St Cuthbert’s Way Walking Holidays

A St Cuthbert’s Way walking holiday runs through the beautiful Scottish borders, a journey from Melrose to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, offshore from the Northumbrian coast.

Highlights
  • Ruins of Dryburgh Abbey
  • Exploring the market towns of Jedburgh and Wooler
  • The war-scarred remains of Cessford Castle, part of many flashpoints along the border in the Anglo-Scottish wars
  • The scenic village of Kirk Yetholm
  • St Cuthbert’s Cave in the Kyloe Hills – the site where monks hid St Cuthbert’s body when they fled Lindisfarne to escape the vikings
  • Crossing the tidal causeway to Lindisfarne
  • Touring the ruined abbey and spectacular castle on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne
  • 7 to 8 nights
  • 62 mls (view km)
  • Melrose, Scottish Borders
  • Moderate
  • Mar to Oct
  • £605

Walking St Cuthbert’s Way

Follow St Cuthbert's Way through the pastoral route taken by St Cuthbert, who spread the Gospel through Scotland and northern England in the seventh century. Cuthbert started his ministry in Melrose in about 650AD. He later became Prior and eventually Bishop of Lindisfarne ( Holy Island ) where he died in 696AD. His remains were taken from the island in 875AD after Viking raids. The relics were eventually laid to rest within a loop of the River Wear, subsequently becoming the site for the magnificent Durham Cathedral.

The St Cuthbert’s Way walk begins in the quaint Borders town of Melrose with its magnificent 12th century Cistercian abbey. Our trail leads us over the Eildon Hills, blanketed in heather and offering spectacular panoramic views to the border country, to where we find the delightful village of Bowden.

The path follows the River Tweed, where St Cuthbert’s Way encompasses the splendid ruin of Dryburgh Abbey. Leaving the Tweed to follow the Roman road of Dere Street and cross the RiverTeviot near Jedburgh, we come acroos a borders market town boasting yet another historic abbey. You continue to the towering Cessford Castle one of several spectacular sites en route to the village of Kirk Yetholm, nestling beneath the Cheviot Hills.

You now cross the Scottish border, over the magnificent Cheviot Hills to the market town of Wooler. Your route leads to St Cuthbert’s Cave in the Kyloe Hills, which sits on a dramatic sandstone overhang. This is reputedly where monks hid St Cuthbert’s body when they fled Lindisfarne to escape the Vikings.

The final leg of St Cuthbert’s Way moves down to cross the tidal Causeway (at an appropriate low tide) and leads on to your journey’s end at the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, where the ruined abbey and spectacular castle complete a magnificent journey through centuries of ancient Scots-English heritage.

Path Walkthrough

St Cuthberts Way walking holiday map
Our St Cuthbert's Way Walking Holiday takes you from Melrose to the coast at Lindisfarne

The trail itself is not heavily used, so the route is not always clearly defined. However every turn-off junction is waymarked with a St Cuthbert's Way signpost,  linking with The Border Abbey and St Oswald's Way on occasion. St Cuthbert's Way has been graded 'Moderate' in terms of difficulty, however our SCW1 would make a great introduction to long distance walking. The first two sections of the SCW2 itinerary cover 25 miles over two days, our SCW2 itinerary adds another day to break up the walk into something more manageable.

Walking the St Cuthbert's Way shouldn't prove too challenging, however there are steep and sometimes boggy sections where the going is a little harder - particularly between Kirk Yethholm and Wooler. With the exception of a few, infrequent climbs the trail is fairly level, with prolonged walking uphill on this route bringing you to some of the most memorable views over the Eildon hills.

Walk Gallery

Walking St Cuthberts Way Stile between Melrose and Lindisfarne
Town of Wooler in the distance St Cuthbert's Way
Walker on Cheviot Hills
Lindisfarne-St-Cuthberts-Way
St Cuthbert's Way Walking Holidays
Cheviot Hills St Cuthberts Way
Holy Island, church at Lindisfarne
Melrose Abbey
Eildon Hills
Wideopen hill, highest point on the St cuthberts Wayway
Celtic Walking Holidays Tag
Walter Scott's favourite view over Melrose
Walkers in Kirk Yetholm
Mertoun Gardens near St Boswells
Highest point of the journey
Hill walking
St Cuthberts Way
Views out over the Scottish Hills
Walkers Welcome
Cheviot hills over the borders
Lindisfarne, Holy Island
St. Cuthbert's Cave
St cuthberts Way Cheviot Hills

Our St Cuthbert's Way Walking Itineraries

Prices are per person, based on 2 people sharing, single person supplements apply.

Melrose to Lindisfarne (Holy Island)

Length: 62 miles/ 99.5 km | Difficulty: Moderate

Code
Duration
From
SCW1
8 Nights / 7 Days
£695 pp
View Itinerary

Melrose to Lindisfarne (Holy Island)

8 Nights / 7 Days
Holiday Code: SCW1
From: £695 (pp)
Solo walker supplement: £37.50 (pn)
Single occupancy (groups): £27.50 (pn)
DayLocationDistance
Day 1:Arrive Melrose
Day 2:Melrose to St Boswells7.5 miles/12km
Day 3:St Boswells to Harestanes8 miles/12.8km
Day 4:Harestanes to Morebattle10 miles/16km
Day 5:Morebattle to Kirk Yetholm6.5 miles/10.4km
Day 6:Kirk Yetholm to Wooler13 miles/21km
Day 7:Wooler to Fenwick11.5 miles/18.4km
Day 8:Fenwick to Lindisfarne, the Holy Island6 miles/9.6km
Day 9:Depart Lindisfarne, the Holy Island

Itinerary Information: 8 nights accommodation with 7 walking days. Arrive in Melrose on day 1, walk from day 2 and depart from Lindisfarne (Holy Island) on morning of day 9.

Departure Dates: This itinerary can be walked any time between Mar to Oct. You simply choose which day you would like your holiday to start on.

Rest Days: Should you wish, rest days can be taken at stops along the route, view details.

What's Included: view full details.

Back to all itineraries

SCW2
7 Nights / 6 Days
£605 pp
View Itinerary

Melrose to Lindisfarne (Holy Island)

7 Nights / 6 Days
Holiday Code: SCW2
From: £605 (pp)
Solo walker supplement: £37.50 (pn)
Single occupancy (groups): £27.50 (pn)
DayLocationDistance
Day 1:Arrive Melrose
Day 2:Melrose to Harestanes15.5 miles/24.8km
Day 3:Harestanes to Morebattle10 miles/16km
Day 4:Morebattle to Kirk Yetholm6.5 miles/10.4km
Day 5:Kirk Yetholm to Wooler13 miles/21km
Day 6:Wooler to Fenwick11.5 miles/18.4km
Day 7:Fenwick to Lindisfarne, Holy Island6 miles/9.6km
Day 8:Depart Lindisfarne, Holy Island

Itinerary Information: 7 nights accommodation with 6 walking days. Arrive in Melrose on day 1, walk from day 2 and depart from Lindisfarne (Holy Island) on morning of day 8.

Departure Dates: This itinerary can be walked any time between Mar to Oct. You simply choose which day you would like your holiday to start on.

Rest Days: Should you wish, rest days can be taken at stops along the route, view details.

What's Included: view full details.

Back to all itineraries

  • What's Included?

    We include:

    • High standard accommodation at a mixture of Guesthouses, Farmhouses, local Inns and B&B’s with en-suite or private facilities wherever possible
    • Breakfast
    • Luggage transfers (one bag per walker, max 18kg per bag)
    • Personal transfer between accommodation and path where necessary
    • Route planning
    • Walk Pack including Trail Guide, itinerary, accommodation directions, local interest leaflets and holiday planning
  • Price Info.

    Solo walker supplement: £37.50 per night

    Single occupancy supplement within a group: £27.50 per night. Where singles are walking as part of a larger group and are willing to share a Walk Pack, single room occupancy supplements apply.

    Rest days: From £52.50 per person per night.

    Postage overseas: £5.00 (Europe), £10.00 (Rest of the World) per walk pack

    Bank holidays & short notice bookings may incur extra charges.

    Rest Days: We recommend an extra day at the end of your holiday to enjoy the opportunity for a boat trip around the Farne Islands.

    From £57.50 pp per night (Holy Island)

    Holiday arrival/departure dates 

    You choose which day you would like your holiday to start on.  We will book your holiday in accordance with your requirements.

  • Getting There

    By Rail: There are train stations at Tweedbank and Berwick upon Tweed.

    www.nationalrail.co.uk

    A new rail link from Edinburgh Waverley station to Tweedbank has now been opened. The station at Tweedbank is served with frequent buses coming into the town of Melrose. This has been a very exciting new development for the Borders and is proving to be very popular.

    By Bus: A bus from Tweedbank to Melrose takes 9 minutes.

    A bus from Berwick upon Tweed to Melrose takes 1 hour 23 minutes.

    http://travelinescotland.com/welcome.do

    Taxi from Lindisfarne to Melrose                                                 :   approx £66.00

    Taxi from Lindisfarne to Berwick-upon-Tweed – 20-25 mins         :   approx £30.00

  • Best Time to Travel

    The best time to visit is between March and October. The Way is very unlikely to be crowded at  any point of the year, but July and August are the busiest months to visit.

    Average Temperatures St Cuthbert's Way                                                Average Sunshine St Cuthbert's Way                                                   Average Rainfall St Cuthbert's Way

Our St Cuthbert's Way Walking Itineraries

Our past clients rated this walk 4.9 out of 5; read a selection of 15 reviews below.

Everything was very clear and went exactly as planned. We are feeling accomplished and stronger and hope we've inspired friends and family to do a walking holiday of their own. St. Cuthbert's Way was an excellent choice for our first long-distance walk. There were enough others making the walk to feel comfortable and we enjoyed meeting up with them for drinks and meals and the end of each day.

5 out of 5

May 2019

The personnel at Celtic Trails are knowledgeable, patient, prompt and friendly; they should great attention to detail and care for their customers. The scenery was beautiful. We enjoyed the lovely villages and found our hosts, local inhabitants and other walkers to be quite friendly, pleasant and helpful.

5 out of 5

May 2019

We had a fabulous holidays - all went smoothly. Cannot recommend St. Cuthbert's Way highly enough. We've used Celtic Trails four times before and will be using you again - we have already recommended you to friends.

5 out of 5

September 2018

I would describe Celtic Trails as efficient - it felt like someone was there in the background, just in case. They took all the effort away, so I could just do the fun part.

5 out of 5

August 2019

I have always enjoyed long-distance trails and my husband is now developing a love of them as well. St. Cuthbert's was the most beautiful trail I have ever done. There is quite a lot of road walking in Northumberland, but the views are still amazing. A very good experience - our accommodations being exceptionally good in some places.

5 out of 5

July 2019

St. Cuthbert's Way is one of the best - some tough bits but a wonderful cross-section of country.

5 out of 5

May 2019

I like the personal contact with those organising the trips and the better standard of accommodation.

5 out of 5

May 2019

"Really enjoyed St. Cuthbert's Way, very good walks, lots of different types of habitat to walk through, real pleasure".

4.5 out of 5

June 2018

Really enjoyed St. Cuthbert's Way - very good walk, lots of very different types o habitat to walk through. A real pleasure. Thank you Celtic Trails for a great walk.

4.5 out of 5

June 2018

Accommodations all very good.

5 out of 5

May 2018

"We enjoyed not having to worry about the daily details, this holiday was the easiest to plan. Though we have never attempted a walking holiday before – we were more than pleasantly surprised! Nathan took care of all the details, we are looking at our calendars and planning out next trip!"

4.8 out of 5

August 2016

"We felt that walking 25 miles in the first two days of the walk was too much for us. As a refinement - we would suggest the option of making the trip a day longer and staying either in St. Baswells or two nights at Allerton House which was one of our favorite B&B's. It was easy enough to take the bus from St.Boswell's to Jedburgh. At Jedburgh we had enough time to visit the Mary Queen of Scots House which was very interesting. The rest day and visit to the Farne Islands was spectacular - one of the highlights of our trip so far. We had a wonderful time and thank-you for all you have done for us!!"

4.6 out of 5

June 2015

"A most memorable and enjoyable walk."

5 out of 5

September 2014

"All in all another fantastic walk, and thank you very much indeed once again for all your trouble. We hope everything holds up for next year, and all being well we will be in touch in the new year to plan our next project(s)."

5 out of 5

September 2014

"Can't think of anything which is in your control that could be improved upon. We have done a lot of long-distance walks and you provide everything we would expect."

5 out of 5

September 2014

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We will check your details and come back to you within two working days with a personalised estimate based on your requirements. We will then formally request a deposit of £100 per person (£150 for solo walkers) and book all your arrangements - find out about our full booking porcess here.

Please note this does not constitute a booking confirmation, we kindly ask you to refrain from booking any travel until we have confirmed all your arrangements.

Still Have Questions?

If you are still unsure on any of your requirements, please do enquire with us first and one of our friendly team will be happy to help you with any queries you have.