Whitley Bay to Seaton Delaval Coastal Path

Remember last month when we shared our tips on how to adventure in the North East when you don't own a car?  Well, last weekend we were at it again with yet another of my brilliant ideas.  With sunshine on the forecast and desperate to find somewhere new to adventure I did my usual trick of studying Google maps to see what I could come up with.

My plan? A day trip to Seaton Delaval, via Whitley Bay!  Whitley Bay is easy enough to get to on the Metro and looking at the map it looked like we could do a nice walk along the coast to Seaton Delaval.

It's always a risk when I come up with these ideas, but it's worth giving it a go.

An epic walk of any kind requires fuel so arriving at Whitley Bay we took a casual stroll towards the seafront for brunch at Hinnies, home of Geordie Comfort Food.  You may remember that I visited them back in the Winter to try out their delicious Weekday Dinner Menu.  Ever since that trip I've been wanting to go back to take Simon and try out some Weekend Brunch.

Brunch is served at Hinnies every Saturday and Sunday between 9:00 am and 12:00 pm and is a lovely little menu featuring all of my favourite things.  I love to start the day with a really indulgent cooked breakfast and there was so much amazing local produce on offer I was in my element.

With very satisfied tummies we waddled our way down the seafront towards St Mary's Lighthouse.  I have very fond memories of the Lighthouse from my first Summer visiting the North East when Simon and I climbed to the top and enjoyed gorgeous views across the sea.  We've been meaning to return ever since but that'll be a trip for a different day.

As we rounded the corner the moment of truth had arrived.  Would walking from Whitley Bay be feasible, or were we going to be forced to walk alongside a loud and busy road?

I've never been happier than when we saw a footpath sign pointing us towards a coastal path running towards Seaton Sluice with gorgeous views of St Mary's Lighthouse.  What a result!

So happy to have found such a scenic route we enjoyed taking in huge breaths of the fresh sea air and admiring the stunning views.  Moments like this truly make me feel like the luckiest girl to be living in the North East.

The path was a lovely easy walk with plenty of benches along the way to rest.  Another day I think we'll head up to the path with a picnic, it was so peaceful and a real sun trap.

A few miles down the coast from Whitley Bay we eventually found ourselves at Seaton Sluice, a beach that has been recommended to me time and time again.

For a traditional day relaxing at the seaside Seaton Sluice looks absolutely perfect.  The Kings Arms pub looked very inviting with perfect views of the sea and the promise of a traditional pub with no Sky Sports and no TV (heaven!).  Unfortunately there wasn't time to stop on this trip, but it's a definite one for the North East Bucket List.

To complete our adventure I was determined that'd we'd make our way up the road to the National Trust owned Seaton Delaval Hall, a beautiful Grade I listed building complete with gorgeous gardens.

I will admit by the time we arrived we were a little shattered but I was really chuffed that we'd managed it and after a quick sit down in the gorgeous courtyard restaurant we just about managed to find a last little bit of energy to spend a few hours exploring the grounds.

Of course every great adventure ends with food and we decided to really put our tired legs to the test by slogging our way up hill for another mile to Seaton Delaval, the promise of ice-cream driving our tired feet to keep moving.

Seaton Delaval ice-cream at the Crescent Cafe is Northumberland's most famous ice-cream and we had images of beautiful glasses stuffed full of ice-cream and toppings.  Unfortunately when we finally reached our destination we were a little disheartened to discover a rather large queue outside the Crescent Cafe.  With no sit in option we joined the line for takeout feeling a little deflated.

We were a little ratty by the time we got to the front of the queue and I was really hoping that the ice-cream wasn't going to be a let down.  Thankfully it was just as good as the rumours had promised and I could see why most people were heading out of the shop with an ice-cream for now and a huge tub for their freezer at home.

Beautifully creamy, it was the best ice-cream that I've tasted outside of Italy and is definitely worth every mile that we walked.

Tracking our steps when we got home I was thrilled to discover we'd walked over 6 miles.  We definitely deserved that ice-cream.

Where are your favourite places to go walking? I'd love to discover some new routes.