Kingdom of Northumbria & The Border 500

The full Border 500 route runs from Alnwick Castle through the Scottish Lowlands to a mansion turned golf hotel near the tip of the Irish Sea – five nights either side of the England-Scotland border.

From£829pp

Duration5 days

StyleSelf-guided

Best suited toDrivers who want the road to be the holiday

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An independent Stradora pick. Details from the operator's published information, last checked 28 Oct 2026. Stradora DiscoveryChosen independently by our editors because we think it's worth the drive. We're not partnered with this operator: dates, prices and booking are handled by them, and we last checked their published details on 28 Oct 2026.

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5 nights through United Kingdom

Five nights across Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, self-guided from three bases, in the guest’s own car, taking in the Border 500.

The Border 500 is the organising idea: a circular touring route through the country either side of the frontier, which gets a fraction of the traffic the North Coast 500 now draws.

The White Swan at Alnwick takes the first three nights, a listed building with open fires, with two free days for Northumberland: the castles along the coast, the empty beaches, the Cheviots and the moorland, and the market towns between them. Alnwick Castle follows on the way out, then the Annandale Arms at Moffat for a night. The last leg joins the Border 500 proper by Castle Kennedy, running through the Lowlands and the North Pennines and along the Solway coast into Dumfries and Galloway towards Portpatrick at the far end of the Irish Sea, with a night at the Cally Palace, an eighteenth-century mansion now a golf hotel. The drive home goes by Gretna Green.

Three nights at Alnwick, one at Moffat and one at Gatehouse of Fleet, five breakfasts, three dinners including the welcome dinner, a road book with maps, drives and local attractions, a commemorative rally plate and parking at all three hotels are all included; lunches, two dinners and fuel are not. Six days with one long base and two single nights gives the trip a touring shape rather than a static one. Late spring to early autumn is the season up here.

Style

Self-guided

Duration

Short break (4-6 nights)

Region

Europe

Vehicle provision

Bring your own vehicle

Departures

June

Starts/ends

Alnwick, United Kingdom → Gretna Green, United Kingdom