A Perfect Day on Holy Island

There's nowhere quite like Lindisfarne. Twice a day the North Sea sweeps in and cuts it off from the mainland, and twice a day it pulls back again to reveal a causeway across the sands. In between, you get a medieval priory, a castle on a crag, a walled garden, mead, seals, and a sense of being somewhere slightly outside ordinary time. The whole day runs on the tide, so the secret is to plan around it. Here's how we'd spend it.

Breakfast at The Barn at Beal

Before you cross, stop for breakfast at The Barn at Beal. It sits on the hillside just off the causeway road, and its big windows look straight out across the sands to Holy Island, so you can watch the tide go out while you eat. The coffee is good, the baking is homemade, and it's a relaxed, dog-friendly place to wait if you've arrived a little early. It's also a handy stop on the way home: the shop sells Lindisfarne Mead, Holy Island Gin and other local produce.

Crossing the Causeway

Holy Island is only reachable when the causeway is clear, so check the safe crossing times on Northumberland County Council's website before you set off, and stick to them. Every year a few drivers ignore them and have to be rescued, usually while half the island watches from the dunes. If you do get caught out, there's a refuge box on stilts halfway across the road.

If you'd like to arrive the traditional way, you can walk the Pilgrims' Way instead: about three miles barefoot across the sands, following a line of tall wooden posts. It takes around an hour and a half, and you need to start on a falling tide. Most people drive across and park in the main car park at the edge of the village.

Lindisfarne Priory

Start with the priory, because this is where the island's story begins. In 635 St Aidan came from Iona at the invitation of King Oswald and founded a monastery here, and it became one of the most important centres of early Christianity in England. St Cuthbert lived and died here, the Lindisfarne Gospels were made here, and in 793 the monastery suffered one of the first Viking raids on Britain. The red and grey sandstone ruins you see today belong to the later medieval priory, and the famous "rainbow arch" still spans the nave. English Heritage runs the site and its museum.

Next door, St Mary's Church is thought to stand on the site of Aidan's original church, and from the shore beside it you can see St Cuthbert's Isle, the tiny tidal islet where Cuthbert went for solitude.

The Castle and the Walled Garden

From the village it's about a mile's walk along the harbour to Lindisfarne Castle, perched on its rocky crag. It began as a Tudor fort in the 1550s, and in 1901 the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens turned it into a holiday home for Edward Hudson, the founder of Country Life. It's now run by the National Trust. Inside it's cosy and eccentric rather than grand, and the views from the upper battery stretch to Bamburgh and the Farne Islands.

Across the field below is the little walled garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll, bright with flowers in summer. On the way back, look out for the Victorian lime kilns beside the castle, some of the best preserved in the country, and the old herring boats turned upside down on the harbour shore and used as sheds.

Lunch in the Village

You'll be spoilt for choice. The Crown & Anchor, looking out over the priory, serves lunch and dinner. The Ship Inn is an 18th-century free house and home to the island's own 793 gin and vodka distillery. For something lighter, Pilgrims Coffee roasts its coffee on the island and serves cakes and pastries, and Chare Ends Café is good for lunch, coffee and ice cream. In summer it's worth booking ahead for the pubs.

A Taste of Mead

No visit is complete without a stop at St Aidan's Winery, home of Lindisfarne Mead. You can try a sample before you buy, and it makes a very good souvenir. Take a bottle home, or save it for the evening back at the cottage.

A Walk Around the Island

If you've time before the tide turns, walk it off. Climb the Heugh, the low ridge south of the priory, for the best view of the village and the castle together. Then head out to the north side of the island, where empty dunes and beaches lead to the white pyramid of the Emmanuel Head daymark. The island is a National Nature Reserve, and grey seals often haul out on the sandbanks. On a quiet day you can hear them singing.

Beating the Tide Home

Keep one eye on the clock all day, and aim to be back at the car and across the causeway well before the end of the safe crossing period. If you'd love to see the island at its quietest, book a room on the island and stay the night instead: when the day visitors leave and the tide comes in, Holy Island goes completely quiet, and it's one of the most magical places in England to watch the sun go down.

Staying Nearby

Holy Island is an easy day out from all of our coastal cottages. From Eider Cottage in Seahouses and Cowbell Cottage in Beadnell, the drive to Beal takes around half an hour, straight up the coast past Bamburgh. Check the tide times the night before, set off early for breakfast at Beal, and you'll be back at the cottage in time for a glass of mead.

Holy Island, what a day.