Farne Islands

Farne Islands Review

Regular boat trips from the village of Seahouses provide access to the bleak, wind-tossed Farne Islands with their impressive colonies of seabirds, including puffins, kittiwakes, terns, shags, and guillemots, and barking groups of gray seals. Inner Farne, where St. Cuthbert, the great abbot of Lindisfarne, died in AD 687, has a tiny chapel. Cruises to Inner Farne (April, August, September and October, daily at 10, 11, noon, 1, and 2; May to July, 1 and 2) and the rocky Staple Island (May to July, daily at 10 and 11) take 2½ hours each and include landfall in good weather. Look out for the ruined lighthouse beacons as you pass Brownsman Island. All boat services leave from Seahouses harbor—look for the tiny booth selling tickets or the outlet in the main village parking lot. Six-hour trips (late April to July, daily at 10) allow for a morning stroll on Inner Farne and an afternoon on Staple Island. Pack a lunch. The islands are owned by the National Trust.