The six forts, and what each one is worth
Sixteen forts once stood along the wall. These are the six worth building a stop, a detour, or a whole day-walk around — in the order you'd reach them walking east to west.
WallsendSegedunum
The wall's eastern starting point, and the most completely excavated fort on the whole frontier — a 35-metre viewing tower looks straight down onto the full excavated outline, and a full-scale reconstructed bathhouse stands where the original was rediscovered in 2014.
Chollerford, near Stage 2's endChesters
Britain's best-preserved Roman cavalry bathhouse, first excavated in 1897, still standing to above head height — plus the Clayton Museum, built to house the collection of the Victorian landowner who first excavated much of the wall's central section.
The Whin Sill crags, Stage 3Housesteads
The most complete Roman fort in Britain, holding what's considered the best-preserved Roman military latrine anywhere in the former empire — and the dramatic ridge-top setting most photographs of "the wall" show.
Just off Stage 3/4, near Once BrewedVindolanda
The fort where the Vindolanda writing tablets — Britain's oldest surviving handwritten documents, including an invitation to a soldier's wife's birthday party — were found, with live excavation still ongoing most summers.
Stage 5, near GilslandBirdoswald
The longest continuous stretch of standing Hadrian's Wall anywhere on the trail runs right past this fort, garrisoned by an infantry cohort several hundred strong for the entire Roman period.
The trail's western end, Stage 6Bowness-on-Solway
Site of Maia, the second-largest fort on the entire wall, now a quiet village where reused Roman stone sits in the walls of the Norman-era church of St Michael.
Use the planner, not a guess
The homepage's day-count planner shows which of these six are worth reaching if you can't walk the full trail.
Open the plannerThree routes that need no baggage transfer
Circular and one-way day-walk routes using the local bus service, covering most of these six forts without an overnight trip at all.
See the day walks