end up at at least double the loop mileage, we plotted two charging points every day, and kept our fingers crossed that they would a) be working, and b) not have petrol cars parked in them.<\/p>\n
![\"Car](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778396001_309_0_Skoda-in-the-moors-2JPG.jpg\")
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Electric dreams: the fully electric \u0160koda Enyaq(Image: David Lillywhite)<\/p>\n
Electric car charging on a UK road trip: what to expect<\/p>\n
Charging electric cars is still a bit of a lottery \u2013 slightly different at every machine. You never rock up at a petrol station forecourt and wonder, ‘how does this pump work, then?’ \u2013 but you do with chargers. Most have an app you have to download to use them, so there are moments standing in the rain trying to get signal. A saving grace is other electric car users who are amazingly helpful. Less helpful are petrol drivers who park on the charging spaces.<\/p>\n
Charging anxiety got me once, as I poured over the map on our way to Jedburgh, where only one charger showed as working, and nothing else was reachable, but it turned out fine – it was a fast charger so we only had to wait 15 minutes for the previous car to top up before we could.<\/p>\n
The Northumberland 250 route: castles, coast and countryside![\"Dunstanburgh](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778396002_812_0_Dunstanburgh-Castle-entrancewayJPG.jpg\")
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The ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle are so atmospheric(Image: David Lillywhite)<\/p>\n
Northumberland has so many castles. One could get castle-fatigue if they weren’t so incredibly impressive. Bamburgh makes a play for Most Spectacular Castle Anywhere. Alnwick is where Harry Potter learns to fly his Nimbus 2000. Lindisfarne is so remote it becomes an island twice a day. Most deserve at least half a day to do them (and their entrance fee) justice, so my advice is pick one or two and see the rest in passing.<\/p>\n
![\""This](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778396003_882_0_Late-Afternoon-Sunshine-Illuminates-Dunstanburgh-Castle.jpg\")
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This road trip includes many of the most incredible castles in the country(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Dunstanburgh was my favourite – a mighty, atmospheric ruin we saw on a sunset walk from the fishing village of Craster. It felt like going back in time \u2013 there wasn’t another soul about. But I also loved smaller, free-to-visit places like Edlingham and Twizzel. In Alnwick we skipped the castle in favour of super-sized cherry scones at the Strawberry Lounge caf\u00e9 and at Bamburgh we marvelled at the fortress from the beach, but visited The Potted Lobster<\/a> for lunch instead (one of my best decisions: the Smoked Haddock Chowder).<\/p>\n Haddock chowder and fresh oysters on a table at The Potted Lobster(Image: David Lillywhite)<\/p>\n Holy Island (Lindisfarne) took a little planning around tide times and we arrived in a rainstorm (a rare letdown in a sunny trip). Too wet to even leave the car, we returned the next day to see it in sunshine – the causeway was worth driving four times.<\/p>\n Leaving the coast at Berwick-upon-Tweed I worried the best was behind us, but the drive only got more beautiful. We skipped back and forth over the Scottish border, and headed through Kielder Forest along the 12-mile off-road track, Forest Drive, then down to the wide horizons of the North Pennines.<\/p>\n The causeway to Holy Island which you can drive at low tide(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n Where to stay on the Northumberland 250: hotels, lodges and pubs<\/p>\n Picking our pitstops was one of the highlights of the trip. I favoured places with EV charging, but in the end, we only plugged-in for one overnight, fast-charging instead in towns where we lunched. There is a charger on Holy Island, for instance, and one at Kielder Castle <\/a>\u2013 remoteness is no obstacle. I loved the pace this brought to the trip, forcing stops in places we’d normally have driven straight through. It meant we discovered little gems, like Fountain Cottage Caf\u00e9<\/a> in Bellingham.<\/p>\n In Kielder Forest we found a waterfall so beautiful it felt like fairies lived there(Image: David Lillywhite)<\/p>\n We stayed in the lakeside lodge at Blossom Plantation (no EV charging), and drank cava in the hot tub under the stars. The Most Northerly Hotel in England, Marshall Meadows just beyond Berwick, is a ritzy venue and country house hotel. The Pheasant Inn at Kielder Water is everything you could want from a cosy fireside pub, family run with home cooking by Robin, favouring local ingredients \u2013 some from their own garden.<\/p>\n I finished the trip with three revelatory resolutions. One, that Northumberland was an epic holiday destination, offering far more than you can pack into five days. Two, that driving the route in an electric car is not only possible, but adds something unexpected – a more thoughtful way to travel. And three, that my next car will be electric.<\/p>\n Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island, only accessible at low tide(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n The Northumberland 250 Itinerary: 5-day trip breakdownDay 1<\/p>\n Newcastle to Dunstanburgh, via Alnwick, Warksworth and Craster<\/p>\n Highlights and stops: Edlingham Castle (free), Alnwick town for cream tea at The Strawberry Louge, Warkworth Castle, Alnmouth village and beach, Caster village and walk to Dunstanburgh Castle.<\/p>\n Overnight: Zambezi Lodge at Blossom Plantation<\/a>, near Fallodon<\/p>\n The tempting array of cakes at the Strawberry Lounge caf\u00e9 in Alnwick(Image: David Lillywhite)<\/p>\n Day 2<\/p>\n Dunstanburgh to Berwick-up-Tweed, via Bamburgh and Lindisfarne<\/p>\n Highlights and stops: Holy Island causeway \/ Lindisfarne (first thing, due to tide times), Bamburgh Castle, beach and lighthouse, lunch at The Potted Lobster. Berwick-up-Tweed for fish and chips.<\/p>\n Overnight: Marshall Meadows Manor House Hotel, Scottish Border<\/p>\n Day 3<\/p>\n Berwick to Kielder Water, via Twizel, Jedburgh and the Kielder Forest Drive (with a quick return visit to Lindisfarne first thing)<\/p>\n Highlights and stops: Norham Castle, Kirk O’Steil church, Twizel Caslte and river walk to Twizel Viaduct, Jedburgh town, Hindhope Linn waterfall, Kielder Forest Drive<\/p>\n Overnight: The Pheasant Inn<\/a>, Kielder<\/p>\n Day 4<\/p>\n Kielder to Blanchland, via Hadrian’s Wall and Allenheads<\/p>\n Highlights and stops: Kielder Water and Northumberland National Park, Hadrian’s Wall, Sycamore Gap Tree Memorial, North Pennines National Landscape<\/p>\n Overnight: <\/a>The Lord Crewe Arms<\/a>, Blanchland<\/p>\n Even the car parks have amazing views on this road trip(Image: David Lillywhite)<\/p>\n Day 5<\/p>\n Blanchland to Newcastle, to get the train home<\/p>\n Highlights and stops: Hexham (with its Abbey) Corbridge town, Prudhoe Castle<\/p>\n![\"Haddock](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778396004_889_0_Haddock-chowder-at-The-Potted-Lobster-aerialjpeg.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Lindisfarne,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778396005_840_0_high-level-aerial-view-to-the-east-of-Lindisfarne-Causeway-Holy-Island-Northumberland-England-UK.j.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Waterfall](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778396006_179_0_Waterfall-Kielder-ForestJPG.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Lindisfarne,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778396007_933_0_Lindisfarne-Castle-on-Holy-Island.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Scones](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778396008_11_0_Scones-and-cakes-at-Strawberry-Loungejpeg.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Writer](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778396009_133_0_Octavia-and-Skoda-at-Bamburgh-portraitjpeg.jpg\")
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