Explore coastal routes around Edinburgh and the ancient kingdom of Northumbria on this 9.5-hour Holy Island, Alnwick Castle and Northumberland tour from Edinburgh. Head south across the Scottish border into English with a guide, and visit Holy Island and the peaceful village of Lindesfarne. Discover local attractions such as Lindesfarne Castle and the Priory, and explore the market town of Alnwick. Travel through Flodden Field — the battlefield where the English and Scots met in battle in 1513 — and gain insight into British history. Then, return in comfort to Edinburgh.

Traverse the Scottish border on a full-day tour of Northumbria
Visit Holy Island and the charming village of Lindesfarne
Discover top sites of interest including Lindesfarne and Alnwick Castles
Explore Alnwick and Flodden Field, an ancient battle site

What's Included

Local guide
Air-conditioned vehicle

Gratuities
Food and drinks
Attraction Tickets

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

521-523 Lawnmarket
521-523 Lawnmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2PE, UK

Start time

08:45 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Lindisfarne Priory

1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included

Alnwick Castle

2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Flodden Battlefield

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Minimum age is 4 years old.
Collapsible wheelchairs with removable wheels can be accommodated providing the passenger is accompanied by someone who can assist them board and disembark.

Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or a full refund.
Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately.
Digital translations in English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian & Mandarin available on request.
Please arrive a minimum of 15 minutes before your tour's departure time.
Due to tide times on the following dates this tour will not be visiting Holy Island: 14th July, 28th August, 26th September, 25th October, 26th October
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 47 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Wendy_W

What a wonderful day! Alnwick Castle was interesting (try and join their movie tour that happens during the day), and the Holy Island was beautiful. I wish we had had a little more time there. Our guide (Adrian) was wonderful and incredibly knowledgeable. So glad I went.

Reviews

4.5

314 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 314 reviews

Historical site visit.

Peter_M, Sep 2023

Excellent tour leader knowledge of the history connected with the tours itinerary, was able to present points of interest and keep us entertained throughout the tour journey without overwhelming us. Nice relaxed tour offered by the tour company, not to long not too short, comfortable transport.

Disappointed

Alexandra_S, Sep 2023

Let me just say right away that our guide and driver for this tour were fine. This tour should not be called "Holly Island" tour. See attached picture, it gives an idea of how "close" you get to the Holly Island during the tour. Alnwick castle is fine, especially if you are a Harry Potter fan. I was sad that I bought a ticket for inside the castle, nothing really interesting, except a beautiful library but keep in mind, you are not allowed to take any pictures inside. The gardens were gorgeous, I didn't leave myself enough time to see all of them. Weather permitting, that's where I would recommend to start the tour-the gardens.

perfect tour you must try!

Amber_H, Sep 2023

The two Frasier’s were super knowledgeable and made the experience super fun! This is a perfect way to experience places without having to worry about driving/commuting yourself. This is defiantly a tour worth doing!

An incredible day!

Wendy_W, Sep 2023

Great history and countryside views

Tina_S, Sep 2023

The holy island and Alnwick castle were both beautiful and amazing with history, and seeing the countryside was lovely.

Northumbria Holy Island Alnwick castle

Justine_R, Aug 2023

Holy Island and Alnwick was beautiful. We loved listening to the history whilst travelling the countryside enjoying the beautiful scenery. Thanks so much to our tour guides too.

Holy Island was beautiful...

Jamie_P, Aug 2023

Holy Island was beautiful and the view from the castle was breathtaking. I loved every minute. I appreciate that Shug arranged things so we had more time there

Good tour

Alice_C, Aug 2023

Good tour, 1h in holy Island anche 2h in alnwick Castle. I don't likes the guide Who also drive the bus in the same moment

The tour guide/coach...

Jacqueline_B, Aug 2023

The tour guide/coach driver, Eric, was really knowledgeable and entertaining. Alnwick Castle was really cool to see, didn't get a chance to see the gardens though.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Hi there, thank you for your review. We are very happy to hear that our Holy Island, Alnwick Castle & The Kingdom of Northumbria was an amazing day. We are also glad to hear that you enjoyed your driver's varied commentary. We will be sure to pass your kind comments onto them. We hope we will see you on one of our tours again soon! Many thanks again, Kat

Childhood dream come true!

NormanLee_M, Aug 2023

A beyond belief tour of a magnificent castle! The artifacts are difficult to take in on a single trip! The landscape is breath taking!

Great day out

Maureen_P, Aug 2023

Lovely day, great scenery and Shug gave a great account of the history associated with the area and Castles

Fun tour

Jamie_W, Aug 2023

Great tour! Would have liked a little bit more time at Holy island to explore but otherwise good experience.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Hi there, thank you for your review. We are very happy to hear that our Holy Island, Alnwick Castle & The Kingdom of Northumbria was a great day. We will certainly pass on your comments about Holy Island as we are always taking on customer feedback to improve the tour experience! We hope we will see you on one of our tours again soon! Many thanks again, Kat

Everything was amazing,...

David_O, Aug 2023

Everything was amazing, the only thing I regret is that the driver discouraged us to go to the holy island castle because it was far and we couldn’t have time. I listen to him but after went for it 20 minutes after. I still had enough time to go come back with pictures. My recommendation make clear but don’t discourage people from doing it. Is plenty of time.

Loved This Amazing Trip

Alan_C, Aug 2023

All the advertised highlights were impressive. Excellent use was made of the available time. Our guide/ driver Neil was extremely well informed in his commentary. He was funny and personable. He deserves a 5 star rating.

Incompetent Tourguide, big bus with Scottish music and not enough fresh air

sabine_F, Aug 2023

The sights we saw were great and the times to see them were fine, too. We were extremely underwhelmed with the tourguide Fraser. He got facts wrong… called East Linton, Haddington and gave no special informations, stories or insights to the stops or sights on the way. The information he gave us seems to be read out of Wikipedia (short versions of them). Sometimes he just described stuff, like „that’s seagras“ or „that are solar panels to the left…“ Interesting castles we just drove by were announced way too late, so half of the bus didn’t see anything. Or he did not even tell us about interesting sights next to the road… You really need to like Scottish music… he played his folk music the whole time… so if you have a headache and like to relax inbetween stops… this trip isn’t for you. Ordering a tour with a small group and ending up on a 50 person Coach was also disappointing. The AC wasn’t working properly, so the back of the coach was really cosy. Also the Guide missed to educate some guests about some rules… a family of 3 traveling together made sure that each one got a windowseat… and other guests traveling together had to sit apart and people randomly choose new seats after the stops which was really annoying. We made other trips with the same company and had much better experiences, but again booking a trip with a small group and ending up on a coach with 50 people without any groundrules is just bonkers and definitely not what we booked.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Hi sabine_F, thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. I am sorry to hear that the tour didn’t meet your expectations and have noted your comment about the guide not providing accurate information. We pride ourselves on having entertaining and knowledgeable guides and are surprised to hear you experienced the opposite. We do not advertise our tour as a "small group" tour anywhere and can assure you, our coaches get checked every morning and we would not send a coach out with a broken AC. However, it can be quite difficult for the driver to cater to large group's AC preferences as everyone has a different perception of temperature. I am, however, happy to hear you enjoyed the sights and structure of this tour and hope you were able to enjoy beautiful Scotland while you were here! Warm regards, Stefanie

Great trip

Christine_D, Aug 2023

Lindisfarne a great place to visit but need longer time there. Brian a great guide with plenty of knowledge and sense of humour.

A good day but sorry we didn't get to go to Lindisfarne castle

Suzanne_G, Aug 2023

We had a wonderful guide 'santa' for this day trip with lots of historical knowledge. It would have been good to know the bus does not take you to Lindisfarne castle on Holy Island. When we arrived at Lindisfarne it was too wet and there was not time to walk to the castle so we visited the Priory instead as it was closer.

The tour was great, but I...

Anna_D, Jul 2023

The tour was great, but I would have liked to have spent more time at the Holy Island, and not as long at Alnwick Castle.

Rain may come and go...but the tour is most memborable!

Angela_L, Jul 2023

The scenery is breath taking and the guide Paul Santa is fabulous. Gardens, history, story telling, and more. Raindrops only enhanced the floral photos. Informative guide Paul, brought the trip alive.

Thanks Eric

William_S, Jul 2023

Eric was wonderful and the Castle amazing. Wish I would have had more time on the Holy Island but the tides dictated our time to leave. Would do it again on a day when the Island is first and the castle second.

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