Pilgrimage walks in North East England: St Cuthbert's Way, the Northern Saints Trails and the sands to Holy Island

We called ourselves Pilgrim for a reason. A pilgrimage is a walk with a meaning at the end of it, and the North East of England has been a place people walk to, and through, for the best part of 1,300 years.

This is the land of Cuthbert, Aidan, Oswald, Hilda and Bede: saints, scholars and kings whose stories are still written into the landscape, from Holy Island off the Northumberland coast to the shrine at Durham Cathedral. Today there are waymarked routes that follow their footsteps, some a week long, some an afternoon.

This guide covers the main pilgrimage walks in North East England, how long they take and how to walk them, whatever your reasons for going.

Why the North East?

In the seventh century, the monastery at Lindisfarne, on Holy Island, became one of the most important centres of Christianity in these islands. Its most famous bishop was Cuthbert, who died in 687 and quickly became the most revered saint in the north.

When Viking raids made the island too dangerous, the monks left Lindisfarne carrying Cuthbert's body with them, and spent years moving through the north before settling first at Chester-le-Street and finally, in 995, at Durham. The cathedral built over his shrine became one of the great pilgrimage destinations of medieval England, and the Venerable Bede, the region's great scholar, lies there too.

That long journey, and the lives of the people around it, is the thread running through almost every route below.

St Cuthbert's Way

• Route: Melrose, in the Scottish Borders, to Holy Island (Lindisfarne)
• Distance: 62 miles (100km)
• Time: usually 5 to 7 days
• Highest point: Wideopen Hill, 368m

St Cuthbert's Way links the place where Cuthbert began his religious life, at Melrose, with the island where he became bishop. Established in 1996, it's one of Scotland's Great Trails, and it's the best-known pilgrimage walk in the region.

The route crosses the Eildon Hills, follows the Tweed, joins a stretch of the Roman road Dere Street and climbs over the border into the Cheviot foothills and Northumberland National Park. Near the end it passes St Cuthbert's Cave, where tradition says the monks sheltered with his coffin, before reaching the coast and crossing the sands to Holy Island.

The gradients are mostly modest and the waymarking is good in both directions. It's a serious multi-day walk, but it doesn't need mountain experience.

St Oswald's Way

• Route: Holy Island to Heavenfield, near Hexham
• Distance: 97 miles
• Time: usually 7 to 10 days

St Oswald's Way follows the king who brought Aidan from Iona to found the monastery at Lindisfarne. It runs south along the Northumberland coast, past castles and long beaches, then turns inland to finish at Heavenfield, near Hadrian's Wall, where Oswald won the battle that made him king.

Heavenfield is also the start of the Way of Light, one of the Northern Saints Trails. Walk the two together and you get a route of around 142 miles between Lindisfarne and Durham, the region's two most important pilgrimage sites.

The Northern Saints Trails

The Northern Saints Trails are six waymarked routes across the North East, based on ancient pilgrim paths. Four of them finish at Durham Cathedral. They were created by Visit County Durham with the Diocese of Durham, Durham Cathedral and other local partners, and the first routes launched in 2021.

• The Way of Light: Heavenfield or Hexham to Durham, 45 miles. Across the moors of the North Pennines, with wide views and associations with Cuthbert and Wilfrid.
• The Way of Life: Gainford to Durham, 29 miles. Through Bishop Auckland, past the Saxon church at Escomb and Auckland Castle, home of the Prince Bishops.
• The Way of Love: Hartlepool to Durham, 28 miles. Inspired by female saints including Hilda, it mixes maritime and mining heritage.
• The Way of Learning: Jarrow to Durham, 38 miles. Following Bede, from his monastery at Jarrow through Sunderland and past Penshaw Monument.
• The Angel's Way: Seaton Sluice to Chester-le-Street, 30 miles. Through Newcastle and Gateshead and past the Angel of the North.
• The Way of the Sea: Warkworth to North Shields, about 35 to 38 miles depending on the version. Along the coast, with associations with Oswald.

There's also a Northern Saints Passport, which you can get stamped at participating venues along the routes. We like that a lot. It's the same instinct behind the stamps in every Pilgrim journey: a record of where you've walked is worth keeping.

The Angel's Way passes through the heart of Newcastle, including the old streets around the Quayside. If you're in the city for a day rather than a week, our Seven Bridges walk finishes at the end of Pilgrim Street, which takes its name from the medieval pilgrims who once passed through the town.

The Pilgrims' Way to Holy Island

Every route to Lindisfarne ends the same way: across the sands.

Holy Island is cut off by the tide twice a day. At low tide you can cross by the causeway road, or you can take the older, more direct way across the sands: the Pilgrims' Way, marked by a line of tall wooden posts. It's around two miles from the refuge box by the causeway bridge to the island, and it's one of the most memorable walks in Britain.

It's also genuinely dangerous if you get it wrong. The sands stay covered for longer than the causeway, and the tide comes in fast.

• Check the safe crossing times published by Northumberland County Council before you go, and plan the day around them.
• Cross in the middle of the safe period, not at either end. The Pilgrims' Way needs more margin than the road.
• Stay close to the posts. There are soft patches away from the line.
• Expect wet feet. Many people cross barefoot or in sandals, because water stays on the sands even at low tide.
• Take the road if you're short of time. There's no shame in it, and every year people are caught out.

Walking barefoot across the sands towards the priory, with the island getting slowly closer, is the reason many people walk St Cuthbert's Way at all.

Shorter pilgrimage walks

You don't need a week. Some ways to walk in the pilgrims' footsteps in a day:

• The last stage of St Cuthbert's Way. From Fenwick to Holy Island, finishing across the sands, timed with the tide.
• Durham on foot. Walk into the city over the medieval Framwellgate Bridge, climb to the cathedral and visit Cuthbert's shrine and Bede's tomb in the Galilee Chapel.
• A single stage of a Northern Saints Trail. Each trail is split into sections, and many start and finish near public transport.
• Bede's Jarrow. The Way of Learning begins by the Tyne at Jarrow, near the site of the monastery where Bede lived and wrote. Its first section makes an easy half-day.

Do you have to be religious?

No. The routes are rooted in the region's Christian history, and for many people walking them is an act of faith. For many others it's a way to spend time outdoors, to walk somewhere with a purpose, to mark something in their own life or simply to see some of the most beautiful country in England. Pilgrimage has always been for people with all sorts of reasons.

Questions people ask

What is the most famous pilgrimage walk in North East England?

St Cuthbert's Way, the 62-mile route from Melrose to Holy Island, is the best known. The final crossing of the sands to Lindisfarne is famous in its own right.

How long does St Cuthbert's Way take?

Most people take five to seven days to walk the full 62 miles.

Is it safe to walk across the sands to Holy Island?

It is when you cross within the published safe crossing times, stay close to the marker posts and leave yourself a good margin. The sands flood before the causeway, so allow extra time.

What are the Northern Saints Trails?

Six waymarked pilgrimage routes across the North East, between 28 and 45 miles long, based on ancient pilgrim paths and linked to the region's saints. Four of them finish at Durham Cathedral.

Is there a pilgrim passport for the North East?

Yes. The Northern Saints Passport can be stamped at participating venues along the six Northern Saints Trails.

Walk with Pilgrim

Not every pilgrimage is a hundred miles long. Pilgrim journeys are shorter walks with the same shape: a route, a reason, a stamp at every stop and something to show for it at the end.

Practical details checked September 2026. Things change, so check opening times and closures before you go.