Craster Harbour

The working harbour at Craster is the real deal - a proper working fishing village that hasn't been sanitised for tourists. You'll find a clutch of boats, weathered stone buildings, and the smell of salt and diesel that tells you this place actually does something rather than just looks pretty.

It's the kippers you come for, really. The Craster Kipper Company has been smoking fish here since 1906, and you can buy them fresh from the smokehouse - the aroma alone is worth the visit. Walk out to the small pier and watch the boats come in, or just sit on the harbour wall with a takeaway cup of coffee and watch the fishermen go about their business. The light's wonderful in the late afternoon, especially for photographs.

This works best for people who actually like fishing villages rather than chocolate-box seaside towns. Kids might manage twenty minutes before they're bored, unless they're genuinely interested in how working harbours function. Give yourself an hour if you're the contemplative type, half that if you're just grabbing kippers.

The real bonus is the location. Craster sits a couple of miles south of Dunstanburgh Castle - one of Northumberland's genuine landmarks - so you can easily combine this with a coastal walk. If you're staying at Northumberland Coast Camp right next door, you're perfectly placed. It's the sort of spot that rewards a morning wander rather than a planned afternoon outing, but for Northumberland coast camping it's an authentic piece of working landscape.