Bamburgh Beach
Three miles of pale sand under the castle, wide enough at low water to lose a dog in the distance, and rarely crowded even in August. There is no seasonal dog ban here at any time of year, which is the reason people bring dogs to this coast rather than to Yorkshire or Northumberland's own southern resorts. Park on Links Road or at the castle and walk in over the dunes.
Bamburgh Castle
The great red-sandstone block on its whinstone crag, still lived in by the Armstrong family and open to visitors most of the year. Dogs on short leads are welcome across the grounds and in the Victorian Stables and Tack Room Takeaway, with water bowls dotted about the site. The State Rooms, Clock Tower Cafe and the aviation museum are for assistance dogs only.
Bamburgh Castle and Budle Bay circular
Five and a half miles in about three hours, out along the sand and rock under the castle to the lighthouse at Blackrocks Point, round Budle Point to the mudflats at Waren Mill and back inland over the golf links. Start from the pay-and-display car park on Links Road in the village, which is the largest in Bamburgh and still full by mid-morning in August. Northumberland has no seasonal dog ban on this beach, so the sand is off-lead all year; the return crosses grazed fields and a working golf course, and the Budle Bay flats hold roosting wildfowl that a loose dog will scatter.