Safe Crossing Times to Holy Island

Walking across the Pilgrims Causeway onto Holy Island of Lindisfarne is one of the best walking experiences you can ever imagine. The sense of isolation is very different than countryside walks.

But as The Holy Islands of Lindifarne is tidal you must work around the safe crossing times to the Holy Island. Please do not attempt to cross the causeway at any other time as the tide comes in very rapidly and is very dangerous.

Walking the pilgrim’s route or causeway to Lindisfarne

As a walker I personally prefer walking the pilgrim’s route across the sands to Holy Island.

It gets you away from the traffic which at busy times of the year can be very busy along the road. I personally feel it is more dangerous walking along the causeway with the traffic than walking across the sands on the Pilgrim’s Route.

How long will it take to walk to Holy Island?

We always give 1.5 – 2 hours to walk across the sands from the mainland of Northumberland to Holy Island.
 

What footwear, or should you walk barefoot, whilst crossing the sands to Holy Island?

Barefoot all the way, there is something special about walking barefoot over to Holy Island.

Below in the route-finding section I take you through where to take your shoes off.

Some people do not wish to walk barefoot, if this is the case here are some thoughts –

1. If you are walking at least a couple of tides after/ before safe crossing you could wear wellington boots.
   
   
2. If you choose to walk in walking boots/ walking trainers etc please do wash then in clean water after you have crossed and finished your walk.
   
   If not you may find the sea water perishes the stitching and over the time you may find your walking boots or walking trainers may suffer from this.
    

How far is the pilgrim’s route, walking the sands, to Holy Island?

The route is 3 miles in length one way, from when you leave the mainland to you arriving on Holy Island.

Can I park on Holy Island and catch a bus to the mainland and then walk back?

Yes, this is a great option.

Park on the Holy Island and catch the Holy Island Hopper back to the start of the causeway.

As the causeway is tidal the busses do not run on a regular basis, it is best to check the bus timetable for the – 477 – Berwick to Holy Island and Holy Island to Berwick.

You can check the bus timetable for the Island Hopper here.

If I choose to walk to and then back to Holy Island where is the best place to start/ park?

If you are travelling by car and want to walk onto Holy Island, with the option of either catching the bus back (see above) or walking back again the best location to park is the Barn at Beal.

The Barn at Beal is a wonderful restaurant/ coffee shop, it has a bothy barn and camping available.

If you intend to park here I personally always ring them a couple of days before hand, or drop them an email and ask if it is OK, as it is a private car park.

In my experience they have always accommodated me and any group I have guided over the sands, they often will just ask for your vehicle reg plate.

I always ensure I visit the coffee shop before or upon my return from the walk and thank them then personally for their kind gesture.

Which long distance trails take in crossing the sands to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne?

There are a couple of long-distance trails that start or finish by crossing the sands to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne.

These are –

1. St Cuthbert’s Way – This is a 60-mile route from Melrose in the Scottish Borders to Holy Island.

Shepherds Walks Holidays delivers both guided and self-guided trip along the beautiful long distance trail, you can find out more here. 

2. St Oswald’s Way – This is a 97-mile long-distance trail that starts on Holy Island, crosses the sands before heading South to Heavenfield, this is on Hadrian’s Wall.

Shepherds Walks Holidays also delivers self-guided walking holidays along St Oswald’s Way – more here. 

Holy Island tide times

The safe crossing times to Holy Island provided by Northumberland County Council are for those people who wish to use the causeway road to access (or return from) Holy island.

The crossing times to Holy Island should also be treated with caution, as local weather conditions (such as high wind) can change everything.

The perfect situation when looking at the tide times is to walk to or from Holy on an outgoing tide. During this tidal state the route will be getting better, but practically this is not always possible.

Walking on a rising tide is not recommended, but many people do choose to walk to and from Holy Island in a day, and if this is the case it often can be the case that walking on a rising tide on your return trip is the only option.


Do I just follow the poles? Route-finding across the sands to Holy Island

The biggest mistake people make is religiously following the poles, this is not the best route.

If you are starting from the mainland and heading onto Holy Island

1. Once you join the causeway stick to the road and go over the forst bridge, which takes you over a deep channel of water.
   
   You will see a white refuge hot on your left at the far side of the bridge.
   
   
2. A few hundred yards after crossing this bridge is a large lay bye on your right.
   
   This is where I leave the road, I personally take by shoes off at this point as you are now heading out onto the sands.
   
   
3. Once you are on the sands head over and follow the tall poles heading towards Holy Island.
   
   
4. After a little while you come across a very muddy section, this is where most people made a mistake and continuing to follow the poles.
   
   If you do this you are sure to end up on your backside and the once in a lifetime pilgrimage now consists of you with a muddy backside!
   
   
5. At this point I veer off to the right and make a very wide sweep around this muddy section, this sweep is going be approximately ½ mile in length.
   
   You are bypassing all that mud and then you are aiming for the next refuge shelter (on stilts) which is where you rejoin the poles again.
   
   
6. From here just continue to follow the poles.
   
   In this final section, if you have set off to early i.e. less that 1 hour after safe crossing time of the causeway, you will find deeper channels of water on this final stretch.
   
   If this is the case do not walk through them but veer off to your left each time and cross where it is shallow.
   
   
7. This will get you safety onto the Holy Island of Lindisfarne.
   
   

Important safety notes

If at any time you don’t feel happy when walking if you veer off towards the road causeway (off to your left if walking onto the Island) you will get yourself into a better situation.

This gives you plenty of confidence, as the road causeway is the last thing to go under water when the tide comes in.

The only time this is the wrong decision is that muddy section (as described above), at this point you need to head towards the sea.

Usually walking onto or off Holy Island takes a couple of hours so the ideal situation is to look at the Holy Island crossing times and start a couple of hours before low tide (i.e. half way between the times give you as ‘safe crossing time’).

I appreciate this is not always possible so realistically don’t start walking 4 or less hours before the causeway road closes. When walking at this tidal state (i.e. four hours or less before the causeway closes) I would always walk the road route.

Give yourself extra time to condensate for any unforeseen problems

The key thing is give yourself plenty of time, plan well and enjoy the walk

Many people rush onto the sands bank on the exact time safe crossing time is given (please see below), but leave it a good hour or so before heading off. If you do not do this you will struggle on the final section (if walking onto Holy Island) or you will not even get going (if you are walking from holy Island) as you will come across deep channels of water.

Further reading

1. Safe crossing times for Holy Island – Northumberland County Council
   
   
2. Northumberland Coastal Challenge Walk
   
   
3. Al Pepper video Vlog – Northumberland Coastal Challenge Walk
   
   
4. Pilgrims Poles – Route over to Holy Island