Bamburgh Castle - cannons, armour and a North Sea beach

Bamburgh Castle stands on a rocky hill right above a wide North Sea beach, in Northumberland in north-east England. It is a great castle to visit with kids: cannons on the walls, rooms full of armour, narrow stone stairs, an old kitchen and grassy slopes you can roll down. We were here on Wednesday 28 August 2019, the second-to-last day of our trip around Great Britain, on our way to the ferry in Newcastle.

The day before, we visited Glasgow, and before that we spent three days on Loch Lomond (Hadrian's Wall and Loch Lomond with kids). The plan of the whole trip is in our post UK road trip with kids.

Drummohr near Edinburgh

We spent Tuesday night at Drummohr Camping & Glamping Site in Musselburgh, a few kilometres from Edinburgh. In the morning we packed the tent and drove south along the coast, back to England.

Bamburgh Castle

After 110 km (1 hour 25 minutes) we saw the castle from far away: long reddish walls on a hill above the sea. It was cloudy and windy.

History on the walls

On the way up to the castle walls there is a timeline with boards that tell the story of the place step by step. We read them to the kids: first there was a small fort, then a royal seat, a tower, sieges, and at the end of the 19th century a new owner who turned the castle into a family home.

Fun fact: the first castle taken by cannons

Kings of Northumbria lived on this hill in the early Middle Ages. In 1464 Bamburgh became the first castle in England to be captured with gunpowder artillery. In 1894 the industrialist and inventor Lord Armstrong bought the castle and restored it, and the Armstrong family still owns it today.

Cannons above the sea

On the walls facing the sea there are rows of old cannons. The kids looked into the barrels for cannonballs, and behind the cannons there was a view of the beach and the sea.

Inside the castle

Inside we walked from one room to the next. The most impressive is the King's Hall, a huge hall with a wooden ceiling. Then there are rooms full of china, fans and paintings, a billiard room, suits of armour in glass cases and helmets. Narrow, winding stone stairs lead between the rooms, and the kids walked up ahead of us.

Downstairs we saw the old kitchen with a huge sink and tiled walls, and then dark cellars with bars. On one wall there is an enormous painting of a battle with knights.

Playing on the slopes and the beach

After the rooms, the kids loved the grassy slopes inside the castle walls most of all. They ran around, rolled down and did cartwheels, with a view of the sea and the old keep. Then we went down to the beach below the castle.

Beamish Holiday Park

For our last night in the tent we drove 97 km (1 hour 10 minutes) to Beamish Holiday Park near Stanley in County Durham. The campsite used to be called Bobby Shafto Caravan Park. The next day we only had a short drive to the port and the overnight ferry to the Netherlands (Newcastle to Amsterdam ferry with kids and a car).

Practical info

Bamburgh Castle

• Location: Bamburgh village on the Northumberland coast. From Musselburgh near Edinburgh we drove 110 km, and from the castle to our campsite near Newcastle 97 km.
• The ticket includes the castle rooms, the grounds and walls, the Armstrong and Aviation Museum (with the wreck of a Spitfire), the shop and the tea rooms (we checked in November 2026). Check prices and opening times on the castle website just before your visit.
• With a pushchair or wheelchair: only the first five rooms, up to the King's Hall, are accessible, and after that there are stairs. With a small child, a baby carrier is better.
• How long: with kids, plan 2-3 hours for the castle and some time for the beach.