You’ll come home from the Hadrian’s Wall Path with a lot of photos. The crags as the sun is rising. The Wall disappearing into the distance. A milecastle you can’t quite name. What you might not come home with, unless you’re deliberate about it, is photos of yourself actually there.
This post is the fix for that. These are the places where you’ll want to stop, whether that means holding the phone out yourself or handing it to the nearest willing stranger and getting into the shot. Not because the views demand it, but because you walked here, and that’s worth remembering. In this post you’ll find 17 selfie spots spread across all 84 miles, listed east to west from Segedunum to Bowness-on-Solway.
Note: This post contains affiliate links. Please see disclosure for details.
Start Planning Your Walk
If you’re at the beginning of your planning journey, the Hadrian’s Wall First-Time Walkers Facebook Group is a great place to ask questions, share your ideas, and hear from people who’ve already done the route.
For an easy way to track these spots while you’re out on the trail, our Hadrian’s Wall Photo Spots Checklist covers both photo spots and selfie spots across all 84 miles. It comes in east to west and west to east versions so the order always matches your direction of travel.
💡 Expert Tip: A few of the spots on this list, including Housesteads and Carlisle Castle, charge admission. If you’re planning to visit several paid sites along the way, it’s worth comparing English Heritage membership against an Association for Roman Archaeology membership before you go, since one may save you more than the other depending on your itinerary. Read our full comparison of the membership options to see which fits your trip. If you’re not a member of either, book your English Heritage tickets online in advance rather than paying on the day. It’s a smaller saving than membership, but it’s an easy discount to grab either way.
Tips for Getting Better Selfies on the Trail
Some people will tell you a selfie only counts if you’re the one holding the camera. We don’t see it that way. Whether you’re holding the phone at arm’s length, propping it on a tripod with a timer, or handing it to a stranger for thirty seconds, the photo you end up with is still yours, and it still counts. Here’s how to make it a good one. If you’re looking for more general walking advice, our essential tips for walking Hadrian’s Wall covers everything else you’ll want to know before setting off.
Ask a fellow walker. People on the Hadrian’s Wall Path are almost universally friendly. In our experience, no one has ever said no to taking a photo. Ask, offer to return the favor, and you’ll probably end up having a good conversation too.
Bring a tripod and a clicker. A lightweight phone tripod is one of the most useful things you can pack if you’re walking solo or just don’t want to rely on strangers. Pair it with a Bluetooth clicker or use your phone’s self-timer and you can take a proper shot without sprinting back into frame. For a full list of what we recommend bringing, our Hadrian’s Wall packing guide has everything.
Be creative. Don’t just stand in front of the landmark and smile. Try something different: sit on a wall, look off into the distance, get lower, get higher. This is genuinely something we’re still working on ourselves.
Rear camera over selfie mode. Selfie mode is convenient but the rear camera gives a sharper, better quality image. If you’ve got a tripod set up, this is straightforward. If someone else is holding the phone, even easier.
Think about the light. Midday sun tends to be harsh. Early morning and late afternoon give you softer, warmer light that’s kinder on faces and landscapes alike.
Change your angle. A shot taken from lower than eye level with the Wall stretching out behind you tells a very different story from one taken at arm’s length at chest height. Try a few different angles before you move on.
Get the landmark in the frame. Make sure whatever makes the spot special is actually visible in the photo. A selfie with just sky behind you could have been taken anywhere.
Finding These Spots on the Route
Most of the spots on this list are well-known enough that you’ll find them without any trouble. For anything trickier to locate, the Henry Stedman Hadrian’s Wall Path guidebook, published by Trailblazer Guides, is the one we used on our walk and we’d recommend it to anyone doing the route. You can read our full guidebook review before you buy.
All spots below are listed east to west, the direction we walked. If you are still deciding which way to walk, we’d recommend reading our blog post about why we chose to walk east to west.
The Best Selfie Spots on the Hadrian’s Wall Path
Each of these earned its place because it’s a spot you’ll actually want to remember standing in, not just look at.
1. Segedunum, Wallsend
Segedunum Roman Fort in Wallsend marks the eastern end of the Hadrian’s Wall Path. For east to west walkers it’s the starting line; for west to east walkers it’s the finish. We actually visited the day before we officially started walking, giving ourselves extra time to explore properly rather than rushing through on day one. The site has ongoing improvement work underway, so a few things may look different by the time you visit, but there are still several good selfie opportunities here, and it’s worth taking a bit of time to find them all.
Our favorite selfie from the entire walk was with Sentius Tectonicus, the larger-than-life-sized Roman soldier statue at the fort. He’s an excellent photo companion and, unlike most people you’ll meet on the trail, completely still.
Right at Segedunum, the Monument to the Builders of the Wall pays tribute to the Roman soldiers and civilians who built Hadrian’s Wall. Get your photo here, then walk over to the nearby reconstructed section of the Wall, built to roughly its original height, for a shot that shows just how imposing the real thing would have been.
💡 Expert Tip: Segedunum charges admission to enter the fort and museum, but some selfie spots are accessible without a ticket. Check opening hours and prices before you visit.
2. Hadrianus Augustus Plaque
A little further along from Segedunum, on the old railway path between waypoints 106 and 107 near the old railway bridge abutment, look for a circular metal plaque set into the stone wall alongside the path. It shows Hadrian’s profile in relief, laurel wreath and all, ringed with the inscription HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS. It’s easy to miss among the greenery, but it’s a nice quiet spot for a photo, a direct nod to the emperor who ordered the Wall built in the first place.
3. Newcastle Quayside
The Quayside gives you a completely different kind of selfie to anything else on the walk. The River Tyne, the Tyne Bridge, the Swing Bridge, and the Millennium Bridge all run alongside each other here, and any of them works as a backdrop.
The Millennium Bridge is worth a moment on its own: it’s a tilt bridge, and the whole deck rotates upward on its supports to let river traffic pass underneath, earning it the nickname the Blinking Eye. It tilts on a schedule rather than at random, so it’s worth checking the tilt times on the NewcastleGateshead website before your walk in case you can time your visit to catch it in action.
Position yourself near the riverbank with the Tyne Bridge behind you and you’ve got a shot that captures something the crags and ruins can’t: that this is a walk through a living city, with 2,000 years of history still visible in its skyline.
For more on the Roman history woven into Newcastle, our guide to Hadrian’s Wall in Newcastle is a good read before your walk.
4. Hadrian’s Wall at Heddon-on-the-Wall
After a long first day through the suburbs of Newcastle, arriving at this stretch of actual Roman stonework feels significant. For east to west walkers this is where the Wall stops being something you’re walking toward and becomes something you can put your hand on.
That’s exactly the photo to take. Hand on the stone, the Wall running away behind you. It’s a simple shot but it tends to be one of the ones people come back to. Just don’t climb up on the Wall itself for the photo. It’s a protected ancient monument and standing on it causes real damage over time, so keep both feet on the ground.
The Wall here is a short diversion off the main path. The Trailblazer guidebook will point you in the right direction.
5. Stanley Plantation (Trig Point)
If you’re not used to hiking in the UK, you might not have come across trig points yet. They’re the small concrete pillars you’ll find at high points across the landscape, originally built by Ordnance Survey to map the country. For walkers, reaching one feels like a small, satisfying achievement.
There are four trig points along the Hadrian’s Wall Path, and Stanley Plantation is the first, if you’re walking east to west. Challenge yourself to get a selfie at all four along the way.
6. Planetrees
A bit further along, east of Chesters Roman Fort, Planetrees is a short stretch of Wall that doesn’t look dramatic at first glance, but tells a great story once you know what you’re looking at. Partway through construction, the Romans narrowed the Wall from 10 Roman feet wide down to 8, most likely to speed up the build, and at Planetrees you can see the narrower wall sitting visibly on top of the original broader foundations.
Get your selfie with that join in view. It’s a small detail, but it’s a good one to point to and say you actually saw where the Romans changed their minds partway through building 84 miles of frontier.
7. Limestone Corner (Trig Point)
The second trig point on the route, Limestone Corner sits at the northernmost point of Hadrian’s Wall. You won’t get further north than this on the walk, which makes it a meaningful spot to stop and mark the moment.
8. Sewingshields Crags (Trig Point)
The third trig point sits on Sewingshields Crags, one of the more dramatic stretches of the central section. The ridgeline runs in both directions and the views are wide and open, so the backdrop here is considerably more photogenic than the trig points that came before it.
9. Housesteads Roman Fort
Housesteads is the most complete Roman fort in Britain, and the selfie options are plentiful. Inside, you can get a shot with the Wall running along the ridge behind you, or use the barracks and granary walls as your foreground.
Our top pick though: the Roman latrines. They’re among the best-preserved examples in the entire Roman Empire, and getting a photo there has become something of a rite of passage on the Hadrian’s Wall Path. You’ll understand exactly why when you see them.
Admission is charged. It’s free for English Heritage members, Overseas Visitor Pass holders, and National Trust members. Check the English Heritage website for current prices and opening hours.
10. Vindolanda
Vindolanda is a short detour off the main path, but it’s one of the most rewarding stops on the entire route. The site has been under active excavation for decades and what survives above ground is extensive. A selfie among the ruins puts you in the middle of one of the most important Roman sites in Britain.
Admission is required. Check the Vindolanda Trust website for current opening times and ticket prices.
💡 Expert Tip: If you’re also planning to visit the Roman Army Museum, look into a combination ticket in advance. Buying the two together works out cheaper than paying for each site separately.
11. Sycamore Gap
Sycamore Gap is still absolutely worth stopping for, even without the tree standing, and it remains one of the most photographed spots on the entire route, and one of the most talked about. For years it was known for the sycamore tree standing in the dip between the crags, featured in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and often called the Robin Hood Tree because of it.
The tree was illegally felled in September 2023, and the loss was felt well beyond the walking community. The stump is still there, protected, and new shoots have started growing from its base, so there’s hope for its future even if it will take generations to look anything like it once did.
The dip between the crags is still every bit as striking as it was with the tree standing, and it’s still very much worth a photo. Just take a moment to be respectful of what this place means to a lot of people before you get your shot. For everything else you need to know before visiting, check out our complete guide to Sycamore Gap.
12. Milecastle 39, Castle Nick
Every Roman mile along the Wall, the Romans built a milecastle: a small fortified gateway with a barracks for a garrison of soldiers. Milecastle 39 at Castle Nick is one of the best-preserved examples on the route, and the setting makes it one of the more memorable stops on the central section. It sits in a natural dip in the crags with the Wall climbing away on either side.
Step inside the walls and get the shot. It puts you right inside the structure of the Roman frontier in a way that’s hard to replicate anywhere else. Or if you’d rather show off the setting, climb the crag above and get the milecastle laid out below you, with the Wall climbing away on either side.
13. Winshields Crags (Trig Point)
The fourth and final trig point marks the highest point on the entire Hadrian’s Wall Path, at 345 meters above sea level. If you’ve been collecting trig point selfies since Stanley Plantation, this is the one that completes the set.
Even if trig points aren’t your thing, this one still deserves a photo. You’ve climbed to the top of the walk. The views stretch for miles. Take a moment, take the shot, and enjoy it.
14. Cawfields Quarry
After the drama of the central crags, Cawfields feels quiet in a way that’s hard to describe until you get there. The quarry cut right through the Wall when it was operational, and what it left behind is a large, calm pond at the foot of the crags. On a clear day the water reflects the sky and the landscape around it.
We spent about an hour here on our walk, eating our packed lunches and watching the birds. There’s no rush at Cawfields. Get your selfie with the pond behind you, then sit down for a while.
15. Carlisle Castle
The Hadrian’s Wall Path passes through Carlisle, and the castle is hard to miss. There are plenty of good selfie spots here, but our favorite is up on the castle wall walk, with the keep rising behind you. If you don’t have time to go inside, don’t worry: a selfie with the exterior walls and gatehouse still works well, and arriving here after days of open moorland, a medieval fortress in the middle of a working city feels genuinely dramatic either way.
We didn’t actually stop here during our own walk, but we’ve visited Carlisle Castle several times separately, and it’s one of our favorite castles in England. For me, its connection to Mary, Queen of Scots is a big part of why: she was held here in 1568, and reading about her in Philippa Gregory’s The Other Queen only made visiting all the more interesting.
Carlisle Castle is an English Heritage site. Admission is free for members and Overseas Visitor Pass holders. Check the English Heritage website for current prices and opening hours.
For more on what to see in the city while you’re there, take a look at our guide to visiting Carlisle.
16. Edward I Statue, Greyhound Inn
This one catches a lot of walkers by surprise. Outside the Greyhound Inn in Burgh by Sands stands a bronze statue of Edward I, known as the Hammer of the Scots, who had deep ties to this part of the country. In the winter of 1306 to 1307, gravely ill and unable to travel, he spent five months at nearby Lanercost Priory before dying near Burgh by Sands the following July.
This statue is a modern one, erected in 2007 to mark 700 years since his death, and it’s not the same as the older Edward I Monument out on Burgh Marsh about a mile away, which marks the actual spot where he died. The statue is the easier stop for walkers since it’s right on the path in the village.
It’s a quirky spot that not everyone stops for, which is exactly the reason to make time for it. Stand beside the statue, facing the same direction, so you get its face in the shot alongside yours. Get a photo with Edward and you can tell people you met a king on the Hadrian’s Wall Path.
17. Bowness-on-Solway
Bowness-on-Solway is the western end of the Hadrian’s Wall Path, and the small wooden terminus shelter here is one of the most photographed spots on the entire route. Whether it marks your start or your finish, this is a non-negotiable photo stop.
The shelter has different text on each side, one for walkers setting off east to west and one for those finishing their walk. Make sure you photograph the right side for your direction of travel. Then turn toward the water for a shot with the Solway Firth stretching out behind you, a serene scene worth capturing after 84 miles.
If you’re finishing here, you’ve just walked 84 miles. Take the photo. Take several. You’ve earned every single one.
Ready to Check Off Every Spot?
The selfies you take along the Hadrian’s Wall Path are part of what makes the walk yours. They’re the record that you were there, that you did it, and that it was worth every step.
Our Hadrian’s Wall Photo Spots Checklist includes all the selfie spots from this list alongside the best photography spots across the full route. It comes in east to west and west to east versions so the order always works for your direction of travel.
If you’d like somewhere to record your favorite memories and keep the photos you’re most proud of, our Hadrian’s Wall Journal was designed exactly for that. It is available as a paperback or printable.
Come and share your selfies in the Hadrian’s Wall First-Time Walkers Facebook Group. There’s nothing we enjoy more than seeing the walk through someone else’s eyes.
Which selfie spot are you most looking forward to? Drop it in the comments below!
-Anisa
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means we will receive a small commission for some purchases made using links in our blog with no additional cost to you. Please be assured we would not promote any product unless we believe that our readers will also benefit. The commission does not influence the editorial content of this site.
Two Traveling Texans is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
Last Updated on September 28, 2026